Category: Blog

  • Reflections on the demand for higher education – and what UCAS data reveal ahead of Results Day 2025

    Reflections on the demand for higher education – and what UCAS data reveal ahead of Results Day 2025


    This HEPI blog was kindly authored by Maggie Smart, UCAS Director of Data and Analysis

    As we pass the 30 June deadline for this year’s undergraduate admissions cycle, UCAS’ data offers an early view of applicant and provider behaviour as we head into Confirmation and Clearing. It also marks a personal milestone for me, as it’s my first deadline release since rejoining UCAS. I wanted to take a deeper look at the data to reflect on how much things have changed since I worked here 10 years ago.

    Applicant demand has always been shaped by two key elements: the size of the potential applicant pool, and their propensity to apply. Since I last worked at UCAS in 2016, these two factors have continuously interchanged over the better part of the past decade – sometimes increasing or decreasing independently but often counterbalancing each other. Let’s take a look at how things are shaping up this year.

    Overall, by the 30 June there have been 665,070 applicants (all ages, all domiciles) this year, compared to 656,760 (+1.3%) in 2024. This is an increase in applicants of over 64,000 since UCAS last reported in January, although the profile of these additional applicants is very different. At the January Equal Consideration Deadline (ECD), over half of the total number of applicants were UK 18-year olds, who are the most likely group to have applied by that stage in the cycle. They represent just 8% of the additional applicants since January, among a much larger proportion of UK mature and international students.

    As we saw at January, the differences in demand for places between young people from the most advantaged (POLAR4 Quintile 5) and most disadvantaged (POLAR4 Quintile 1) areas at June remain broadly the same as last year – with the most advantaged 2.15 times more likely to apply to HE than those from the least advantaged backgrounds, compared to 2.17 last year.

    UK 18-year-old demand

    Demand for UK higher education (HE) has long been shaped by the 18-year-old population – the largest pool of applicants. Despite the well-known challenges facing the HE sector at present, at the 30 June deadline we see record numbers of UK 18-year-old applicants, with 328,390 applicants this year – up from 321,410 (+2%) in 2024. This trend was almost entirely locked in by the January deadline, given the vast majority of UK 18-year-old applicants have applied at this stage in the cycle.

    During my previous tenure at UCAS, the size of the UK 18-year-old population had been falling year on year but from 2020, it began to increase. This continued growth drives the increase in UK 18-year-old applicant numbers we have observed in recent cycles. But when we look at their overall application rate to understand the strength of demand among this group, the data shows a marginal decline again this year – down to 41.2% from 41.9% in 2024. The historically strong growth in the propensity of UK 18-year-olds to apply for HE, which we’ve observed across the last decade, has clearly plateaued.

    This could be due to a range of factors, such as young people choosing to take up work or an apprenticeship, or financial barriers. We know that cost of living is increasingly influencing young people’s decisions this year, with pre-applicants telling us that financial support – such as scholarships or bursaries – ranks as the second most important consideration for them (46%), followed closely by universities’ specific cost-of-living support (34%).

    Interesting to note is the number of UK 19-year-old applicants. When separating the data to distinguish 19-year-olds applying for the first time (as opposed to those reapplying), there has been a decent increase – from 46,680 last year to 48,890 this year (+4.7%). For many years, the number of first-time UK 19-year-old applicants had been falling year on year, but since 2023 this trend has started to reverse. This suggests that demand among young people may be holding up as they decide to take a year out before applying to university or college.

    Mature students

    For UK mature students (aged 21+), the picture looks very different. The number of mature students applying to university or college ebbs and flows depending on the strength of the job market, so since I was last at UCAS, we have typically seen applications decrease when employment opportunities are strong and vice versa. Alongside fluctuations linked to the employment market, rising participation at age 18 means there is a smaller pool of potential older applicants who have not already entered HE. The falling demand from mature students continues in 2025, although in recent years there have been small but significant increases in the volume of mature applicants applying after the 30 June deadline and directly into Clearing. 

    As of this year’s 30 June deadline there have been 86,310 UK mature (21+) applicants, compared to 89,690 (-3.8%) in 2024, meaning a fall in demand compared to the previous year at this point in the cycle for the fourth year in a row. However, whereas at the January deadline mature applicants were down 6.4% compared to the same point last year, at June the figure is only 3.8% down showing some recovery in the numbers. This is another indication that mature students are applying later in the cycle. While it remains too early to say whether we will see continued growth in mature direct to Clearing applicants in 2025, last year 9,390 UK mature students who applied direct to Clearing were accepted at university or college, an increase of 7.4% on 2023 and 22.7% higher than 2022.

    International students

    When looking at the UCAS data through the lens of international students, the landscape has changed significantly since 2016. Brexit led to a sharp decline in EU applicants, offset by strong growth elsewhere, the pandemic caused disruption to international student mobility, and we’ve seen intensified global competition, shifting market dynamics and geopolitics which are increasingly influencing where they choose to study. This year we’re seeing growth once more, with 138,460 international applicants compared to 135,460 in 2024 (+2.2%) – although this stood at +2.7% at January. It should be noted that UCAS does only see a partial view of undergraduate international admissions (we tend to get a more complete picture by the end of the cycle) and we don’t capture data on postgraduate taught and research pathways.

    Interest among Chinese students in UK education has held firm since my time at UCAS, and this year we’re seeing a record number of applicants from China – 33,870, up from 30,860 (+10%) in 2024. This year’s data also shows increases in applicants from Ireland (6,060 applicants, +15%), Nigeria (3,170 applicants, +23%) and the USA (7,930 applicants, +14%). 

    Offer-making

    We are releasing a separate report on offer-making this year, alongside the usual data dashboard for applications. This additional data covers offers and offer rates over the past three years, from the perspective of applicants according to their age and where they live, and from the perspective of providers by UK nation and tariff group.

    What we’re seeing as the natural consequence of increased applications this year is an uplift in offers. Universities have made more offers than ever before this year, with 2.0 million main scheme offers to January deadline applicants overall, largely driven by the rise in UK 18-year-olds applicants (who are the most likely to use their full five choices while applying). This record high surpasses the previous peak of 1.9 million offers set last year (+3.8%).

    While the main scheme offer rate has increased across all provider tariff groups, the most notable uplift is for higher tariff providers – up 3.2 percentage points to 64.4% this year.  Despite the increase in offer rates, higher tariffs do still remain the lowest, partly due to being the most selective institutions. Offer rates by medium and lower tariff providers have also increased, by 0.9 percentage points to 77.0% among medium tariff providers, and by 1.5 percentage points to 81.7% among lower tariff providers. This means that, among those who applied by the Equal Consideration Deadline in January, 72.5% of main scheme applications received an offer this year, also a record high, and 1.8 percentage points higher than in 2024.

    It’s worth noting that we’ll be updating our provider tariff groupings in time for the 2026 cycle, to reflect changes in the higher education landscape.

    Looking ahead

    For students who are intent on going to university or college, it makes this a very good year, with more opportunities than ever before. A record 94.5% of students who applied by the January deadline will be approaching the critical summer period having received at least one offer. High levels of offer-making by universities and colleges typically translates into more acceptances, which should give applicants plenty of confidence heading into results day. 

    I’m delighted to be back at UCAS, and my team will continue to dig further into the data as Confirmation and Clearing draws nearer to see how demand translates into accepted places come results day.

    UCAS

    UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, is an independent charity, and the UK’s shared admissions service for higher education.

    UCAS’ services support young people making post-18 choices, as well as mature learners, by providing information, advice, and guidance to inspire and facilitate educational progression to university, college, or an apprenticeship.

    UCAS manages almost three million applications, from around 700,000 people each year, for full-time undergraduate courses at over 380 universities and colleges across the UK.

    UCAS is committed to delivering a first-class service to all our beneficiaries — they’re at the heart of everything we do.

