Batten down the hatches: UK higher education and the art of survival
By Dr Helena Lim, PFHEA
UK higher education is not a happy place at the moment. In fact, from where I’m sitting, it’s a positively unhappy place. At the Wonkhe Secret Life of Students event last month, Debbie McVitty said that HE is in the middle of an existential crisis right now. Well, we’re certainly in a storm. Financial challenges, declining international student numbers, and the spectre of job losses – voluntary or otherwise – the list of challenges is long and daunting. It’s easy to get lost in the doom and gloom, to feel like we’re adrift in a sea of uncertainty.
Dr Helena Lim, Academic Lead and Head of Opportunities
But my plea is that we ditch grandiose words like ‘transformation’, ‘future-proofing’, ‘innovation,’ and the often-vague pursuit of ‘excellence’. I’m guilty of this myself too, having recently published a report on future-proofing student engagement. My colleague, Professor Ale Armenelli, Dean of Education and Digital Innovation at the University of Portsmouth contends that the very concept of ‘future-proofing’ is a fallacy, arguing that our tendency to romanticise the stability of the past is misguided.
Navigating the Storm: Focus, Not Forecasts
This recognition is crucial right now, when it feels like we’re bracing for a tempest. The imperative shifts from seeking control over the uncontrollable future to maximising our current capabilities through pragmatic focus and resilience. Focus on what we can control, do it well, and survive (no, not ‘thrive’ – again let’s avoid hyperbole).
So, how do we build this resilience and enact this focus amidst shrinking budgets and staffing?
It demands two fundamental shifts in our approach. First, a ruthless prioritisation of resources, guided not by guesswork or tradition, but by clear, reliable data. Second, strategically embracing technology and automation not as futuristic ideals, but as essential infrastructure to maintain vital functions precisely because staffing levels are under pressure.
In this climate, we simply cannot afford to spread ourselves too thin or waste precious effort on initiatives that don’t deliver demonstrable value. Knowing where to direct our limited resources – which processes to optimise, which activities yield the most impact – requires evidence. Accessible, trustworthy data becomes the compass navigating us through the storm, ensuring our focused efforts hit the mark and aren’t frittered away.
Furthermore, with the very real prospect of fewer professional staff across our institutions, leveraging technology moves from being ‘efficient’ to being fundamental for operational continuity. We must look critically at automating routine, time-consuming tasks – not to replace valued colleagues wholesale, but to ensure that essential functions, like gathering student feedback effectively or managing complex evaluation cycles, can continue reliably and scalably, even with leaner teams.
The impact can be transformative; for instance, one institution adopting an automated evaluation system reduced a process requiring weeks of dedicated staff time for collation and reporting down to just a couple of days. This isn’t merely about speed; it’s about ensuring feasibility and reclaiming vital staff capacity for higher-value work – essential when manual capacity diminishes, and teams are stretched thin. This is fundamental operational continuity.
Of course, underpinning all operational strategies must be a commitment to safeguarding the well-being of staff and students – the sector’s most valuable assets. This resonates with Armenelli’s point that engaged staff are crucial (“don’t moan. Just engage.”), as staff engagement and well-being directly influence the quality of support and interaction students receive, impacting their sense of belonging and well-being too. Providing staff with effective tools and ensuring manageable workloads – areas where efficient data handling and automation can significantly alleviate pressure – is therefore key not only for staff morale but also for freeing up capacity to better focus on student needs and support. Collaboration between institutions and the cultivation of strategic partnerships can further enhance resources available to both staff and students. But fundamentally, these efforts are most effective when underpinned by efficient, data-informed core operations made possible by smart use of technology.
Strategic Survival Is Within Reach
While the current landscape presents considerable obstacles, strategic survival is achievable. It demands a collective commitment to resourcefulness, resilience, and adaptability, underpinned by a willingness to make tough choices based on data, and to embrace technology where it genuinely shores up our core mission of teaching and research. Challenging educational orthodoxies must include challenging outdated, resource-intensive processes. By focusing pragmatically on what works, what’s essential, and what technology can help us sustain, we can navigate these challenges and reinforce the sector’s enduring value.
