Annual Review 2020/21

Annual Review 2020/21 A university for a changing world

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WELCOME The University of Suffolk is all about transformation – transforming individuals, our community, our region and beyond. We do this through education, training, research, and business and community engagement.

In 2020/21 we ensured we kept on track with this agenda, and it is pleasing to be able to report a very successful year in so many ways.

Although the campus was physically closed for many months of the academic year, business as usual continued; we responded well to the pandemic, and our efforts to support students ensured that student retention, progression and achievement not only happened but improved which is a credit to all involved. Agile and flexible working became the norm and students and staff remained creative, resilient, and adaptive as we continued to shape and create our ‘normal for now’.

Welcome

But as a young university, business as usual is not enough. We continue to focus on a sustainable future and despite the pandemic, we have continued to innovate in a number of areas. Take a look through this review and you will discover we radically changed our approach to learning and teaching by introducing Block and Blend and we have significantly invested in our research agenda.

We redesigned our approach to

business and industry engagement and delivered on three large projects; the DigiTech Centre, the Hold, and the innovative Integrated Care Academy which will take up residence in a previously redundant building on our site soon to become home to the new Health and Wellbeing quarter opening in the forthcoming year.

Alongside growth in our international, postgraduate and partnership student numbers, we end the year in a financially strong position for our future. All of this activity alongside significant focus on ensuring that our students have the best experience we could possibly offer with improvements in league table positions and an increase of 22 places in the Guardian league table from 119 to 97.

So, whilst the year has had its ongoing challenges, it has also brought significant opportunities that we have been able to grasp and lead on which has been very rewarding. I remain pleased and proud of the way in which the University of Suffolk embraces its transformation agenda, I commend this annual review to you and look forward to seeing where the journey takes us in the year to come.

Professor Helen Langton Vice-Chancellor and CEO

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Learning at Suffolk

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Graduation

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International Student Recruitment

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Students’ Union

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Health and Wellbeing Quarter

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Academic Partnerships

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The DigiTech Centre

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The Hold

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Research

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People and Places

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Business Engagement

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Our Alumni

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Events

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Facts and Figures

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LEARNING AT SUFFOLK Student Recruitment and Outreach “The tutors were very friendly and clear with their information, I was nervous about it but they were very warm, open and welcoming and I learnt a lot.”

I Wonder Wednesday participant

Learning at Suffolk

The Student Recruitment and Outreach activity was predominately online throughout 2020-21 as restrictions continued. Working closely with schools and colleges across the country, the team adapted their programme for delivery online, bringing participants together with academic teams to organise virtual academic engagement.

“The session was very insightful and enjoyable.

I especially liked the interactive segments.”

I Wonder Wednesday participant

The ‘I Wonder Wednesday’ academic tasters were especially successful.

Covering over twenty subjects representing all four academic Schools, they provided hour-long interactive sessions for school and college students in Years 11-13. Over 150 students took part, from more than sixty schools across the UK, Europe and even the USA. The series was nominated for a sector award for ‘Best low budget initiative’ and it encouraged academic teams to develop virtual tasters, which continue to be offered as part of our wider suite of activities.

Physical activities were reintroduced at the end of the year, including campus tours for applicants and their families.

We delivered over sixty individual tours during the first three weeks of offering them in May, and over 200 by the end of August.

The new ‘Access’ and ‘Schools Liaison’ teams at the University have rationalised the work of the schools-based staff. The Access team combines the access, outreach, widening participation and community engagement work of the University, while the school recruitment team and the schools-based Network for East Anglian Collaborative Outreach (neaco) team have become the Schools Liaison team. Both are part of the wider neaco project working with all universities/colleges within the partnership, and the University of Suffolk’s recruitment teams.

The Schools Liaison team deliver outreach and widening participation activity across all state schools in Suffolk, including targeted outreach to identified schools and Sixth Form colleges. The pandemic has required creativity within the team to produce programmes focusing on repeat interactions with students both online and in-person. The team have also collaborated with the Ipswich Opportunity Area using their University student mentors to deliver a 6-week programme of mentoring activity to Year 10 students at Ipswich Academy.

The Access team focused on improving the knowledge and experience of Higher Education for a range of learners. They placed specific emphasis on underrepresented groups working closely with the local Further Education colleges. They aimed to improve local knowledge of Higher and Degree Apprenticeships and Arts, Media and Design courses, increasing understanding and awareness of options after school/ college for parents and carers through

the Parent and Carer Ambassador Scheme. The team also ran the ‘Never Too Late’ mature learners conference, welcoming local students on access courses to the University for academic taster sessions and to receive support with personal statements and UCAS applications.

Learning at Suffolk

Network for East Anglian Collaborative Outreach

Lesson in a Box New this year to the University’s outreach offer is the ‘Lesson in a Box’ activity providing a unique opportunity for students nationally to take part in an academic taster session. Aimed at Year 12 and 13, each box is unique and contains classroom materials with digital content, offering a fun and interactive session.

Rising in University League Tables The University has risen in two reputable league tables; The Guardian University Guide 2022 and The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022, rising 30 places in The Guardian University Guide to 67 out of 121 and 17 places in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022.

A number of courses were ranked in the top 20 in The Guardian University Guide 2022 including History ranked 4th in the UK and English and Creative Writing ranked 8th in the UK. The success in the league tables followed positive National Student Survey (NSS) results for BA (Hons) History, which has consistently achieved 100% in student satisfaction for nearly the past decade. BA (Hons) English also achieved 100%.

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Innovations in Learning and Teaching The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a mass move of learning and teaching to a fully online environment, recognising the need to reflect on the longer-term impact of the pandemic on the lives of students. The University looked to the wider international learning and teaching community to explore innovations and key to this was the belief that students want and need to engage in active modes of learning alongside technology-enhanced learning. Online learning is no longer necessarily seen as isolating, but instead, a social form of learning and an effective mechanism for fostering cooperative student endeavor.

Block and Blend The traditional learning model would see students study three consecutive modules over a semester, with assessment for all three modules at the end.