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  • Choosing the Right Enrollment Management System

    Choosing the Right Enrollment Management System

    Reading Time: 12 minutes

    Enrollment is no longer a funnel. It’s a journey.

    One shaped by search queries, digital experiences, instant communication, and high expectations. Today’s prospective students demand speed, personalization, and clarity from their first interaction. For institutions that want to grow, scale, and compete, relying on spreadsheets or legacy databases is no longer sustainable.

    You need a system that works as hard as your team does. One that doesn’t just manage applicants, but empowers strategy, fosters connection, and drives retention.

    That’s the promise of a modern Enrollment Management System (EMS), but only if you choose the right one.

    What Is an Enrollment Management System?

    An Enrollment Management System is more than a tool for admissions; it’s a digital backbone for your recruitment, application, and onboarding processes. Think of it as an intelligent, data-powered engine that drives student acquisition and supports institutional growth goals.

    While many systems include basic applicant tracking and form building, a true EMS integrates across departments, touching admissions, marketing, student services, financial aid, and beyond. It’s designed to give your team a real-time view of the applicant pipeline while also enabling automation, analytics, and multichannel communication.

    Example: Mautic by HEM is a dedicated, all-in-one CRM and marketing automation platform for education, built on the open-source Mautic tool. It facilitates thorough applicant tracking by letting schools define custom stages and funnels for the enrollment journey: admissions teams can monitor each contact’s progress through stages (inquiry, application, accepted, etc.) and even apply lead scoring to prioritize the most engaged prospects.

    Source: HEM

    The best platforms don’t just move information. They orchestrate outcomes.

    A modern EMS aligns your people, data, and processes so that your team spends less time chasing forms and more time building relationships. It adapts to your enrollment strategy, whether that’s growing international reach, increasing diversity, boosting conversion, or all of the above.

    What Does an Enrollment System Do?

    It streamlines student recruitment and admissions, enabling your team to launch campaigns, collect inquiries, and track applicant engagement without toggling between multiple platforms. While “enrollment management” is often associated with software, it’s fundamentally a strategic function, and the right EMS becomes a catalyst for this function to succeed.

    Here’s how:

    • It streamlines student recruitment and admissions, enabling your team to launch campaigns, collect inquiries, and track applicant engagement without toggling between multiple platforms. From inquiry to enrollment, every stage is logged, measured, and improved.
      • Example: Tools like TargetX make it easy to launch campaigns, track lead engagement, and move prospects from inquiry to enrollment. TargetX is built on Salesforce and tailored for higher education, especially career colleges that need efficient outreach.
    • It enables marketing and communications teams to segment audiences, trigger campaigns, and personalize outreach across email, text, and student web portals, all with full visibility into what converts.
      • Example: EMS platforms such as Finalsite Enrollment combine CRM and marketing automation to segment audiences and personalize outreach across email, SMS, and web. Designed for independent K–12 schools, Finalsite ensures your message resonates from the first click.
    • It supports financial aid and yield strategy by syncing with your student information system (SIS) or CRM. That means your staff can track aid packages, award statuses, and net tuition impact, all within the same ecosystem.
      • Example: Integrated EMS like Anthology allows institutions to view aid packages, tuition forecasts, and academic data in one place. Anthology is especially powerful for institutions with complex admissions models or rolling start dates.
    • It strengthens student retention by providing advisors with access to academic history, risk indicators, and automated nudges that support at-risk students from the very start of their academic journey.
      • Example: By giving advisors access to risk flags and real-time data, platforms like Salesforce Education Cloud enable timely interventions that support students long after they’ve enrolled.
    • And most importantly, it delivers data analysis and forecasting that lets institutional leaders plan with precision. From demographic breakdowns to conversion rates, it provides insight into not just who applied but why they enrolled.
      • Example: With advanced analytics, tools like Technolutions Slate offer actionable insights into yield, demographics, and conversion rates, helping you refine your enrollment strategy over time.

    What is the point of strategic enrollment management? The point of strategic enrollment management (SEM) is to align an institution’s recruitment, admissions, retention, and graduation strategies with its long-term goals, using data and coordinated planning to optimize student success and institutional sustainability. An effective EMS ensures that your strategic enrollment plan becomes an operational reality, daily, seamlessly, and at scale.

    Core Features to Look For in an EMS

    1. Centralized Database and CRM

    A unified database helps you keep track of every applicant and their journey, from interactions and submitting forms to uploading documents and communication history. Look for systems that include robust CRM tools with inquiry tracking, source attribution, and segmentation capabilities.

    Example: TargetX (Liaison): Provides a single dashboard with a 360° view of each student, consolidating everything from event registrations and communication touchpoints to financial aid info, all in the same place. This unified database supports data-driven decision making in recruitment and admissions.

    Source: TargetX

    2. Online Application and Form Management

    Choose a system with customizable forms, document upload functionality, e-signature support, and user-friendly applicant portals. Features like drag-and-drop form builders and application status tracking can greatly improve the experience for both students and staff.

    Example: Classe365 supports paperless admissions with custom online application forms. Students can easily apply from home, and submitted form data is automatically mapped into the school’s SIS to avoid manual re-entry. This makes the entire application-to-enrollment workflow smooth and efficient for both applicants and staff.

    Source: Classe365

    3. Automated Multichannel Communication

    A strong student enrollment management system allows you to send personalized, automated messages via email, SMS, or in-app notifications. You should be able to build workflows, for example, a welcome message on inquiry, a reminder to complete an application, or an invitation to an open house. Some systems even offer AI chatbots for 24/7 engagement.

    Example: Mautic by HEM features built-in email and text messaging automation, enabling schools to send personalized emails or SMS updates triggered by prospect behavior.

    Source: HEM

    4. Workflow Automation and Task Management

    Look for features that reduce manual work, automatic task assignment, follow-up reminders, and to-do lists. These help your admissions team stay on top of deadlines and reduce errors.

    Example: Blackbaud Enrollment Management allows schools to tailor their admissions process with configurable workflows and checklists in one centralized system. Staff have personalized task dashboards, and the system automatically triggers next steps, sending follow-up reminders, updating statuses, or notifying counselors based on defined rules. This saves time and keeps the team on schedule

    Source: Blackbaud

    5. Seamless Integration

    Your EMS should integrate with your SIS, LMS, financial software, and marketing tools. Data should flow without duplication. Look for open APIs or pre-built integrations with platforms you already use.

    Example: Slate supports bi-directional data exchange with campus systems. It can push and pull data to external SIS, LMS, financial aid systems, content management systems, and more via its Integration Center. This means application data or status updates in Slate can automatically appear in the SIS, and vice versa, ensuring consistency across all systems.

    Source: Slate

    6. Analytics and Reporting

    Analytics tools allow you to track conversion rates, demographic trends, and recruitment performance. Some EMS platforms even offer predictive analytics to identify at-risk applicants or forecast yield.

    Example: TargetX goes beyond basic reporting by incorporating predictive analytics features. It includes a Prospect Scoring tool that lets schools apply tailored scoring models to their applicant pool. This means the system can automatically evaluate and rank prospective students based on likelihood to enroll (or other success indicators), helping admissions teams focus their efforts on the best-fit leads. Of course, standard reports and real-time dashboards are also available in TargetX for monitoring application trends and campaign performance at a glance.

    Source: TargetX

    7. Customization and Scalability

    No two schools are the same. Ensure your EMS allows you to customize application workflows, add custom fields, configure user roles, and scale as your institution grows.

    Example: A cloud-based SaaS platform, Slate, is designed to “scale seamlessly” with an institution’s growth. All technical infrastructure is managed in modern, secure data centers, and Slate regularly updates with new features at no extra cost. This means an organization can start small and trust that Slate will accommodate more applicants, programs, or campuses over time without needing a major system overhaul. In short, EMS vendors focus on both customization (to meet unique local needs) and scalability (to support more users, records, and features as needed).

