Student Mental Health to be supported by Many Hands

17 August 2021 Student Mental Health to be supported by the Many Hands of independent providers Independent Higher Education (IHE) is pleased to announce that a collaborative bid by seven IHE members has won Office for Students (OfS) funding to support student mental health. The funding competition aims to find new ways to tackle mental […]

Independent Higher Education welcomes new student board member

17 August 2021 Independent Higher Education (IHE) is pleased to welcome Sophie McCarthy to its Board as an independent student member. Sophie, a graduating student at the Academy of Contemporary Music, has been appointed for a term of two years and will provide an invaluable student perspective on the IHE Board. During her time on […]

Student vaccination – a sector statement

28 July 2021 The UK’s higher education providers recognise the critical importance of the national vaccination programme to overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic. We saw first-hand the impact national lockdowns and Covid restrictions had on students’ lives over the past 16 months, and we want to get back to a more normal life and higher education […]

Six new members for Independent Higher Education

1 April 2021 Independent Higher Education (IHE) is today announcing six new members whose applications were recently approved by the IHE Board. The new members are The Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology, Oak Hill College, the European School of Osteopathy, Further Learning Group, Istituto Marangoni and TEDI-London. Alex Proudfoot, Chief Executive of IHE, said: […]

IHE and NUS write to Minister urging review of student hardship funding

1 April 2021 Last month 35 providers, representing over 30,000 students across England added their support to a letter co-signed by Independent Higher Education CEO Alex Proudfoot and the National Union of Students President Hillary Gyebi-Ababio to Michelle Donelan MP, Minister of State for Universities. The letter asks the Minister to ask officials to review the existing funding mechanisms for student […]

IHE responds to the Government’s skills white paper and Augar proposals

Alex Proudfoot, Chief Executive of Independent Higher Education, has commented on the Government’s proposals for skills and further education, as well as the Department for Education’s interim response to the Augar proposals for higher education funding: “We welcome many of the announcements in the skills white paper and the Department’s interim response to the Augar […]

IHE Policy Live 2020

IHE Policy Live 2020  Over three days in October IHE brought together nearly 300 participants and almost 40 speakers to deliver an online event which was to all intents and purposes our 2020 annual conference – but not as we know it, Jim! As we curated the event, we were acutely aware of the challenges […]

IHE comments on the Government’s plans to reform the admissions system

Following the Secretary of State’s announcement regarding the Government’s plans to consult and reform the admissions system, as well the proposals set out by Universities UK in the ‘Fair Admissions Review’, Alex Proudfoot, Chief Executive of IHE, commented: “We welcome the Secretary of State’s announcement on reforming higher education admissions. This issue has become a […]

IHE comments on the end of term guidance issued by the Department for Education

“This guidance provides much-needed clarity on the government’s plans for helping students in England spend Christmas with their families, and we especially welcome the news that widespread testing will be available to support this. “Many independent higher education providers planned for the autumn term to prioritise high levels of the face-to-face practical learning and assessments […]

IHE submission to the spending review

This month IHE submitted a set of spending priorities for the Government to consider as part of its forthcoming multi-year spending review. We continue to lobby directly on these proposals, as well as building cross-sector support for them. We called on the Government to continue to support the development of a tertiary education system, with […]