Block and Blend learning sees students engage with a single module at a time, normally over five weeks, including assessment, combined with blended delivery which provides learning across a mixture of face-to-face and online learning. This approach was designed and piloted across a selection of undergraduate programmes at Level 4.

Learning at Suffolk

Initial Findings Evaluating student experience and achievement on Block and Blend programmes indicated that it could realise greater engagement, and an average 10% increase in assessment grades. Students reported that it allowed them to deep dive into topics, gave them an improved sense of efficacy and control, and enabled better time management.

The University has now implemented block and blend more widely across all Schools and continues to evaluate retention and achievement and grow the understanding of this approach for students on part-time modes of learning and those with disabilities.

Graduation

GRADUATION University of Suffolk Graduation 2021 and Mark Your Achievement events

Over 2,500 students graduated from the University of Suffolk in ceremonies across the county in October 2021. The majority of students graduated at ceremonies held on the Ipswich Waterfront, home of the University of Suffolk.

Professor Helen Langton, Vice-Chancellor and CEO, said “We were delighted to be able to welcome back the Class of 2021 for their graduation ceremonies. It has been a challenging time for everyone especially those finishing their degrees and going into the world of work or further study. We are very proud of our graduates and enjoyed celebrating their achievements.”

Earlier in the year, in May, the University marked the achievements of the Class of 2020. Due to the Covid-19 restrictions on large scale public events, the Mark Your Achievement events took the place of the usual graduation ceremonies which were scheduled for October 2020. The events gave graduates the opportunity to wear their gown and be formally congratulated by the University in the presence of their family, and have the traditional photographs taken.

Honorary Awards Honorary awards recognise notable contributions to the educational or cultural wellbeing of society, in business, industry, commerce or enterprise, for academic distinction, for public or community service, or for an exceptional contribution to the University of Suffolk.

Honorary awards were presented in October to Stephen Foster, Duncan Bathgate, Geoff Barton, Celia Edey OBE, Albert Grant OBE, Cynthia Capey, Robin Christopherson MBE, Rae Snape and Susan Falch-Lovesey.

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INTERNATIONAL STUDENT RECRUITMENT The 2020/2021 academic year saw a great deal of change and adaptation for international recruitment at the University of Suffolk.

International Student Recruitment

Due to travel restrictions imposed as a result of the pandemic, all recruitment activity was conducted online with the team attending more than 25 virtual recruitment events engaging with prospective students from West Africa, Europe, East and Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and North America.

During this time, it was encouraging to see an uplift in the number of international applications when compared with previous years, which can be attributed to an increase in marketing activities and the development of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes appealing to an international audience. In addition, the development of the

DigiTech Centre has proven a popular draw for students wishing to study Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Cyber Security, Computing, Web and Mobile Development programmes.

The University continues its reputational growth outside of the UK with a number of partnerships in development. The current partnership with the British Chamber of Commerce in Indonesia, BritCham, will help to grow the University of Suffolk brand in Indonesia, providing support with recruitment, marketing, and partnership activities across the country.

With the development and implementation of our International Strategy, the International Student Recruitment team is energised and optimistic about the future and the recent appointment of a new Head of International Student Recruitment represents the latest step towards working diligently to achieve the objectives set for the year ahead.

Students’ Union

STUDENTS' UNION In March, the student body elected new student leaders, Alex Gooch, President of Education and Meg Wright, President of Activities and Wellbeing and has begun a strategic review of its purpose and future direction, consulting the student body, university staff, and current and former sabbatical officers. This review will inform a new strategic direction.

The student officer team worked on campaigns including; Black History Month, LGBTQ+ History Month and World Aids Day amongst others. The team also hosted the Students’ Union Awards - an annual celebration of the efforts and success of all our staff and students, and Green Suffolk had a great launch running workshops, planting sessions and litter picking.

The SU also launched Suffolk Plus a tiered reward system, created to recognise the hard work of student volunteers and to help enhance their employability, giving them both a recognisable award, and an opportunity to reflect on the skills they have developed as a result of their volunteering.

SHOP SU reopened in September and has been busy with lots of customers.

The SU delivered an in-person Fresher’s experience to our Ipswich students and is currently reviewing its offer for the University of Suffolk partner college students to ensure the delivery of fair representation and services to them.

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The SU Advice service continues to support students by offering free, independent, impartial advice across a range of academic and wellbeing areas, helping students to understand and make use of relevant University polices. For the academic year 2020/21 SU Advice worked on 230 cases and enquiries compared to 151 cases and enquires the previous academic year.

In 2021/22 four teams are competing in British Universities and Colleges Sports (BUCS) across three sports badminton, football and netball. The SU is also running a diverse sports programme open to all abilities. There are currently twenty-eight student groups run by our first hybrid Activities Committee and in 2021 the SU offered free Spanish and British Sign Language courses.

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HEALTH AND WELLBEING QUARTER It will be the leading academic partner for local health and social care services working in mental health, care for older people and end of life care, and for all people and communities who are interested in learning, including service users, their families and carers.

Formerly known as the East Building, this new development on the Ipswich campus will house two floors of brand-new clinical simulation facilities, featuring two state-of-the-art hospital wards, a midwifery birthing unit, a new sports and exercise facility, a working radiography imaging suite, counselling/physiotherapy clinic rooms and the Suffolk Institute of Health and Wellbeing Research.

Health and Wellbeing Quarter

We are proud that the Health and Wellbeing Quarter will also house the Integrated Care Academy and students joining us in 2022 will be among the first to have access to this brand-new facility.

This is an exciting partnership between the University of Suffolk, the Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care System, Suffolk County Council, Healthwatch Suffolk and others from the voluntary and community sector, such as Suffolk Mind and local hospices.

This new initiative has been established to support the changing needs of health and social care, and to help sustain and develop joined-up services for the health and wellbeing of our population in Suffolk, North East Essex and beyond.

The Health and Wellbeing Quarter development, and all associated activity, positions’ the University of Suffolk as one of the most wellequipped and innovative providers of health and social educators in the UK.