    Source: Slate

    8. User-Friendly Design

    Adoption hinges on usability. During demos, pay attention to how intuitive the interface is for both staff and applicants. If the system is difficult to use, your team simply won’t use it to its full potential.

    Example: User experience drives adoption. During evaluations, platforms like Classe365 and Class by Infospeed regularly earn praise for intuitive interfaces, which is important when your team has limited tech support.

    Source: Classe365

    9. Mobile Accessibility

    Modern students (and parents) expect mobile-friendly platforms. Responsive design or dedicated mobile apps improve application completion rates and accessibility.

    Example: Slate: Entirely web-based and built with responsive HTML5 design, so all end-user interfaces are mobile-ready by default. Admissions officers and applicants can access Slate “anytime, anywhere,” and the system is compatible across iOS, Android, and other modern smartphones without any special app required.


    Source:     Slate

    10. Security and Compliance

    Data privacy is critical. Look for FERPA, GDPR, or other compliance features, role-based access controls, encryption, and regular security audits.

    Example: Slate emphasizes that security is an “absolute commitment.” Slate encrypts all data in transit and at rest, and is fully compliant with regulations including PCI-DSS, NACHA, FERPA, GDPR, ADA Section 508, and more. Each client institution’s data is siloed in its own private database, and features like single sign-on integration and multi-factor authentication are supported, all to protect sensitive student information.

    Source: Slate

    How to Choose the Right System: The Smart Institution’s Guide

    Too often, institutions jump into vendor demos before clearly understanding their own needs. But choosing an EMS isn’t like buying a software license. It’s like hiring a new department, one that will touch nearly every part of your student journey.

    Too many schools choose an EMS the way they might buy a printer—look at features, pick the cheapest, hope for the best.

    That’s a mistake.

    Here’s how to do it right:

    1. Audit Your Current Process

    Bring your admissions, marketing, IT, and registrar teams together. Map the journey from first touch to enrolled student. Identify bottlenecks, duplicate data entry, communication gaps, and missed opportunities.

    Ask:

    • Where are we losing leads?
    • What’s manual that should be automated?
    • What data are we not capturing?

    Example: EMS tools like LeadSquared often shine here by centralizing fragmented workflows.

    Source: LeadSquared

     

    2. Define (and Prioritize) Your Needs

    Don’t go in with a wishlist. Go in with a mission-critical checklist. Keep these in mind when choosing features:

    • Must-haves (SIS integration, mobile access)
    • Nice-to-haves (AI-driven insights, alumni modules)
    • Deal-breakers (data residency, language support)

    Example: If your institution works with international agents, Class by Infospeed is built for managing agent relationships and complex course offerings, a crucial feature for language schools and ESL programs.

    Source: Class Systems

    3. Involve Your End-Users

    Admissions staff. Recruiters. Advisors. These are the people who will live in the system every day. Their input is gold. Make them part of demos. Let them ask tough questions. Choosing a solution like SchoolMint, praised for its intuitive design, becomes easier when usability is prioritized.

    4. Research Vendors Strategically

    Not all systems serve all markets equally. Some are better for K-12. Others shine in graduate admissions. Some are strong in portfolio management; others in agent tracking.

    Look for:

    • Reviews from schools like yours
    • Live or recorded demos
    • Transparent pricing models
    • Implementation timelines

    Shortlist 3–5 vendors. Your shortlist should reflect your institution’s specific context. For graduate schools, Liaison CAS platforms are especially effective. For community colleges, TargetX offers a powerful combination of CRM and enrollment tools without requiring heavy configuration.

    5. Evaluate Integration and Migration

    Ask each vendor:

    • How do you integrate with our SIS, LMS, and payment gateways?
    • Can you support our CRM, or replace it?
    • How will you handle data migration?
    • Do you offer API access?

    A disconnected EMS is a ticking time bomb. Ask vendors like Technolutions Slate or Salesforce Education Cloud about APIs and migration support—they’re known for smooth onboarding and flexibility.

    6. Test the User Experience

    Never buy blind. Ask for a sandbox account or personalized demo. Simulate key tasks: submitting an application, assigning leads, pulling a report. Include both staff and mock student journeys.

    What feels intuitive? What’s clunky? What’s fast?

    Your system is only as good as the people who use it.

    7. Scrutinize Support and Training

    Great technology without support is useless. Ask:

    • Who handles onboarding?
    • Is training included or extra?
    • What’s your support SLA?
    • Can we talk to a current client?

    Look for a partner, not just a vendor. Look to vendors like Anthology, which are known for offering detailed implementation timelines, role-based training, and strong post-launch support.

    8. Evaluate Total Cost and ROI

    Look beyond license fees. Consider:

    • Implementation and training costs
    • User seat pricing
    • Support packages
    • Future upgrade fees
    • Opportunity cost of inefficiency

    For example, Classe365 offers bundled modules that can be more cost-effective for institutions seeking an all-in-one platform.

    Then flip the question:

    How much time, enrollment yield, and data quality could we gain?

    What to Avoid: Mistakes That Derail Enrollment Success

    Let’s be clear: choosing the wrong EMS won’t just slow you down, it can undermine your enrollment goals for years.

    Common mistakes include:

    • Prioritizing brand over fit. The best-known system is not always the best match for your institution’s size, staff capacity, or audience.
    • Skipping the discovery phase. Without understanding your real process needs, you risk choosing a tool that solves the wrong problems.
    • Overcomplicating the solution. Feature-rich platforms are great—if your team has the time and training to use them. Don’t choose complexity over usability.
    • Neglecting integration. A system that doesn’t talk to your CRM or SIS will create data silos and extra work.
    • Ignoring security and compliance. Your EMS will hold sensitive student data. Ensure it meets regulatory requirements like FERPA or GDPR, and ask vendors for proof of their data protection protocols.
    • Leaving end-users out of the process. If admissions and marketing staff don’t weigh in, you may end up with a system that leadership likes, but staff resents.
    • Rushing implementation. A fast deployment might sound appealing, but skipping onboarding, testing, and training will lead to low adoption and missed ROI.

    A better approach? Take your time. Do the homework. Involve your people. And choose a system that solves your real problems, not just your imagined ones.

    A Strategic Investment, Not Just a Tech Upgrade

    The right Enrollment Management System is more than a technology purchase. It’s a strategic accelerator. When implemented well, it becomes the operating system for your admissions engine, fueling smarter campaigns, stronger applicant engagement, faster decision-making, and ultimately, better student outcomes.

    Institutions that invest intentionally in their EMS see tangible results: higher yield rates, improved retention, deeper applicant insights, and more efficient operations. They don’t just fill classes, they shape them.

    But none of this happens by chance. It requires a clear vision, a methodical evaluation, and a commitment to ongoing improvement.

    Partnering for Enrollment Success

    Choosing an EMS is just the beginning. Implementing it well, and aligning it with your enrollment strategy requires experience, insight, and a steady hand.

    That’s where Higher Education Marketing (HEM) comes in. We’ve helped institutions across Canada and beyond design, implement, and optimize enrollment solutions that work. Whether you need a student-facing CRM portal, a smarter communication strategy, or guidance on vendor selection, our team can help.

    Book a free consultation with HEM today, and let’s build an enrollment strategy that’s as forward-thinking as your institution. Because better tools don’t just make your job easier, they make your goals achievable.

    Need help sorting through the multitudes of enrollment management systems for the right one for your school? Contact HEM today for more information. 

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Question: What is an enrollment management system?

    Answer: An Enrollment Management System is more than a tool for admissions; it’s a digital backbone for your recruitment, application, and onboarding processes

    Question: What does an enrollment system do?

    Answer: It streamlines student recruitment and admissions, enabling your team to launch campaigns, collect inquiries, and track applicant engagement without toggling between multiple platforms.

