UC Leeds outscored other local higher education providers – including Leeds Arts University, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds Trinity University and the University of Leeds – in six of the seven categories in the 2023 National Student Survey (NSS).
Those included quality of course teaching (93%), learning opportunities (88%), academic support (92%) and assessment and feedback (just under 92%).
UC Leeds was ranked above the national average in most areas of the survey too, including on a newly introduced question about mental wellbeing support. Over 88% of its students, compared to 81.6% nationally, said they were happy with the information that was provided about such services.
Glowing feedback ‘a credit to our teams’
Dean of Higher Education at UC Leeds, Dr Sarah Marquez, said: “We are really pleased with this fantastic feedback, which is a testament to the hard work of our teaching and support teams. It is wonderful to hear that so many of our students have been pleased with the quality of our courses and instruction.
“It is particularly pleasing to see improved ratings in several areas where we were already scoring highly, including teaching and academic support. Satisfaction in learning resources, meanwhile, jumped by nine percent – from 72.5% to 81.6% – which reflects our recent investment in facilities like our fantastic new digital hub.
“Our goal is always to deliver high calibre education along with outstanding experiences, including talks from inspiring speakers and visits to outstanding workplaces, to our students.
“These wonderful survey results show how much such initiatives are valued and will spur us on to even greater things.”
Leeds Conservatoire students performing Macbeth at Leeds Playhouse. Photo credit – Abby Swain
Hitting the high notes
Leeds Conservatoire, meanwhile, achieved the highest scores of any UK conservatoire in two of the survey’s categories – for assessment and feedback, and organisation and management. The specialist provider of higher music and performing arts education also scored above the national average for conservatoires in all seven areas.
Those results were music to the ears of Leeds Conservatoire Principal, Professor Joe Wilson. He said: “We’re so proud of this year’s NSS results and are thankful to our staff for their continued commitment, and to our students for recognising the conservatoire with this fantastic feedback.
“Leeds Conservatoire has a national and international reputation for creativity and innovation, and for being a truly contemporary specialist teaching institution.
“Our staff and industry partners are at the cutting edge of their creative disciplines, and our students are encouraged and supported to explore their individual artistic identities.”
More than 339,000 students took part in the 2023 NSS to rate their experiences of higher education.
The Office for Students, which manages the survey, updated the format this year following a public consultation.
“Climate change and ecological destruction are some of the biggest challenges of our time.
“Schools, colleges and universities, like all institutions, have a responsibility to address them; and to meet the UK government’s target to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
“Luminate Education Group seeks to do so much sooner.”
We will achieve net zero when the amount of greenhouse gases that we are producing is equal to or less than those we are removing from the atmosphere.
Wide-ranging actions to hit our target
Some of the main steps we will be taking to achieve the goal by 2035 or earlier – the pledge also includes an aspirational date of 2030 – include:
Changing our estate and buildings to become more energy efficient, reduce waste and generate their own energy
Developing sustainable travel plans for each of our sites
Embedding sustainability and green activities into staff development, student life and across our curriculum
Encouraging biodiversity on our sites, ensuring areas are dedicated to wildlife and planting
Partnering with organisations that value sustainability and hold events to support climate action
Our members will continue to provide, and develop, the green skills instruction that our students and partners need to thrive in a zero carbon economy too. And carbon literacy training will be offered to all our students.
Regular updates on progress
To monitor progress, we are also committed to measuring our carbon footprint – benchmark data is currently being collated – and publishing the findings regularly.
Looking ahead, the pledge – formulated by our Climate Emergency Committee – adds: “We will commit to our pledge and develop a detailed roadmap to outline the actions, resources, time and behaviours that will be necessary to achieve our objectives.
“We can’t do this alone. We will work with stakeholders, businesses and our community through networks, events and advocacy.”
Leonardo da Vinci once gave this piece of advice: “To develop a complete mind: study the science of art. Study the art of science. Learn how to see. Realise that everything connects to everything else.”
Of course not everyone can grasp the intricacies of diverse disciplines as exceptionally as the great Italian renaissance polymath. But we all, in more modest ways, draw upon mixtures of creative thinking and scientific, mathematical or technical knowledge in everyday tasks.
Leonardo’s quote is more than 500 years old but it has not really been heeded. In the worlds of education and funding, for example, the ‘interconnectedness of everything’ is far from being universally accepted, with ‘art’ and ‘technical’ subjects still fenced off into distinct areas. That old-fashioned view, particularly due to its funding implications, is harming students, innovation and the economy. Which is why we need to talk about STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Maths).
A barrier to access and innovation
At our Quarry Hill campus, the arts are a vital part of what we do, with around 1,800 students pursuing creative subjects. But I’m an engineer, I have a BSc and have spent much of my working life in the backstages of theatres. Most of my time has been spent ‘doing maths’, even though I’ve been working in the arts.
