About HEPI

Higher education is one of Britain’s great strengths and we firmly believe that there is little that is of more importance to the future than its quality.

Our mission therefore is to improve higher education by creating a better informed policy environment - informed by research and analysis, as well as drawing on experiences from other countries. It is vital that policies for the future of the university system are based on sound and objective analysis. We aim to ensure that HEPI makes a major contribution to such analysis and so help avoid policies being based on hunch, fashion or wishful thinking. 

We aim to improve policy making in higher education, and so our final targets are the audiences who make policy -- the Government and its agencies at the national level, and universities at a more local level.  However, we aim to reach wider than that.  We recognise the importance of targeting all those who need to be better informed and can influence policy – such as Members of Parliament, Select Committees, chairs of governing bodies, business leaders, the wider university community, HE trade unions, students, journalists and the public.

We use a range of means for reaching these different audiences, selected to maximise our effectiveness. These include face-to-face discussions, seminars and conferences, dissemination of research findings, media appearances and articles.

Our impact has been significant, both in the UK and overseas.  Our recommendations have been quoted at European Commission meetings, as well as in both Houses of Parliament.  Select Committee reports regularly refer to our findings. We are often consulted by overseas governments and the World Bank, and have carried out strategic studies for the governments of Jordan, Palestine, Indonesia, Syria, Bulgaria, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.