    Question: What is the point of strategic enrollment management?

    Answer: The point of strategic enrollment management (SEM) is to align an institution’s recruitment, admissions, retention, and graduation strategies with its long-term goals, using data and coordinated planning to optimize student success and institutional sustainability. 

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  • It’s time we moved the generative AI conversation on

    It’s time we moved the generative AI conversation on

    • By Michael Grove, Professor of Mathematics and Mathematics Education and Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education Policy and Academic Standards) at the University of Birmingham.

    We are well beyond the tipping point. Students are using generative AI – at scale. According to HEPI’s Student Generative AI Survey 2025, 92% of undergraduates report using AI tools, and 88% say they’ve used them in assessments. Yet only a third say their institution has supported them to use these tools well. For many, the message appears to be: “you’re on your own”.

    The sector’s focus has largely been on mitigating risk: rewriting assessment guidance, updating misconduct policies, and publishing tool-specific statements. These are necessary steps, but alone they’re not enough.

    Students use generative AI not to cheat, but to learn. But this use is uneven. Some know how to prompt effectively, evaluate outputs, and integrate AI into their learning with confidence and control. Others don’t. Confidence, access, and prior exposure all vary, by discipline, gender, and background. If left unaddressed, these disparities risk becoming embedded. The answer is not restriction, but thoughtful design that helps all students develop the skills to use AI critically, ethically, and with growing independence.

    If generative AI is already reshaping how students learn, we must design for that reality and start treating it as a literacy to be developed. This means moving beyond module-level inconsistency and toward programme-level curriculum thinking. Not everywhere, not all at once – but with intent, clarity, and care.

    We need programme-level thinking, not piecemeal policy

    Most universities now have institutional policies on AI use, and many have updated assessment regulations. But module-by-module variation remains the norm. Students report receiving mixed messages – encouraged to use AI in one context, forbidden in another, ignored in a third, and unsure in a fourth. This inconsistency leads to uncertainty and undermines both engagement and academic integrity.

    A more sustainable approach requires programme-level design. This means mapping where and how generative AI is used across a degree, setting consistent expectations and providing scaffolded opportunities for students to understand how these tools work, including how to use them ethically and responsibly. One practical method is to adopt a ‘traffic light’ or five-level framework to indicate what kinds of AI use are acceptable for each assessment – for example, preparing, editing, or co-creating content. These frameworks need not be rigid, but they must be clear and transparent for all.

    Such frameworks can provide consistency, but they are no silver bullet. In practice, students may interpret guidance differently or misjudge the boundaries between levels. A traffic-light system risks oversimplifying a complex space, particularly when ‘amber’ spans such a broad and subjective spectrum. Though helpful for transparency, they cannot reliably show whether guidance has been followed. Their value lies in prompting discussion and supporting reflective use.

    Design matters more than detection

    Rather than relying on unreliable detection tools or vague prohibitions, we must design assessments and learning experiences that either incorporate AI intentionally or make its misuse educationally irrelevant.

    This doesn’t mean lowering standards. It means doubling down on what matters in a higher education learning experience: critical thinking, explanation, problem-solving, and the ability to apply knowledge in unfamiliar contexts. In my own discipline of mathematics, students might critique AI-generated proofs, identify errors, or reflect on how AI tools influenced their thinking. In other disciplines, students might compare AI outputs with academic sources, or use AI to explore ideas before developing their own arguments.

    We must also protect space for unaided work. One model is to designate a proportion of each programme as ‘Assured’ – learning and assessment designed to demonstrate independent capability, through in-person, oral, or carefully structured formats. While some may raise concerns that this conflicts with the sector’s move toward more authentic, applied assessment, these approaches are not mutually exclusive. The challenge is to balance assured tasks with more flexible, creative, or AI-enabled formats. The rest of the curriculum can then be ‘Exploratory’, allowing students to explore AI more openly, and in doing so, broaden their skills and graduate attributes.

    Curriculum design should reflect disciplinary values

    Not all uses of AI are appropriate for all subjects. In mathematics, symbolic reasoning and proof can’t simply be outsourced. But that should not mean AI has no role. It can help students build glossaries, explore variants of standard problems, or compare different solution strategies. It can provoke discussion, encourage more interactive forms of learning, and surface misconceptions.

    These are not abstract concerns; they are design-led questions. Every discipline must ask:

    • What kind of skills, thinking and communication do we value?
    • How might AI support, or undermine, those aims?
    • How can we help students understand the difference?

    These reflections play out differently across subject areas. As recent contributions by Nick Hillman  and Josh Freeman underline, generative AI is prompting us to reconsider not just how students learn, but what now actually counts as knowledge, memory, or understanding.

    Without a design-led approach, AI use will default to convenience, putting the depth, rigour, and authenticity of the higher education learning experience at risk for all.

    Students need to be partners in shaping this future. Many already have deep, practical experience with generative AI and can offer valuable insight into how these tools support, or disrupt, real learning. Involving students in curriculum design, guidance, and assessment policy will help ensure our responses are relevant, authentic, and grounded in the realities of how they now learn.

    A call to action

    The presence of generative AI in higher education is not a future scenario, it is the present reality. Students are already using these tools, for better and for worse. If we leave them to navigate this alone, we risk widening divides, losing trust, and missing the opportunity to improve how we teach, assess, and support student learning.

    What’s needed now is a shift in narrative:

    • From panic to pedagogy
    • From detection to design
    • From institutional policy to consistent programme-level practice.

    Generative AI won’t replace teaching. But it will reshape how students learn. It’s now time we help them do so with confidence and purpose, through thoughtful programme-level design.

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  • What more can we do? 

    What more can we do? 

    • Universities have a good record on civic engagement and driving economic growth. Lucy Haire, Director of Partnerships at HEPI, asks whether there is scope for doing more. 

    Just as singer Joan Armatrading pleads ‘what more can we do’ in her song ‘Flight of the Wild Geese’ from the 1978 war film The Wild Geese, higher education leaders — gathered at a recent roundtable dinner convened by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) and Lloyds Bank in Liverpool — echoed her sentiment as they grappled with mounting demands. 

    We took two of the Secretary of State for Education, the Right Honourable Bridget Phillipson’s five demands of universities, as set out in her November 2024 letter to university leaders, as our focus for the evening’s discussion. Phillipson urged higher education providers to ‘Make a stronger contribution to economic growth’ and ‘Play a greater civic role in their communities’, themes that Lloyds has explored at some length with partner PwC, culminating in their Drivers of Growth report launched at the University of Birmingham earlier this academic year. 

    Lloyds Banking Group regards higher education as a strategic priority, integrating it with a broad spectrum of regional regeneration initiatives. These efforts drive local development, nurture businesses connected to university ecosystems, and address critical needs such as housing, skills development, digital literacy and charitable support. Lloyds representatives spoke candidly about the significant financial pressures facing the UK higher education sector and highlighted their active role in developing institution-specific action plans. In addition, the Group has recently contributed to the Universities UK Efficiencies Taskforce, advancing another of the Secretary of State’s key priorities: the implementation of ‘a sustained efficiency and reform programme’ across the sector. 

    A Russell Group university vice-chancellor reminded dinner guests that six civic universities — Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, and Bristol — were founded in the first decade of the twentieth century and are often called the original ‘red brick’ universities, highlighting that the civic university concept is far from new. He expressed a preference for the term ‘place-based’ over ‘civic’ to describe his university’s mission, suggesting it better reflects a modern approach. While the concept wasn’t new, it was also pointed out that it hasn’t remained consistently fashionable – for example, Warwick University had deliberately not taken the name of its nearest city, Coventry, when it was established. 