Supporting Public Health England The University was part of only a handful of higher education institutions to participate in a pilot for Covid-19 asymptomatic testing.

We worked with Public Health England to deliver this project and contributed to the creation of a best practice guide for other institutions to follow.

University of Suffolk at East Coast College The College in Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft offers Foundation and Honours degrees. It boasts an internationally renowned centre of excellence in engineering, offshore and related maritime safety and logistics, and an Energy Skills Centre.

University of Suffolk at Suffolk New College The University of Suffolk at Suffolk New College is located in a purposebuilt £70m facility. Students benefit from a higher education social space, teaching innovation centre and a civil engineering laboratory.

University of Suffolk at West Suffolk College An established centre in Bury St Edmunds, the College offers careerrelated degrees and Teacher Training programmes.

DanceEast This partnership delivers the BA (Hons) Dance programme; the first work-based dance degree in the UK, responding to growing demand for dance artists working in health, education and community settings.

Academic Partnerships

ACADEMIC PARTNERSHIPS London School of Commerce The University validates a range of business-related undergraduate and taught postgraduate degree programmes for delivery by LSC. Students graduate with a University of Suffolk award.

Unicaf Unicaf recruits, enrols and supports online learners to University awards approved for distance online delivery.

On successful completion, graduates receive a University of Suffolk award.

Unitas The University works in partnership with Unitas to validate Foundation degrees in youth justice, BA (Hons) Youth Justice and BA (Hons) Crime, Criminology and Criminal Justice, delivered via distance learning to those working, or aspiring to work, in the youth justice system.

Unlocked Graduates Unlocked Graduates is a graduate prison officer leadership programme.

Students completing the programme are awarded an MSc in Leadership and Custodial Environments from the University of Suffolk.

Global Banking School The University validates a range of undergraduate degree programmes within GBS’s School of Management.

Successful students graduate with a University of Suffolk award.

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Initial Teacher Training The University works in partnership with four Initial Teacher Training (ITT) providers. Successful trainees receive a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE), enabling them to gain Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).

12 The DigiTech Centre is a collaboration between the University and BT, with funding from the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership. It officially opened its doors to staff and students in August 2021 to provide training in innovative digital skills. Specialist high-tech laboratories form the heart of the new centre, shared jointly by University staff and students, and businesses from Adastral Park and across the region.

Students at DigiTech are working in key digital areas of Data Science and AI, Cyber Security and Digital Forensics, as well as core computing and software and network engineering, and the centre forms part of the ‘Innovation Martlesham’ technology cluster.

The DigiTech Centre

The network engineering facility has benefited from working closely with Juniper Networks to establish our Academic Alliance. This gives students

free access to industry certified courses, and the physical Network Sandpit through the donation of a comprehensive range of enterprise network equipment and switches, the Sandpit environment allows learners to physically configure the equipment and then test and break and fix.

The new Smart Living Research Lab is nearing completion and will be opened at Easter 2022. This facility is modelled on a residential dwelling and will allow research and demonstration of smart living technologies. The building is also known as the EcoLab and has been designed to meet the latest environmental standards and was the result of a design hackathon involving students and run by the University’s Architecture department.

The Centre recently hosted the Smarter Suffolk Hackathon as a key event within the Suffolk County Council’s Smarter Suffolk Live Labs.

It was co-ordinated by University Research Associate Hannah Steventon and provided an opportunity to explore and develop new ideas in the science and data behind the decisions that drive Suffolk County Council’s highways services and road usage.

The DigiTech Centre is now seeking research partners and new opportunities for collaboration.

The Hold

THE HOLD The Hold Opens with a Royal Visit His Royal Highness, The Duke of Gloucester visited the University in September 2021 as part of his tour of the county and officially opened The Hold.

The Duke, a trained architect, viewed an exhibition curated by the University’s Architecture students. HRH was elected a corporate member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in 1972, and his fellowships include those of the Institution of Structural Engineers and the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland.

His Royal Highness met Professor Mohammad Dastbaz, Deputy ViceChancellor of the University and Dr Liana Psarologaki, Course Leader for BA (Hons) Architecture and the elected Chair of Education for the RIBA

East region. The Duke presented the award for Outstanding Architecture Student 2020-21 to Lois Whitnell.

Lois also recently won the Chairs’ Award for Enhancing the Natural Urban Environment - Education and Cohabitation at the RISE Awards which recognises, celebrates and showcases exemplar case studies from the Built Environment.

During his visit, His Royal Highness officially opened The Hold, the £20million archives and heritage centre on the Ipswich Waterfront, a University partnership project. He met Tim Greenacre, Chief Operating Officer at the University, Dr Harvey Osborne, Course Leader for History and Acting Chairman of the Suffolk Records Society and History students.

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RESEARCH New Professorial Appointments

In March 2021 the University of Suffolk successfully made its first submission to the Research Excellence Framework (REF).

The REF assesses three distinct elements of research at UK Universities on a periodic basis (usually 6-7 years) and they are; the quality of research outputs (60%), the impact of research beyond academia (25%) and the university environment supporting research (15%). The REF 2021 submission was led by Professor Emma Bond and the outcomes will be published in May 2022. Although a relatively new university, a track record has quickly been established for excellence in social policy and social work research across a number of specialist areas and fifteen staff were submitted to one unit of assessment – UOA 20 Social Work and Social Policy.

The University’s exciting research agenda continues to grow and a further strategic milestone in

Research

developing this research culture was the appointment of five new Professors aligning with the University’s pillars of distinctiveness. The new Professors are each leading research institutes and research in the areas of distinctiveness; Health and Wellbeing, Sustainability, Social Justice and Crime, and the research programme in the Suffolk Business School.

Professor Valerie Gladwell joined as the Director of the Institute of Health and Wellbeing alongside Professor Colin Martin, appointed as the Clinical Director of the Institute of Health and Wellbeing. Environment and sustainable technologies specialist, Professor Darryl Newport was appointed as the Director of the Suffolk Sustainability Institute and Professor Miranda Horvath has joined as the Director of the Institute of Social Justice and Crime. The University has also appointed Clare Rigg as Professor of Leadership and Management in Suffolk Business School.

