Breakfast seminar: New operating models for UK higher education

On Tuesday 25 March 2025, HEPI and Advance HE host their second in-person seminar of the 2025 series at the Houses of Parliament.

The UUK Blueprint confirmed the higher education sector is committed to constantly improving its core purposes of teaching, research and civic engagement while also taking a lead on grappling with key global challenges, such as climate change, the spread of artificial intelligence and heightened geopolitical uncertainty. 

Is the core model of how we do higher education suitable for the unstable world in which we live? Or, if we want to retain the world-class standing of UK higher education, do we need alternative types of leadership, different structures and new approaches that learn from other sectors? And, at the same time, are we thinking enough about organisational design and workforce planning – how are we preparing structures and people for future models? How can institutional autonomy be balanced against the ever-growing list of expectations on leaders, academics and professional services staff? 

Speakers will include:

• Professor Elisabeth Hill, Deputy President at City St George’s, University of London
• The Rt Hon Jesse Norman MP, Conservative MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire
• Paul Woodgates, University strategic adviser, Deputy Chair at De Montfort University, Non-executive director and author of HEPI Report 165, Change by Design