    The vice-chancellor outlined the many ways his university supports the local region: as the area’s second-largest employer after the NHS, a major economic contributor, operator of an academy school and a recruiter of many students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The university’s turnover surpasses that of any Premier League football club, and it maintains formal partnerships with major multinational companies and local SMEs and start-ups, including university spin-outs. ‘Why are we seen as out of touch with the local community?’, he wondered. ‘What more can we do?’

    The conversation shifted to recent Government policy, with many expressing disappointment over the proposed immigration white paper —particularly its suggested levy on international students—which was seen as a greater setback for higher education than the latest Spending Review. The implicit answer to the persistent question of the night, ‘what more can we do’ when it comes to civic impact and economic growth, was that ‘we could do more with more favourable government policies’. The Government’s stated focus on economic growth drew attention to persistent issues: sluggish national growth since the 2008 financial crisis and chronic regional productivity gaps, even in major cities like Manchester and Liverpool. 

    Two senior university leaders from a small specialist institution and a large post-92 expressed doubt that the Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE) will deliver a step change in participation by mature learners. One said she thought the LLE’s design did not match well with the urgent priorities currently facing many institutions; the other said she could see little evidence of substantial demand.

    Several university leaders highlighted concrete initiatives that directly challenge the narrative that universities aren’t supporting their regions. Examples included student-run legal clinics providing millions of pounds’ worth of free legal advice to local residents, specialist support for businesses on decarbonisation, large-scale recruitment of students from disadvantaged backgrounds and substantial capital investment in regional development. A recent HEPI webinar with the UPP Foundation focused on similar student-led civic initiatives. 

    There was a consensus that, behind closed doors, the Government is far more appreciative of universities’ regional impact than public statements tend to suggest. One former vice-chancellor noted that transformative change led by universities often unfolds over two or three generations — progress rarely captured by short-term political agendas. Another leader observed that countries like China and those in Southeast Asia are much more vocal in championing their higher education sectors. Some around the table called for more third-party endorsements, while one colleague highlighted the significant export value of his practice-based institution, where a quarter of students are international. 

    A dinner guest with Whitehall experience remarked that government policy towards higher education often amounted to ‘benign neglect’. While the sector is valued, he argued, ministers are currently preoccupied with issues that matter to swing voters, particularly immigration, making universities an easy target in related policy debates. He suggested that to shift the negative narrative, the sector should place greater emphasis on the financial sustainability and broader impact of university research. A vice-chancellor added that universities are too often perceived as merely ‘big schools’: while more people understand their teaching role, far fewer appreciate the significance of their research. 

    The former government official also noted that the trend toward devolution and the emergence of combined mayoral authorities present a significant opportunity for higher education. Regional mayors and council leaders—regardless of political affiliation, including those from the fast-growing Reform party—are often strong advocates for their local universities. However, another guest pointed out that many institutions fall outside these combined authorities and therefore miss out on the benefits of mayoral champions. 

    Another attendee, who is researching the concept of civic universities alongside his university administration role, referenced the original Roman meaning of ‘civic’: citizens as active members of the community, expected to uphold behaviours that sustain a functioning society. He observed that American culture has historically embraced this ethos, extending it to democratic ideals. The conversation shifted to the recent ‘war on universities’ led by President Trump, with several guests observing that events in the US underscore the need for UK universities to speak with a unified voice about their societal value. As the discussion drew to a close, the lyrics from the final lines of Armatrading’s song resonated: ‘Now madness prevails, lies fill the air. What more, what more, what more can we do?’ 

    The evening concluded with a shared recognition of the need for long-term, place-based stewardship under strong and visionary leadership. 

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  • Transforming higher education learning, assessment and engagement in the AI revolution: the how

    Transforming higher education learning, assessment and engagement in the AI revolution: the how

    • By Derfel Owen, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Janice Kay, Higher Futures.

    Generative AI and other new technologies create unprecedented challenges to some of the deepest and longest-held assumptions about how we educate and support students. We start from a position that rejects a defensive stance, attempting to protect current practice from the perceived threat of AI. Bans, restrictions and policies to limit AI use have emerged in an effort to uphold existing norms. Such approaches risk isolating and alienating students who are using AI anyway and will fail to address its broader implications. The point is that AI forces us to reconsider and recapitulate current ways of how we teach, how we help students to learn, how we assess and how we engage and support.  Four areas of how we educate require a greater focus:

    • Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving: Teaching students to evaluate, analyse, and synthesise information while questioning AI-generated outputs.
    • Creativity and Innovation: Focusing on nurturing original ideas, divergent thinking, and the ability to combine concepts in novel ways.
    • Emotional Intelligence: Prioritising skills like empathy, communication, and collaboration,  essential for leadership, teamwork, and human connection.
    • Ethical Reasoning: Training students to navigate ethical dilemmas and critically evaluate the ethical implications of AI use in society.

    Here we set out some practical steps that can be taken to shift us in that direction.

    1. Emphasise Lifelong Learning and Entrepreneurialism

    Education should equip students with the ability to adapt throughout their lives to rapidly evolving technologies, professions and industries. Fostering the ability to learn, unlearn, and relearn quickly in response to changing demands is essential. A well-rounded education will combine new and established knowledge across subjects and disciplines, building in an assumption that progress is made through interdisciplinary connections and creating space to explore the unknown, what we might not know yet and how we go about finding it.

    The transformation of traditional work through AI and automation necessitates that students are fully equipped to thrive in flexible and diverse job markets. Entrepreneurial thinking should be nurtured by teaching students to identify problems, design innovative solutions, and create value in ways that AI can support but not replicate. Leadership development should focus on fostering decision-making, adaptability, and team-building skills, emphasising the inherently human aspects of leadership.

    We should be aware that jobs and job skills in an AI world are evolving faster than our curricula. As McKinsey estimates, AI will transform or replace up to 800 million jobs globally, and the stakes are too high for incremental change.

    2. Promote Originality and Rigour though Collaboration

    AI’s strength lies in the processing speed and the sheer breadth of existing data and knowledge that it can access. It can tell you at exceptional pace what might have taken hours, days or weeks to discover. This should be viewed as a way to augment human capabilities and not as a crutch. Incorporating project-based, collaborative learning with AI will empower students to collaborate to create, solve problems, and innovate while reinforcing their roles as innovators and decision-makers. Working together should be a means of fostering communication skills, but can also be strengthened to encourage, promote and reward creativity and divergent thinking that goes further than conventional knowledge. Students should be encouraged to pursue discovery through critical thinking and verification, exploring unique, self-designed research questions or projects that demand deep thought and personal engagement. These steps will build digital confidence, ensuring students can use AI with confidence and assuredness, are able to test and understand its limitations and can leverage it as a tool to accelerate and underpin their innovation. Examples include generating content for campaigns or portfolio outputs, using AI to synthesise original data, demonstrating Socratic dialogue with AI and its outputs, challenging and critiquing prompts.

    3. Redesign Assessments

    Traditional assessments, such as essays and multiple-choice tests, are increasingly vulnerable to AI interference, and the value they add is increasingly questionable. To counter this, education should focus on performance-based assessments, such as presentations, debates, and real-time problem-solving, which showcase students’ ability to think critically and adapt quickly. Educators have moved away from such assessment methods in recent years because evidence suggests that biases creep into oral examinations. This needs reevaluating to judge the balance of risk in light of AI advancements. Stereotyping and halo biases can be mitigated and can increase student engagement with the assessment and subject matter. What is the greater risk? Biases in oral assessment? Or generating cohorts of graduates with skills to complete unseen, closed-book exams that are likely to be of limited value in a world in which deep and complex information and instruction can be accessed in a fraction of the time through AI? We must revisit these norms and assumptions.

    Collaborative assessments should also be prioritised, using group projects that emphasise teamwork, negotiation, and interpersonal skills. Furthermore, process-oriented evaluation methods should be implemented to assess the learning process itself, including drafts, reflections, and iterative improvements, rather than solely the final outputs. Authenticity in learning outputs can be assured through reflective practices such as journals, portfolios, and presentations that require self-expression and cannot be easily replicated by AI, especially when accompanied by opportunities for students to explain their journey and how their knowledge and approach to a topic have evolved as they learn.