The University is extremely proud of the research agenda which is widely recognised for being agile, responsive, highly collaborative and grounded in robust scientific and ethical approaches. The programme of national and international research significantly contributes to scientific, medical and technological innovation and solutions, evidencing and informing key policy debates.

Research

Institute of Health and Wellbeing There are exciting times ahead in research across all specialisms.

Health and Wellbeing research at the University of Suffolk is strengthened with the appointment of two Professors to the Institute of Health and Wellbeing. Professor Valerie Gladwell started in her role as Director of the Institute in September 2021.

Professor Colin Martin joined as Clinical Director at the same time.

The investment by the University for these two positions show the desire and commitment to increase research in this area. This transdisciplinary institute will bring together currently research-active staff and provide a supportive environment to enable all staff and students from across the University to get involved in high level research.

for research have emerged. These include: perinatal wellbeing; long term conditions; physical activity and sport; and whole-system approaches to wellbeing. In the coming years, using a variety of methods, collaborating with partners and identifying key issues, the Institute will be working on a range of projects.

Watch out next year for a series of breakfast meetings and open lectures which will discuss the work further and share opportunities to become involved with the exciting and innovative developments.

Professor Colin Martin explained, “The Institute will work closely with local and regional organisations creating diverse partnerships to deliver applied research, knowledge exchange and innovation in health and wellbeing across the human lifespan”.

Professor Gladwell commented: “It is important that the research can be translated so that it is useable and implemented into practice. Our way of working emphasizes the importance of co-design to Institute activity ensuring that innovative approaches are developed to create real-world solutions for optimising health and wellbeing across Suffolk and beyond”.

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Following on from “Shaping the Institute” workshops and a series of online activities held in October for all academic staff, some real strengths

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Suffolk Sustainability Institute It is a new era for the Institute with the appointment of Director, Professor Darryl Newport.

Building on the University’s continued investment in sustainability within individual Schools and across the campus with the development of many bespoke areas of environment and sustainability research.

Professor Newport comes to Suffolk with a long history in Sustainability and Environmental research. He was the former founding member and Director of the Sustainability Research Institute at the University of East London since 2001.

The Institute is expanding the team having interviewed and offered two new research fellow positions, it has its first PhD student, with another offer awaiting approval.

They have been involved in two research funding opportunities, one with Natural England, and a Knowledge Transfer Partnership application in collaboration with the Business School and Paddy and Scott’s, a well-known name to the University.

Working with the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership, the Institute has been awarded a Communities Renewal Fund grant that brings academic, government and third sector agencies together from around the Eastern region.

In the final stages of development is a Project Change Request for the Institute to partner existing multimillion-pound ERDF projects Eastern New Energy (ENE) and South East New Energy (SENE) working with academic, local government and industry partners the projects will focus on the necessary decarbonisation of infrastructure across the whole of the South East.

The development of the Institutes ‘Ecolab’ at Adastral Park is a key research ‘living laboratory’ working with academia and industry to demonstrate and test innovative systems and processes in a real-time situation and already attracting many novel technology providers including BT as hosts.

Research

Professor Newport has been invited to sit on a number of regional boards including Suffolk Climate Change, Environment and Energy Board (SCCEEB) and Essex Net Zero Innovation Network. He also sits on the National Energy Skills Consortium for the University.

The Institute for Social Justice and Crime (ISJ&C) has evolved from the Suffolk Institute for Social and Economic Research (SISER).

Established in 2016, SiSER quickly became renowned for its specialist fields – online abuse, domestic abuse, sexual abuse, youth unemployment and youth participation. In 2021 the ISJ&C became a pan University, multi-disciplinary research institute and Professor Miranda Horvath was recruited to join as Director of the Institute. Professor Horvath is a leading international researcher in the field of forensic psychology, specifically Violence Against Women and Girls.

The ISJ&C is committed to working closely with the third sector, businesses, law enforcement agencies, health services and policy makers to ensure that our research is focused on practical solutions to real-world problems to create change.

Through consultations with academic staff at the University and external stakeholders, five themes have been identified to become the focus for developing specialism and excellence within the Institute, they are: People, Justice and Security; Gender and Sexual Minorities; Trauma, Violence and Abuse; Young People and Childhood; Global Majorities.

Research

Institute for Social Justice and Crime The Institute is working on 10 research projects from a diverse range of funders including the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime, the Home Office, Office of the PCC for Norfolk, Survivors in Transition, Drive Charity, Crimestoppers, Standing Together Against Domestic Violence, Office of the Domestic Abuse Commissioner and ICENI Ipswich. The ISJ&C is home to two leading international networks the Violence Against Women and Girls Research Network (vawgnetwork. mdx.ac.uk) and the Domestic Abuse Research Network (www.uos.ac.uk/ content/domestic-abuse-researchnetwork).

Committed to building a strong team of PhD students, researchers and support staff, the Institute has two PhD students (one of which is a fully funded PhD studentship from one of the research projects), a team of ten researchers (research assistants, research fellows and senior research fellows) and two administrators.

The team are keen to expand and develop, to create a nurturing culture where early career researchers are valued and mentored to ensure they achieve their potential with health and wellbeing prioritised.

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Examining the use and impacts of the Victim’s Right to Review in stalking cases

Nationally renowned stalking expert Alison Bird collaborated with Dr Katherine Allen and Dr Olumide Adisa to investigate how the Victim’s Right to Review (VRR) is being used in stalking cases.

Research

Researchers submitted Freedom of Information requests to police forces in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to assess how the VRR was being used in stalking cases.

Police disclosures indicated a significant rise in stalking-related VRR requests, with a more than 500% increase between 2015 and 2019. This rise suggests that stalking complainants have become increasingly aware of, and likely to access, the VRR scheme since its introduction. However, reported outcomes indicate that in the clear majority of cases, the original police decision to take no further action is upheld (54.1%) or the request is judged to be ineligible (22.5%).