When it comes to funding for courses, however, we still have this weird dichotomy based on divisions that really aren’t that clear-cut. At our campus we do have artists, like musicians and actors, but all around them, making it happen, are craftspeople, engineers, technicians and designers who need to be specialists in all kinds of science and maths.
And a number of subjects which have grown under the creative arts umbrella, like music production and photography, are also actually STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects. Then there are fields like computer game design that require deep and complex technical knowledge but are still classed as arts courses, because there is a reluctance to see past outdated categories.
That way of thinking is problematic because it inhibits innovation and collaboration, encouraging people to ‘stay in their lane’. It also results, far too often, in funding help not being available to anyone aged over 18 if their chosen field is deemed to fall on the ‘arts’ side of the line. That has damaging implications both for potential students – by effectively financially blocking older learners – and a performing arts industry that is screaming out for qualified theatre technicians.
That is a real win, but backstage theatre is just an extreme example of a much wider problem. We need an understanding at the highest level about STEAM, and how the arts and STEM constantly overlap.
Rethinking the economic argument
Instead, the focus tends to be all about the value of purely technical subjects. Of course we do need more engineers and scientists, but that message is often accompanied with the idea that creative courses are somehow less useful.
That’s a dangerous concept, and inaccurate: the arts industry is one of the biggest and fastest growing in the UK, and we don’t want young people to think they can’t be creative.
Where would STEM professionals be without those alternative thinkers that help provide that spark of innovation? Look at a company like Apple, which is known for pioneering new designs – it exists and flourishes because two people came together with very different, but complementary, skill sets.
Such success stories are perfect examples of STEAM in action. Our funding bodies, and politicians, would do well to learn from them when it comes to deciding which courses are worthy of financial support.
This thought piece by Richard Lee, our Assistant Principal of Creative Arts at Leeds City College, was recently published in The Yorkshire Post.
A new group has been started to ensure our staff can learn about and benefit from each other’s research.
Laura Kayes hopes the Research Development Group (RDG) will encourage colleagues from across multiple disciplines and campuses to share the extra work that so many of them are doing. The group also picks topics of general interest to discuss, and delves into existing research.
Laura, an Advanced Practitioner in teaching, learning and assessment and a Creative Arts lecturer at University Centre Leeds, uses her own research to inform her teaching.
She is currently undertaking funded* research – through her doctorate in education with the University of Sheffield – into the impact poverty can have on 16-19 year old learner outcomes in FE.
Laura was asked to take over the RDG shortly after it had started, at the end of 2021 – and jumped at the chance.
A chance to share insights
She said: “The group is about enhancing scholarly activity within Luminate Education Group. When I started conducting my own research, I realised that there’s a lot of valuable research that’s not being shared, and I wanted that to happen.
“Further education is rich in the diversity of its workforce but for some of our staff their first contact with higher education may be doing a PGCE or teaching qualification.
“So they’re not too familiar with higher education and it can seem a bit intimidating – there’s a tendency to always see the word ‘research’ and think it’s very academic, and I wanted to break that down.
“For the first session after I took over, I brought in research about how to be authentic in the workplace. That seemed a good starting place because it impacts everybody, is something we can all talk about and, though it had been researched, it had been done in a very human way.”
Gaining insights from outside our comfort zones
Laura is conscious that one of the strengths of the Luminate group – its size and breadth of campuses and disciplines – can also be a barrier when it comes to collaboration.
The RDG, however, is focused on encouraging colleagues to look outside of their own fields to see what they can learn from, and share with others.
She said: “As teachers we’re curious people, that’s why we’ve chosen to go into this field, but it’s really easy to become insular once term starts and we’re all so busy.
“We’re massive here at Luminate so sometimes it’s not so easy to share practice. But we all have lessons to be learnt from different fields.”
A bite-sized approach
Aware of how intimidating some research can seem, Laura is getting the group to adopt an approach that makes sophisticated ideas easily digestible.
At another recent meeting of the RDG, for example, Zach Cotter – who has a doctorate in neuroscience – spoke about his in-depth research into the workings of the brain.
The subject could easily have seemed impenetrable but Zach, a course leader for T Levels in Digital Design and Production and Digital Support Services, took pains to make sure that wasn’t the case.
Laura said: “Zach brought along some really scientific research about the mind and talked a lot about brain scans.
“There were some really challenging ideas in there but he was really gentle in his approach, so it didn’t feel overwhelming, and the feedback we got was that it was accessible to people.”
She added: “Going forward I want to use a gradual release model that lets us break research down into bite-sized pieces so we can discuss it, consider how we might apply it, and even conduct our own research on the impact of doing so.