    Achieving such radical change will require a dramatic scaling back of the arms race in assessment, dramatic reductions in multiple, modularised snapshot assessments. Shifting the assessment workload for staff and students is required, toward formative and more authentic assessments with in-built points of reflection. Mitigating more labour-intensive assessments, programme-wide assessment should be considered.

    4. Encourage understanding of the impact of AI on society, resilience and adaptability

    AI will accentuate the societal impact of and concerns about issues such as bias, privacy, and accountability. Utilising AI in teaching and assessment must build an expectation that students and graduates have an enquiring and sceptical mindsets, ready to seek further validation and assurance about facts as they are presented and how they were reached, what data was accessed and how; students need to be prepared and ready to unlearn and rebuild. This will require resilience and the ability to cope with failure, uncertainty, and ambiguity. A growth mindset, valuing continuous learning over static achievement, will help by enhancing their ability to adapt to evolving circumstances. Simulated scenario planning for real-world application of learning will help equip students with the skills to navigate AI-disrupted workplaces and industries successfully.

    The new kid on the block, DeepSeek, has the important feature that it is an open-source reasoning model, low cost (appearing to beat OpenAI o1 that is neither open-source nor free) with the benefit that it sets out its ‘thinking’ step-by-step, helpful for learning and demonstrating learning. It is not, however, able to access external reports critical of the Chinese state, de facto showing that Gen AI models are wholly dependent on the large language data on which they are trained. Students need fully to understand this and its implications.

    Navigating these wide-ranging challenges demands robust support for those shaping the student experience—educators, mentors, and assessors. They remain the heart of higher learning, guiding students through an era of unprecedented change. Yet, bridging the gap between established and emerging practices requires more than just adaptation; it calls for a transformation in how we approach learning itself. To thrive in an AI-integrated future, educators must not only enhance their own AI literacy but also foster open, critical dialogues about its ethical and practical dimensions. In this evolving landscape, everyone—students and educators alike—must embrace a shared journey of learning. The traditional role of the academic as the sole expert must give way to a more collaborative, inquiry-driven model. Only by reimagining the way we teach and learn can we ensure that AI serves as a tool for empowerment rather than a force for division.

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  • Expanded AI Makes Active, Personalized Learning More Accessible

    Expanded AI Makes Active, Personalized Learning More Accessible

    Top Hat’s AI-powered assistant, Ace, just got even better. Two new features—example generation and personalized practice—make it easier than ever for educators to personalize learning and give students the support they need to stay on track.

    Ace was designed to take the heavy lifting out of creating assessments and provide students with help when they need it. Now, it’s enabling educators to make learning more relevant by connecting course content to student interests and career goals and by offering targeted practice based on where students are struggling most.

    “Each of these features reflects our belief that great teaching and learning happens when technology helps people do what they do best,” said Maggie Leen, CEO of Top Hat. “With Ace, we’re building an experience that empowers busy educators and motivates students to connect, explore, practice, and succeed.”

    Since its introduction in 2023, Ace has become a trusted partner for instructors seeking to deepen engagement and boost learning outcomes. The new enhancements make it simple for educators to implement teaching practices shown to improve learning, and enhance student success through on-demand, personalized study support.

    Example Generation: Make Content More Relevant and Engaging

    One of the biggest challenges in teaching is helping students see why what they’re learning actually matters. With Ace’s new example generation feature, educators can highlight any part of their course material and ask Ace to create a scenario that ties the concept to something students might encounter in their future careers—or even in everyday life. For instance, an educator teaching anatomy to nursing students might ask Ace to show how muscle function affects patient mobility. When content is connected to students’ goals or lived experiences, it becomes more relevant and meaningful.

    This new capability builds on Ace’s popular question generation tool used by faculty to create formative assessments from their content with just a few clicks. With example generation, educators have another fast and flexible way to personalize course material and make learning more engaging.

    Personalized Practice: Turn Mistakes Into Learning Opportunities

    Many students want more chances to practice but often don’t know what to review or where to start. Ace’s new personalized practice feature gives them just that. As students work through assigned readings and questions, Ace pinpoints where they’re struggling and creates targeted practice sets based on those areas. Feedback is instant, helping students stay on track and build confidence before high-stakes tests.

    More than 100,000 students have used Ace for on-demand study help—from chat-based explanations to unlimited practice questions tied directly to their course content. The new personalized practice feature builds on these tools by offering even more tailored support. It’s a smarter, more continuous way to learn, to build confidence, and deepen understanding over time.

    “Ace shows what’s possible when AI is used thoughtfully to empower instructors, reflect students’ interests, and elevate the learning experience,” said Hong Bui, Chief Product Officer at Top Hat. “As Ace continues to evolve, we’ll add new capabilities to help educators teach more efficiently and create more impactful, engaging experiences for their students.”

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  • Making things happen: Coventry University’s contribution to regional growth

    Making things happen: Coventry University’s contribution to regional growth

    • This blog is by Dr Clive Winters, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Strategy and Governance) at Coventry University Group.
    • Today is Josh Freeman’s last day at HEPI. Josh has run the HEPI blog alongside his other duties for most of the past two years and has been a fabulous colleague. We will miss him and wish him all the best for the future and in his new role at the Office for Students.

    When levelling up was popular in political and media circles, it was a source of bemusement to some of us in Higher Education. After all, universities as anchor institutions have been helping level up our communities and delivering economic impact for decades, or even longer.

    Coventry University Group is now a global education provider, but its roots go back to 1843 when entrepreneurs and industrialists created Coventry School of Design to deliver a skilled workforce. Nearly two centuries later, we have never lost that core ethos of meeting local needs and we continue to work with businesses to provide job-ready graduates with the skills and creative thinking to improve their communities.

    Our emblem is a Phoenix, chosen because of the city’s long history of regeneration and rebirth – a story only possible through our ongoing commitment and agility to evolve with the city and deliver the skills and innovation ecosystem needed to raise and maintain aspirations, mobility and prosperity. We have always been of the city and for the city of Coventry and have transplanted our mission of creating better futures into more cities and regions with campuses in London, Scarborough and Poland.

    Education is based on place and each location is different, with social, economic and geographical factors driving local need and the gaps in skills, health and prosperity that we can help to fill. Our research and knowledge exchange activity complements our excellence in teaching to allow us to operate as a collaborative partner of choice, developing holistic solutions for local communities. We deliver technical, professional and vocational education and research that impacts on people and places. We co-create our courses with employers, our research is undertaken in collaboration and partnership, and knowledge exchange activity is designed with businesses not for them.

    When trying to capture this in an economic impact report on our activity in Coventry, we assumed the figures would be large, impressive and surprising to some but would not tell the full story of how we contribute to place and society. So, we asked the consulting team at Hatch to look at our wider impacts and not just add up the pounds.

    In simple economic terms, our main campus had a gross quantifiable economic footprint of 6,730 FTE jobs and £320m in Gross Value Added (GVA) in Coventry (2021/22). One in every 20 jobs in the city can be traced back to our presence. For every four direct on-campus jobs, a further three are supported across the city through the multiplier effects generated by the Group’s activity.

    But that doesn’t calculate the true extent to which we are woven into the economic and social fabric of Coventry, helping the city adapt and grow for 180 years. Our 5,000 health students on placements populate the teams in the wards and clinics of our local hospital, working alongside our alumni in the health and care sector in Coventry. The Research Centre for Care Excellence is a partnership with University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) empowering staff to develop ideas to make ‘patient first’ improvements. Patients feel the benefits, almost certainly without ever knowing the role we played. We are also working with UHCW and other NHS bodies to use our city centre estate to bring health services closer to patients and are the first university to be co-located in a Community Diagnostic Centre. Real people benefit from our work.