Further, evidence from stalking survivors suggested that some complainants were not being informed about their right to review, or only learned about it via their Independent Stalking Advocacy Caseworker (ISAC).

Alison Bird said “Our research and my experience show that often victims are not told by police that they have a right to review. Additionally, when they are told and they do request a review - findings show that the majority of reviews support the original outcome.

If police work more closely with ISACs we would be better able to achieve the right outcome for victims of stalking.

Often it is the lack of proactive investigation that fails stalking victims - so having an ISAC to advocate for stalking victims can help validate their experience and help support police in their investigations. We need a more transparent, impartial and robust review system and a collaborative approach between law enforcement and stalking case workers.”

Research

Domestic Abuse Research Network Since it was founded in June 2019 by Dr Olumide Adisa, the Domestic Abuse Research Network (DARNet) has seen incredible growth, with growing representation from a number of sectors and research, policy, and practice specialisms.

In 2021, DARNet has coordinated a virtual conference series on domestic abuse which attracted almost 500 delegates and featured more than 30 speakers from an array of sectors.

Conference reflections and highlights were published on the University website and disseminated via the DARNet digest.

Membership statistics DARNet currently has 216 subscribers A further 95 conference/workshop attendees have signed up to receive event-specific mailings 23% of subscribers work in higher education, with subscribers from 19 different universities 21% work in the voluntary sector, with the majority (73%) specifically working in abuse-related areas, including domestic abuse, economic abuse, psychological abuse and sexual violence 15% work for the Local Authority or in social care services 9% work in policing-related roles

2021 projects include: An investigation of police responses to ‘honour’ based abuse and forced marriage A report on the emergence and achievements of the national H.O.P.E network We have been proud to contribute to the evidence base on domestic abuse, ‘honour’ based abuse and other forms of violence and abuse, and look forward to supporting further highimpact cross-disciplinary research in the future.

Next steps From January 2022, DARNet is hosting a series of virtual seminars for early career researchers (ECR) working in the areas of gendered violence and abuse, affording them the chance to exchange knowledge and network.

Future plans include a research blog for ECRs who want to share their research and engage with the public. www.uos.ac.uk/content/domesticabuse-research-network

Research collaborations Over the past year, DARNet has collaborated on projects with Dr Roxanne Khan (Honour Abuse Research Matrix), Yasmin Khan (Halo Project) and Meena Kumari (H.O.P.E Training and Consultancy).

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PEOPLE AND PLACES University Estates Strategy The appointment in January 2021 of Nigel Lucker, the new Director of Estates was an opportunity to build on improvements of recent years with an Estate’s strategy to herald a new era of change for the University and the Estate Directorate, reinforcing the importance of providing good quality, flexible accommodation with the right facilities and scale to accommodate the teaching programmes.

People and Places

The Estates team recognise the importance of the University estate to attract and retain the best students, teaching and staff, in turn giving the University its status and reputation, seeking to provide accommodation and facilities to maintain and build on that reputation to become the best that we can be.

The key aim of the Estates strategy is to provide the structure and direction, to change and support the University

to deliver its strategic objectives.

At the centre is a clear framework for maximising the current portfolio and development programme enabling students and staff to study and work across the wonderful campus setting.

Recognising the need to integrate with partner organisations and communities this will include sharing facilities where appropriate with sustainability continuing at the heart of the planning and management processes, building on an excellent reputation for environmental performance.

Supported by the Board, the Senior Leadership Team have contributed to the strategy across a number of areas including; accommodation and services, issues with current provision, priorities for improvement to the estate and anticipating changes to demands for space within Schools and Directorates.

Despite recent challenges, the fabulous East Building is nearing completion housing new state-of-theart Health and Wellbeing provision, opening doors to new partnerships and supporting the University’s commitment to the health and wellbeing of the wider community.

Estates have taken the lead on the acquisition of St Clements Church, representing the ambitions and growth

People and Places

of the campus portfolio guided by the University’s space requirements and harnessing some of the positive aspects of working over the past 18 months in embedding an agile approach across the institution.

Agile working is described as the ability to work in the place and at the time most appropriate for the task in hand. Facilitated by excellent IT and flexible space, the aim is to provide a way of working allowing choice and flexibility whilst maintaining a productive, collaborative and supportive organisational culture.

While estates will be changing, the key values of the University of Suffolk will not as the organisation continues to embrace and foster a culture of collegiality, and a sharing of common values positively encouraging social interaction with colleagues from across the University to maintain strength and resilient. These core values are at the front and centre of the future Estates strategy.

National recognition for the Marketing and Communications Team The University’s Marketing and Communications Team were delighted to gain national recognition by being shortlisted for Marketing Team of Year in the Heist Awards.

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The pandemic posed a unique challenge for student recruitment marketing. The campaign, Never Stand Still, which returned the University to its roots of being ‘A University for a changing world’ identified the links between the uncertainty of a post-covid world with how the University prepares students to be agile and resilient. This resonated with our audience and the University performed well in the social media table for the education sector, EduRank, rising to our best-ever result of 27/210.

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Sustainability: Pushing Performance This academic year the University has implemented a variety of energy efficiency initiatives and further developed its’ campus biodiversity programmes and projects associated with sustainable travel. The University remains committed to improvements across all operational areas and continues to develop partnerships with key local and national bodies. This article provides a brief update on key activities, but for more details, please do download our Annual Report available here www.uos.ac.uk/sustainability received full planning permission combining the creation of a zerocarbon, affordable home, with a low embodied carbon build that will test dwelling behaviour and material and infrastructure performance.

Carbon and Consumption

People and Places

With partial campus closure, the pandemic had a substantial impact on carbon emissions performance.

This was most evident in a significant 77% drop in carbon emissions as measured against our 2010 baseline.

Initial granulation of data however was positive and able to demonstrate that much of this reduction can also be attributed to our renewable energy initiatives, lighting, insulation and building fabrication improvements.