“We have a lot of staff involved in research that not too many of the wider group know about, so the next step is to get them feeling like they have something valuable that they’re willing to share.”
The RDG is open to any colleague with an interest in educational research, and meets once every half-term.
*Laura’s research is being supported by the Association of Colleges (AoC) and Northern Council for Further Education (NCFE).
Two of our colleges have secured nearly £480,000 to boost adult numeracy skills in the region.
Leeds City College and Keighley College will receive just under £434,000 and £45,500 respectively via the Department for Education-led Multiply programme.
They will use the money to fund a multi-pronged push to raise standards among adults who don’t have a Level 2 qualification – roughly equivalent to a GCSE grade 4, or the old C grade – in maths.
The work will involve supporting learners through putting on new, flexible courses designed to fit around their lives, and training more staff to teach numeracy.
A practical focus
The focus will be on functional, rather than theoretical, maths to show how useful it can be in real-life situations ranging from budgeting for shopping to understanding borrowing, credit and interest.
Leeds City College’s Director of Adult Curriculum, Joanne Dye, said: “Everyone talks about how simple budgeting is, but many people find it hard even though it is an essential skill – and especially important now while we face a cost of living crisis.
“We are delighted to have secured funding to deliver this vital programme. We are committed to improving access to numeracy skills for adults in our region, and this programme is an important step in that direction.”
Addressing a costly skills gap
A 2022 report found that more than half – 52% – of adults in West Yorkshire were at ‘entry level and below’ in terms of numeracy. National Numeracy’s research, meanwhile, says low numeracy skills could be costing the UK up to £25 billion a year.
The Multiply programme – which is being funded over three years, with West Yorkshire Combined Authority distributing the finances – will seek to address the issue locally by reengaging adults with maths.
Leeds City College and Keighley College are already piloting a project that asks English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students to take on tasks like banking or supermarket shopping.
The programme will also open up new work and educational possibilities for participants, and take them a step closer to being able to benefit from further support such as the Lifelong Loan Entitlement.
Making maths accessible to all
Luminate Education Group Vice Principal Ann Marie Spry, said: “We need to support those who still need to get Levels 1 and 2 in maths, and have a fear of the subject, to thrive in their personal and professional lives.
“Offering bespoke support, this programme will also help English for Speakers of Other Languages students who struggle with language barriers.
“We hope that through delivering the programme we can help adults in all walks of life develop improved financial skills; from planning their meals, or creating shopping lists and budgets, to understanding taxes and pensions.
“This will enable them to create a system to feel more financially secure, now and in the future.”
Multiply’s aims are part of a wider push by the government to improve and extend maths skills across the country, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently announcing his ambition to get everyone studying maths until the age of 18.
Keighley College is one of six further education providers across the region that will receive £140,000 to invest in specialist equipment to deliver electric vehicle and retrofit training, grow and embed green knowledge within the curriculum and improve links with businesses to develop and enhance their green skills.
As part of the West Yorkshire Consortium of Colleges (WYCC), the college will be involved in government plans to boost the nation’s skills and make sure more people can secure good, well-paid jobs that are closer to where they live.
A great opportunity to ‘level up’ for sustainability
Kevin O’Hare, Principal at Keighley College, said: “We are delighted to be working with partners across the region to help our young people develop green skills and learn about sustainability.
“Our Industrial Centre of Excellence for Advanced Manufacturing & Engineering provides students with the opportunity to gain real world industry experience and this project will allow us to explore more green opportunities available in these areas.
“It is our aim to ensure that we successfully embed sustainable development goals into our curriculum and prepare our learners for futures in a greener world.”
The Department for Education has announced that it will invest £2.6m in West Yorkshire’s colleges through the Strategic Development Fund.
The fund was launched in 2021 to help colleges and further education providers to transform their facilities and offer high quality technical training that better meet the needs of local employers and boost job opportunities for their communities.
This would mean that local businesses have access to the home-grown talent they need for the jobs of tomorrow and more people don’t need to leave their hometowns to get a good job.
Preparing a workforce for the future
Project Director of the West Yorkshire Consortium of Colleges, Joanne Patrickson said: “This funding will make a big difference to our colleges and in turn, the businesses and communities in West Yorkshire.
“Part of the funding will be a capital investment into equipment and machinery to allow our colleges to train the workforce in electric vehicle maintenance and retrofitting buildings.
“Colleges will be employing dedicated teams to work closely with businesses in the region to understand what help they need to become more sustainable, and the WYCC The Green Skills Service to help employers access the training and resources they need to take action.”
The £2.6m is contracted to be spent by 31 March 2023, but this initial investment will allow these new initiatives to establish and offer training that will prepare the workforce for a sustainable future.