    Coventry was the home of bicycle design and manufacturing before becoming the UK’s motor city and is now vying to position itself at the forefront of the net zero transport revolution. Many of the brightest and best car designers and engineers in the UK have Coventry degrees, and we continue to meet the evolving needs of the city – upskilling 1,200 JLR staff though an electrification development programme and conducting 34 net zero collaborative research projects in just two years. We are moving the city forwards into a brighter, better future.

    The song We’ll Live and Die in These Towns seems an unusual choice for any place to have as an (unofficial) anthem, as it speaks of desperation and resignation to the fate of the working classes. But it has been embraced, not least by supporters of Coventry City, possibly because it somehow transmits a strong sense of identity based on where you are from, of place. Alongside the defiant chorus, the lyrics include the line, ‘nothing ever happened on its own’. People have to make things happen and Coventry is a city where we make things happen, but we don’t do that on our own. We do it with someone and for someone in collaboration and partnership as an anchor institution, that is the key to real economic impact.

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  • Beyond Hype and Fluff: Lessons for AI from 25 Years of EdTech

    Beyond Hype and Fluff: Lessons for AI from 25 Years of EdTech

    • This blog is by Rod Bristow is CEO of College Online which provides access to lifelong learning, Chair of Council at the University of Bradford, Visiting Professor at the UCL Institute of Education, Chair of the Kortext Academic Advisory Board and former President at Pearson.

    I am an advocate for education technology. It is a growing force for good, providing great solutions to real problems:

    • Reducing teacher workload through lesson planning, curriculum development, homework submission and marking, formative assessments, course management systems and more;
    • Improving learning outcomes through engaging, immersive experiences, adaptive assessments and the generation of rich data about learning;
    • Widening access to content and tools through aggregation platforms across thousands of publishers and millions of textbooks; and
    • Widening access to courses and qualifications for the purpose of lifelong learning using online and blended modes of delivery.

    Products and services that solve these problems will continue to take root.

    All that said, we have not seen the widespread transformation in education that technology promised to deliver, and investors have had their fingers burned. We could argue this results from unrealistic expectations rather than poor achievement, but there are lessons to be learned.

    According to HolonIQ:

    2024 saw $2.4 billion of EdTech Venture Capital, representing the lowest level of investment since 2015. The hype of 2021 is well and truly over, with investors seeking fundamentals over ‘fluff’.

    From HolonIQ

    The chart says it all. Steady growth in investment over the last decade culminated in a huge peak during Covid. Hype and ‘fluff’ overtook rational thinking, and several superficially attractive businesses spiked and then plummeted in value. In education, details and evidence of impact (or efficacy) matter. Without them, lasting scale is much harder to achieve.

    The pendulum has now swung the other way, with investors harder to convince. Investors and entrepreneurs need to ask the question, ‘Does it work?’ before considering how it scales. If they do, they will see plenty of applications that both work and scale, and better-educated investors will be good for the sector.

    One of the biggest barriers to scale is the complexity of implementation with teachers, without whom there is little impact. Without getting into the debate about teacher autonomy, most teachers like to do their own thing. And products which bypass teachers, marketed directly to consumers, often struggle to show as much impact and financial return.

    Will things be different with AI? The technology, being many times more powerful, will handle much greater flexibility of implementation for teachers than we have seen so far. AI has even greater potential to solve real problems: widening access to learning, saving time for teachers and engaging learners through adaptive digital formative assessment and deeply immersive learning experiences through augmented reality.

    But risks of ‘over-selling’ the benefits of AI technologies are potentially heightened by its very power. AI can generate mind-boggling ‘solutions’ for learners which dramatically reduce workload. Some of these are good in making learning more efficient, but questions of efficacy remain. Learning intrinsically requires work: it is done by you, not to you. Technology should not try to make learning easy, but to make hard work stimulating and productive if it is to sustain over the long term.

    There is a clear and present danger that AI will undermine learning if high-stakes assessments relying on coursework do not keep pace with the reality of AI. This is a risk yet to be gripped by regulators. There is also little evidence that, for example, AI will ever replace the inspiration of human teachers, and those saying their solutions will do so must make a very strong case. Technology companies can help, but they can also do harm.

    New technologies must be grounded in what improves learning, especially when unleashing the power of AI. This is entirely possible.

    There are many areas of great promise, but none more so than the enormous expansion in online access to lifelong learning for working people who are otherwise denied the education they need. There are now eight million people (mainly adults) studying for degrees online and tens of millions of people taking shorter online skills courses. Opening access to lifelong learning to everyone remains education’s biggest unmet need and opportunity. Education technologies can be ‘designed in’ to the entire learning experience from the beginning, rather than retrofitted by overworked teachers. Widening access to lifelong learning could deliver a greater transformation to the economy and society than we have seen in 100 years.

    Learning tools and platforms are one thing, but what do people need to learn in a world changed by AI? Much has been written about the potential for technology and especially AI to change what people need to learn. A popular narrative is that skills will be more important than knowledge; that knowledge can be so easily searched through the internet or created with AI, there is no need for it to be learned.

    Skills do matter, but these statements are wrong. We should not choose between skills and knowledge. Skills are a representation of knowledge. With no knowledge or expertise, there is no skill. More than that, in a world in which AI will have an unimaginable impact on society, we should remember that knowledge provides the very basis of our ability to think and that human memory is the residue of thought.

    Only a deeper understanding of learning and the real problems we need to solve will unleash the huge potential for technology to unlock wider access, a better learning experience and higher outcomes. To simultaneously hold the benefits and the risks of AI in a firm embrace, we will need courage, imagination and clarity about the problems to be solved before we get swept up in the hype and fluff. The opportunity is too big to put at risk.

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  • Choosing the Right Mass Notification System for Schools

    Choosing the Right Mass Notification System for Schools

    Reading Time: 12 minutes

    When a crisis hits a school campus, communication can either save lives or contribute to chaos. Whether it’s a lockdown, severe weather, or a gas leak, the first moments matter most, and so does the ability to reach the right people instantly. For school leaders, this reality has turned the mass notification system for schools from a nice-to-have into a non-negotiable.

    In today’s education landscape, safety isn’t just a responsibility; it’s an expectation. Parents demand it. Students rely on it. And legislation like the Jeanne Clery Act mandates it. From K-12 schools to sprawling universities, institutions are under growing pressure to prepare for emergencies. That means having a reliable, fast, and flexible way to communicate campus-wide emergencies across multiple platforms.

    Mass notification systems (MNS) offer that capability. They enable school officials to send real-time alerts through text messages, emails, voice calls, desktop pop-ups, sirens, and public address systems, all from a single dashboard. But with so many systems available, selecting the right one can be overwhelming. Some platforms specialize in panic buttons and mobile alerts; others focus on layered communication and integrations with existing infrastructure.

    The stakes are high, but the path forward doesn’t have to be murky. This guide will walk you through what a mass notification system is, why it matters for schools of all sizes, and how to evaluate your options with confidence.

    Looking for an all-in-one student information and CRM solution tailored to the education sector?

    Try the HEM’s Mautic CRM!

    What Is a Mass Notification System for Schools?

    So, what is a mass notification system for schools? A mass notification system for schools is a platform that enables institutions to quickly inform students, faculty, and staff about emergencies or critical situations.

    These alerts, sent via SMS, email, voice calls, app notifications, and digital signage, can communicate anything from severe weather and campus lockdowns to service disruptions and safety instructions from one central platform. This ensures rapid, widespread communication during emergencies.

    They integrate with existing infrastructure such as fire alarms, intercoms, and digital signage to ensure every possible communication pathway is covered.

    Schools often turn to systems like Rave Alert, Everbridge, Alertus, and Intrado Revolution, among others. These platforms are designed specifically for emergencies, but what if you had a tool that could do that and more? 