We were delighted this year to add an additional 48kWp of solar panel installations, bringing the combined total of campus power generation to 88kWp, some of which will charge our four new EV vehicle charging bays. Partnering with Suffolk County Council (SCC) we also brought into operation the Hold battery storage system; a key piece of infrastructure for net zero ambitions and research innovation. Additionally, the EcoHouse demonstrator at the DigiTech Hub,

After the successful attainment of the University’s carbon reduction target of 43% by 2020/21 against the 2010 baseline, we are now producing a new Carbon Plan to be ratified in early 2022. This will create the priority framework for achieving carbon neutrality for scope 1 and 2 by 2030, with a net zero target for remaining scope 3 emissions by 2050 or sooner.

During 20/21 we also committed to fossil free divestment with People and Planet, ran several events on carbon literacy and working with SCC collaborated on the development of the Suffolk Climate Emergency Plan.

In addition, accurate water consumption monitoring across the estate is now in place. With the University located in an extremely high water stressed area, real time monitoring will enable us to highlight water inefficiencies, leaks and systems failures, whilst obtaining the baseline data required to generate a water conservation strategy.

Our recycling rate remains high at 97% across all waste streams, with less than 3% to landfill and we are now looking towards a more stringent KPI to meet a zero waste policy and robust reduction in waste generation at procurement source.

The dialogue around sustainability and climate change can appear quite technocratic, conveyed in terms of percentages and degrees against increasingly retracted timelines.

The focus on data can present a clinical and remote edge, detached from environmental impacts and activity changes required on the ground. In shaping our sustainability output, these national and global metrics matter and have informed our operational strategic direction, highlighting a need to accelerate our performance improvement and revisit our KPI’s and interim annual targets to stay on track. Nowhere was this more apparent than in changes to the decision-making processes that drive institutional operational behaviour and student experience.

This year we developed a project review process that embeds sustainability at the planning stage, ensuring materiality and equipment selection include circular economy thinking and energy efficiency from the outset; an approach that we have extended to our cleaning and HVAC service providers. We are now looking to roll out a minimum standards specification for all new major infrastructure and retrofits that stipulates the same requirements.

Biodiversity The Biodiversity Plan continued to drive project implementation across campus throughout 2020/21, with milestones achieved against the Action Plan. Urban biodiversity and student and staff experiences that support connections and contact with nature create positive wellbeing outcomes, and living-lab curriculum and research opportunities. As Covid-19 restrictions eased, a number of volunteer student sessions took place to assist in the creation of the first phase of our wildlife garden, including the planting of edible hedging, the creation of a pond and a bug bank.

People and Places

Sustainability in Decision Making

We also established a wildflower meadow next to New Street, making for an impactful landscape. This provides a rich and supportive habitat for a range of species and habitat lure to our Swift Box and call system installed during the winter in collaboration with Suffolk SOS on the Atrium roof.

Accelerating our sustainability and decarbonisation performance is a challenge for the entire HE sector; with considerable work to be done.

But there are good reasons to feel encouraged by the University of Suffolk’s strategic pathway as we continue our drive towards an academically rigorous, sustainability focused curricula and campus.

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24 Business Engagement, Careers and Employability The Directorate of Business Engagement, Careers and Employability (BECE) is home to the University’s alumni and development activities, the provision of careers, employability and enterprise support for our students and graduates; our business development and knowledge exchange activities to support local businesses; and our provision of apprenticeships focused on employer-led education.

Careers, Employability and Enterprise

Business Engagement

Joining the directorate in 2021 to establish the Careers, Employability and Enterprise team, brings together careers and start-up support to reflect the evolving nature of work and graduate destinations. The involvement of business and alumni engagement is an essential aspect of successful careers, employability and enterprise education, and facilitates collaborative working.

Covid-19 required online delivery for much of the team’s work. However, the experience of the previous year enabled enhancements ensuring students and graduates had meaningful access, wherever they were based in the world. The team continued delivery of activities, including the Enterprise Skills programmes and two large Careers Weeks. The Careers Weeks were

held via the University’s Brightspace platform, allowing students easier connection to the external community than ever before and a wide variety of local and international organisations, including BT, Sanctuary Graduates and Suffolk Constabulary, and several from the alumni community, joined the activities. The engagement of the external community at such a challenging time was highly valued by all involved.

The team ensured students continued to access the Micro Placement scheme, with 17 students, across all year groups, able to complete paid internships within the University taking on projects within a range of departments, including Sustainability, Chaplaincy, Student Life and Science Labs. The scheme is a success, with placement students in their final year moving into diverse graduate roles with national and international organisations.

Business Development and Knowledge Exchange Over the year the University have invested significantly to strengthen their knowledge exchange capability, bringing in business development managers aligned to areas of distinctiveness driving industry engagement and income diversification. This has led to the formation of early-stage partnerships, a redesign of processes making knowledge exchange more streamlined, and building strong relationships with academics understanding their expertise and the correlation with business.

ICET (In Career Education and Training)

The Suffolk Business School formally established the Leadership Academy this year, becoming an approved centre for ILM courses – testament to the quality of the University’s academics. This now gives a home and identity to executive education and leadership and management development.

Apprenticeships In May 2021, the University introduced a new Director of Apprenticeships who has worked very closely with the Senior Leadership Team to further develop the apprenticeship provision.

The Apprenticeship Director has introduced a range of new roles to strengthen and support the delivery, including a Compliance Officer, an APTEM Specialist and three new Practice Educators.

The 20/21 data for overall apprenticeship achievement is now 82.6%, a 16.2% improvement from the previous year. The overall retention for 20/21 apprenticeships was 94%, a massive achievement considering the challenges apprentices and employers have faced in the last 12 months.

Also introduced were a range of new policies and procedures including a new model of delivery for functional skills, the introduction of employer and learner forums, the mapping of English and maths into curriculum delivery and a stronger focus on employability skills and compliance procedures. Curriculum leaders’ managers and teams now have a better understanding of the required components of an apprenticeship standard due to the ongoing CPD programme and introduction of an annual conference.

