Quality education 2024
Learning and students
The University of Huddersfield is a leading provider of high-quality education: it was awarded a Gold rating in the first round of assessments for the UK Government’s Teaching Excellence Framework and was the first winner of the HEA/AdvanceHE Global Teaching Excellence Award. In September 2023, the University was awarded Gold ratings for Student Experience, Student Outcomes, and Overall in the most recent UK Government Teaching Excellence Framework, the only university received this ranking at that time in Yorkshire & Humber and the North West of England. Further, in December 2023, Ofsted graded the University’s Apprenticeship provision as ‘outstanding’, with the highest possible grades across each element of the inspection report.
The University has an equal opportunities and diversity policy relevant to this lifelong learning activity – it ‘applies to all students and staff of the University and to all activities associated with the University, whether or not on University property’, thereby covering all the activities described here including outreach off campus. At point 5, it indicates the commitment to ‘promote cross-cultural contact between different communities at all levels, foster understanding and respect, and seek to break down barriers’; and at point 3 confirms that the University ‘deplores all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination and seeks to provide an environment free from discrimination against students, staff and others on the grounds of gender, race, sexual orientation, religion/belief, disability or any other protected characteristic’ Equal Opportunities, Diversity and Inclusivity Policy Rev V1.4 (July 2022).
As a result of this activity, the proportion of first-generation students at the University continues to be very high, with 3116 students who began a degree in 2022/23 not having a parent who had experience of higher education (54% of those providing evidence).
Public and Business Engagement
The University provides free access to many lifelong learning resources:
Library: any member of the public can use the University library on presentation of two recognised forms of identification, one of which must include a current address.
Archive/special collections: Heritage Quay, the University’s Archive and Special Collections, is open free to the public 7 days a week on campus. It provides access to collections in areas ranging from sport (e.g. the Rugby League archive), to music (the British Music Collection, the major UK collection of contemporary music material), to politics.
Computers: the public can use computing facilities in the University library, on the same basis as access to the library itself. University of Huddersfield Press (UoHPress) promotes open access: a large number of educational publications are available for free download. The calendar year 2022 saw:
- Books: 23,062 accesses (1012 views and 22,050 downloads)
- Journals: 232,701 journal accesses (147,102 views and 85,599 downloads) - up 37% on the previous year
Programmed public lifelong-learning events include:
Applied Sciences Public Lecture Series: a long-standing free lecture series, attracting large audiences, making topical science subjects accessible to the public; subjects range widely from wildlife crime to proteins.
The Harold Wilson Lectures: established in 2004, and convened in collaboration with the Diocese of Wakefield/Huddersfield, these free public lectures address issues of faith and politics. Very large audiences have heard speakers including Tony Benn, Rowan Williams, Ann Widdecombe, and Alan Johnson; in 2019 the speaker was the Bishop of Leeds, and resuming after Covid in 2022, Sir John Major delivered the lecture. In 2023, the lecturer was Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, now Paymaster General and Cabinet Office Minister in the UK Government.
The University has inaugurated major cultural events, notably The Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (founded 1978), which continues to be based at the University, and is probably the major festival of new and experimental music in Western Europe (Royal Philharmonic Awards shortlisted again in 2020), and The Huddersfield Literature Festival (founded 2006) – both of which have significant education programmes, including free educational events on campus.
Adult learning courses are run on a programmed basis, for example through Heritage Quay, the University's archives and special collections service, which has a remit for public engagement - examples have ranged from music education through sport to local industry.
The University has a very extensive and long-standing programme of education outreach, provided free, on a programmed basis, particularly with schools and colleges across the north of England and Midlands but also further afield. This is delivered in part by specialist Schools and Colleges Liaison Staff, and in part by established academic staff from the seven academic schools which make up the University. Beyond this, individual academic Schools provide specific programmes of outreach, e.g. in science: the School of Applied Sciences made available secondary and sixth-form workshops with the National Coal Mining Museum of England called ‘What’s in Our Water’, looking at the science behind acid mine drainage. Other partners for the School’s work on STEM workshops and summer science camps include Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing. Jeremy Hopwood, leading this activity, was awarded second place in recognition of valuable contributions to the community by ‘Communities Who Can’.
Research
The Huddersfield Centre for Research in Education and Society (HudCRES) conducts research focused on addressing educational and social challenges. The Centre’s members, who are internationally renowned academics, are committed to undertaking research which makes a real difference to people's lives through engagement with stakeholders at all stages - from design to dissemination.