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A successful bid was submitted to ESF this year for a c£1M project improving the leadership and business skills of Norfolk & Suffolk SMEs, to promote growth. The core team were recruited as the main point of liaison between the University, the ESF Programme Manager and key stakeholders with time dedicated to ensuring project monitoring processes are fit for purpose and comply with ESF auditing and reporting requirements. Also, within this academic year key regional partnerships were formed, structuring the programme’s Steering Committee and building relationships to support project marketing. These include the Chambers of Commerce, county and local councils and organisations including Tech East and BT.

Leadership Academy

Business Engagement

The University also became one of the first Higher Education providers to establish a partnership with SkillsBuilder ensuring that employability, enterprise and entrepreneurship is embedded throughout every course on offer.

Employer forums were held, in collaboration with SkillsBuilder, in 2021 enabling the local business community the opportunity to feedback

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OUR ALUMNI Alumni Relations and Development

The Alumni Relations and Development team create an active and engaged community of graduates, maintaining lifelong relationships to build a strong society of loyal supporters and ambassadors. Just as our Alumni continue to benefit from the institution in a number of ways, the University continues to benefit from the sharing of their expertise with staff, students, and each other, developing their professional networks and becoming our key supporters of the future.

We have seen a significant increase in the number of alumni who want to reconnect with us this year, keen to share their experiences and highlight their success, encouraging our current and prospective students.

Our Alumni inspire us, and we make strong links with them as individuals and the organisations they work with. They continue to share their knowledge and skills, being invited to deliver talks/lectures and share their stories. They also provide invaluable feedback, impacting directly on our course design and future vision and join focus groups to develop and enhance our student experience.

Our Alumni

“I would not have been a Political Advisor at the heart of our political system, or a postgraduate student without having studied at Suffolk” Jack Shaw, BSc(Hons) History, Class of 2014 Senior Policy Researcher, House of Commons, Westminster

They have provided sessions during our careers events, showing the breadth of their careers and offering their perspective on topics such as networking and applying for jobs.

We continue to support our graduates offering flexible assistance adapted to their needs and requirements. We offer careers and employability advice online and in-person alongside access to facilities and discounts for CPD and postgraduate study. Soon we will be holding reunion and networking events, continuing our Alumni Mentoring Scheme and Alumni blogs, providing a variety of ways to remain connected to us.

If you would like to know more about Alumni Relations, please contact us on alumni@uos.ac.uk

Your Gifts Support Change We have gratefully received donations from our supporters since 2016. These generous gifts enable us to make transformational contributions to our students, staff and facilities, supporting a variety of areas including raising our research profile, enhancing the student experience and continuing to improve our environment.

Unrestricted donations are directed to our Annual Fund and gifts of any size can have an immediate and significant impact on our students lives and contribute to the growth of our institution and our future impact regionally, nationally and internationally.

Wellness Walks hosted by our Student’s Union Training equipment for our football teams Social Sports for students, alumni and staff Care Packages for students Sports bursaries for students competing in elite sports The Suffolk Green Project, supporting our sustainability objectives Suffolk Student Wellbeing Ambassador Scheme continuation Kits and equipment for our badminton team Music equipment for our Christian Union Society A Wi-Fi enabled Microscope purchase for online study An interim laptop loan scheme for students waiting for DSA equipment.

Previously supported projects include, a range of health and wellbeing activities for our students, specialist research equipment, training equipment and resources, and the renovation and development of external areas of the campus.

A donation helps us to meet our ambitions to create change, to innovate, to revolutionise and ultimately to make history. Your gifts serve to form a major part of our future, allowing us to expand our activity and engage our communities in different and interesting ways.

Suffolk In Sync This year we embarked on our first major fundraising campaign, Suffolk in Sync, raising much needed funds for the Integrated Care Academy through a partnership for the health and wellbeing of the community. The Integrated Care Academy, located in our brand-new Health and Wellbeing quarter on the Ipswich Campus opening in 2022, will bring together existing University of Suffolk resources and build new capacity and capability, working with partners in teaching, research, knowledge partnerships, consultancy and facilities. It will enable the University to provide skilled professionals to play a significant part in the Covid-19 recovery and drive-up skills in our workforce well into the future.

Our Alumni

Projects supported by donations in 2020/21

To find out more about Suffolk In Sync issuu.com/uniofsuffolk/docs/ integrated_care_academy_ fundraising_campaign__ digi?fr=sY2E3NzMzMjg0MzA If you would like to discuss making a donation to the University, please contact us on giving@uos.ac.uk

“The University of Suffolk is a leader in widening participation for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Actively promoting 1st generation applicants to access education is a significant example of the University’s commitment and success. Donations have an enormous impact on the student experience, enhancing the employability of our graduates and providing numerous opportunities they may not have had otherwise” Dr Helen Pankhurst, University of Suffolk Chancellor

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EVENTS The cellar of the building was once a kitchen and still contains a Victorian sink and some rare surviving Delftware tiles dating from the early 1800s. Student Kerri Stevenson was particularly interested in the tiles wrote an article published in the bi-annual magazine of the Tile and Architectural Ceramics Society.

Applaud Café Second year history students at the University of Suffolk, Hannah Castle, Maria Senior and Kerri Stevenson were commissioned by the owners of Applaud Café in St Peter’s Street, Ipswich to research the premises 800 years old history, document the story and create an exhibition to be shared with the public and historians.

The students uncovered evidence of animal bones and hair found beneath the floorboards pointing to the site’s former use as a butchers and wig maker and they slowly unpicked the story of Robert Bowman who bought the premises in 1839 and gifted it to his three daughters Susannah, Harriet and Amelia who all married prominent Ipswich figures.

Events

Susannah married George Green Sampson, a doctor and several times mayor of Ipswich. Her sister, Harriet, married Robert Burrows, artist and photographer and Amelia married George Green Elliston, also a doctor and artist.

By the second half of the 19th Century the site was home to immigrant families from the Black Forest region of southwest Germany who established a successful clock and watchmaking business there. Later, the building became the home and business premises of an enterprising female milliner who saw the opportunities for ‘shop style’ layout.

This research and exhibition work was part of the Group Project – Work Related Learning in History module, Spring 2020.

East Show Like many arts courses up and down the country, the University of Suffolk’s Architecture, Digital Film Production, Fine Art, Graphic Design and Photography courses were unable to host their traditional end of year show in 2021.

The summer EAST Show is a celebration and showcase, an opportunity to network with invited industry guests and it’s an annual highlight within the University and beyond.

In 2020, when students experienced Covid-19 disruption at the end of their studies, each discipline created their own websites to showcase their work.

In 2021 the School of EAST supported students who had experienced 18

Events

months of lockdowns by employing a designer to create a website that united all of EAST’s arts courses.

Eastshow.uk launched at midday on 24 June, 2021 and was shared with industry contacts and artistic partners and listed on national platforms such as CreativeBoom. The site is a treasure trove of innovative thinking and artistic endeavour created during challenging circumstances, with minimal access to workshop equipment and physical resources, and is testament to the cohorts inventive mindset. The work is exemplary work and something of which they should all be proud.

With a collective website showcasing the talent, the exhibits reached an audience far beyond the usual physical show giving the students and the School of EAST far greater visibility on the national and international stage.

There is much to learn from exploring new ways of working.

Primadonna Festival and Suffolk Folk The University sponsored the Primadonna Festival in August, the first literary festival in the UK to specifically give prominence to work by women, which took place at the Museum of East Anglian Life in Stowmarket.

Students and Academics from the University’s BA (Hons) English degree and the MA in Creative and Critical Writing formed part of the festival’s Creative Writing ‘Masters’ programme which gave participants the chance to work with bestselling authors, playwrights and poets.

“Literary festivals do great things for books, writers and readers. Most importantly, they grow creative-minded communities and that’s what the University of Suffolk feels passionately about.

“The Primadonna Festival is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate and support our growing community of talented students and we hope to collaborate with the team again in the future.”

At the festival, students on the MA in Creative and Critical Writing showcased their new publication Suffolk Folk: An Anthology of East Anglian Tales for the 21st Century which is a collection of stories celebrating folk tales and legends from our region, with each one set in a different town or village.

From green children and fairies, to mermaids and monsters, these original retellings of folk tales contain the limitless power of storytelling and provide the perfect escapism from a busy, turbulent world.

Suffolk Folk is on sale in bookshops nationwide including in Hive which uses independent bookshops to source its books.

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Course leader for the MA in Creative and Critical Writing and international bestselling novelist, Dr Amanda

Hodgkinson, said: “Being part of the Primadonna Literary Festival was important for many reasons, not least because our students are the creative force of the future.

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FACTS AND FIGURES

2020/21 Overall Enrolled Students at Ipswich Campus and Partners'

2020/21 Classifications Group

Certificates Diplomas 1st 2:1 2:2 3rd Dist Merit Pass Unclassed

Business Education Engineering, Arts, Science and Technology Health Social Sciences and Humanities

38 357

29 0

35 75 79 4 12 2

8 0

72 1

145 7

90 1

0 0

44

12

90 104 63 16

5

14

22

2

49

10

91 161 109 5

14

26

58

0

127

22

89 139 49

74

124

68

12

4

Classifications for the Past 3 Years Facts and figures

Academic Year Certificates Diplomas 1st 2:1 2:2 3rd Dist Merit Pass Unclassed

Business: 11,789

Health: 2133

Education: 498

Social Sciences and Humanities: 2341

Engineering, Arts, Science and Technology: 1170

2018/19

525

112

217 367 203 36

77

133 206

2

2019/20

537

49

251 382 238 29 137

241 203

4

2020/21

615

73

309 491 302 33 166

316 239

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Numbers shown in Enrolled Heads - the total for 20/21 is 17,931

Facts and figures

The University spends its money on costs that support academic provision and the student experience. Although the University is a private limited company, it has no shareholders; any surplus generated by the University is re-invested directly back into academic provision and the student experience.

HEADLINE FIGURES FOR 2020/21

INCOME: £97.5m

EXPENDITURE: £86.5m*

Where does the University’s income come from?

What does the University spend its money on?

Student tuition fees account for 90% of the University’s income. The rest comes from government grants, NHS contracts, donations, research grants and other income generating projects and contracts. All sources of income help support the provision of teaching and research and the cost of providing the student experience, including a range of bursaries, new building projects and support staff.

The University employs approximately 530 staff and teaches more than 12,226 students* each year. To support our teaching activities and the student experience, the University must invest in a number of activities including support services and maintaining our campus estate.

We spent over £1,160,000 on bursaries and fee waivers for students, supporting students through their academic journey.

Research Grants, Contracts and Projects 2%

Premises 9%

Other Income 2%

Funding Body Grants 5%

Admin & Central Services 10%

Educational Contracts 1%

Bursaries 3% Tuition Fees 90%

Academic Depts and Services 78%

*Including transition costs

How does the University support ACCESS to Higher Education?

Every effort is made by the University to safeguard and promote fair access to all full-time and part-time undergraduate programmes, recognising the need to support students

2,154

throughout their whole student lifecycle. As part of the annual agreement with the Office for Students (OfS), the University spent over £1,160,000 on financial support for 2,154 students.

FAIR ACCESS IN NUMBERS

£1,160,000

NUMBER OF STUDENTS receiving financial support

How does the University INVEST in improving the student experience?

Capital spend by academic year (£’000s) 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2,201

2,195

3,130

2,861

9,210

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The University has invested £19.6 million on campus improvements and new teaching equipment over the past five years and plans to continue investing funds to improve facilities. In addition to this, each year the University sets aside £1 million of its budget for investment in its estate, IT infrastructure and portfolio development.

SPENT ON ACCESS BURSARIES and fee-waivers

uos.ac.uk