    How Do Mass Notification Systems Work?

    Most MNS platforms are cloud-based and integrate with school databases or SIS (student information systems). Here’s how they function:

    1. Message Creation: Administrators draft a message through a web-based interface or mobile app.
    2. Audience Segmentation: Messages can be sent to specific groups (e.g., staff, students, grade levels).
    3. Multichannel Distribution: The system pushes the message across chosen channels simultaneously.
    4. Acknowledgement and Tracking: Some systems allow recipients to confirm receipt, and administrators can track who received what.
    5. Two-Way Communication: More advanced systems allow for replies and real-time updates.

    Why MNS Is a Necessity, Not a Luxury

    The need for several types of communication channels has made the need for timely notifications undeniable. In response, many universities adopted robust mass notification systems, and today, the Jeanne Clery Act mandates that all U.S. colleges maintain systems for timely warnings and emergency notifications. 

    In Canada, provinces like Ontario require school boards to implement emergency and lockdown procedures, which may include notification systems. Globally, ISO 22301 emphasizes communication strategies in business continuity planning, applicable to schools.

    But this isn’t just a higher ed concern. K–12 schools face their own risks. And communication needs often extend beyond the campus to include parents and guardians.

    Mass Notification Has Multiple Uses

    Your mass notification system doesn’t have to be reserved for emergency use. It can and should be the most important part of your everyday communications strategy. Ensuring your mass notification system includes all of your main communications mediums like email newsletters, text messages, website alerts, and social media channels will allow you to do it all in one single platform, saving you time and streamlining your efforts.

    Need to send your email newsletter, a text reminder, and a social media push all at once? There’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to do that using your mass communications system. Need to send a mobile app and website alert while you’re at it? You’ll save hours by having everything bundled in one mass notifications toolbox.

    Think of it this way: your institution already collects valuable contact information, behavioral data, and engagement history through its CRM. That same infrastructure can power smarter alerting during a crisis. Instead of a generic campus-wide message, you could send tailored updates, like notifying only international students during a visa-related policy change, or alerting online learners about digital platform outages. It’s the intersection of immediacy and intelligence: delivering the right message to the right people, at exactly the right moment.

    This synergy is especially relevant in higher education, where the line between operational communication and marketing is increasingly blurred. Institutions must build trust not just through promotional emails but also through reliable, timely updates that reassure students and their families. A CRM-integrated mass notification system supports both missions, emergency preparedness and ongoing relationship-building.

    HEM’s Mautic CRM: Smarter Messaging in Every Scenario

    Mautic by HEM allows institutions to segment their contact lists by criteria such as program, campus, or enrollment stage, ensuring each person gets the right message at the right time. The platform also supports multi-channel outreach; staff can send automated emails and SMS messages, all from one centralized system. 

    With features like workflow automation to schedule campaigns and trigger communications (for instance, event invitations or follow-up messages), a CRM like this can unify both emergency notifications and routine marketing outreach. In practice, that means a school could broadcast critical alerts to affected individuals during a crisis and also manage day-to-day communications with students or customers, all through the same integrated system.

    Key Features to Look For

    How do you decide which system is right for your school? The key is to carefully evaluate each option’s capabilities against your institution’s needs. Below, we outline the key features to look for when choosing a mass notification system for schools, and how those features play out in practice at schools and universities.

    1. Multi-Channel Delivery

    Not everyone will be reached by the same medium, so your system should use multiple channels at once. At minimum, it must support SMS/text, email, and voice calls, since one person might see a text first while another picks up a phone call. 

    More advanced systems go further, triggering alerts over public address speakers, digital signage, desktop pop-ups, and mobile push notifications. Using multiple channels in parallel provides redundancy to ensure your message gets through. If cellular service is down or a phone is silenced, a desktop or PA alert might still reach them. 

    Example: Harvard University’s Everbridge-powered Harvard Alert blasts out texts, emails, and phone calls to students and staff simultaneously.

    HEM Image 2HEM Image 2

    Source: Harvard University

    2. Speed and Ease of Use

    In a crisis, every second counts. The person sending the alert could be under extreme stress, so the interface must be very quick and simple to operate. Ideally, launching an alert should be as easy as pressing a single panic button. 

    Look for a system with an intuitive dashboard, pre-written templates, and minimal steps to send a message. If the process is too convoluted (requiring multiple logins or too many clicks), precious time will be lost. 

    One university learned this the hard way. It found that issuing an alert took nearly 30 minutes because staff had to activate separate systems for texts, emails, and PA announcements. Needless to say, that delay was unacceptable. The school eventually moved to a unified platform (the same Everbridge solution now used by the University of Michigan) so that one action triggers every channel at once.

    Example: The University of Michigan employs the U-M Emergency Alert system (via Everbridge) to issue real-time emergency messages to students, faculty, and staff.

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    Source: University of Michigan

    3. Integration Capabilities

    Will the MNS play nicely with the technology your school already uses? The best platforms can plug into and leverage your existing infrastructure. For example, can it broadcast through your classroom intercoms and PA speakers, or trigger fire alarm strobes and door locks? Many schools have piecemeal safety tools that don’t automatically coordinate with each other. A strong notification system serves as the central hub to unify these. 

    Example: McGill University’s campus-wide alert system ties into multiple platforms already on campus, including a digital signage network (Omnivex), mass text/email alerts, and loudspeakers. This means one alert can simultaneously pop up on phones, computers, and PA systems across the university, rather than requiring separate actions for each.

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    Source: McGill University

    4. Audience Segmentation

    Can you target alerts to specific groups or locations when needed? In some situations, you won’t want to blast everyone. The system should let you easily narrow the recipient list based on location or role.

    For example, if a small chemical spill affects only the science building, you might alert just that building’s students and staff rather than the entire campus. Conversely, if you have multiple campuses, you may need to send a message only to one site. A good MNS supports both wide-area alerts and precise targeting. 

    Example: Hubspot’s SMS features offer personalized tokens, contact integration, and workflows, allowing schools to create targeted SMS campaigns and engage in live two-way personalized conversations.

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    Source: UC Berkeley

    5. Reliability and Redundancy

    You need a system that works even when things go wrong. Ensure the provider’s network has redundant infrastructure (backup servers, multiple data centers) and built-in fail-safes if one communication mode fails.

    For example, if text messages aren’t going through, can it automatically switch to another channel, like email or voice calls? On your side, plan for overlapping alert methods so there’s no single point of failure.

    Example: HEM’s Mautic allows you to send notifications via text, email, and mobile app all at once, while the campus also uses sirens and PA announcements as backup.

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    Source: HEM

    6. Feedback and Acknowledgment

    In an emergency, communication shouldn’t be just one-way. It can be very useful to get feedback or confirmation from recipients and to empower people on the ground to initiate alerts. Some mass notification systems for schools allow two-way interaction. For instance, letting recipients click “I’m Safe” in a mobile app or reply to a text to give their status. This helps account for people and gather instant feedback from the scene.

    Equally important is a panic-button capability. Many schools now provide staff with a mobile app or wearable panic button that lets them trigger an emergency alert or call for help with one touch.

    Example: University of Southern California’s emergency notification ecosystem is integrated with a smartphone safety application, known as the Trojan Mobile Safety App, powered by LiveSafe. This free downloadable app, managed by the USC Department of Public Safety and Emergency Planning, complements the TrojansAlert system by putting emergency assistance tools directly in users’ hands. Notably, the app includes a panic-alert feature in the form of one-touch emergency calling.

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    Source: University of Southern California

    7. Administration and Security

    Consider the management and support aspects of the system. You’ll want to control who can send alerts (and to whom). Robust platforms allow role-based permissions. For instance, limiting campus-wide alerts to senior officials while enabling more localized alerts by authorized staff. This ensures alerts can be sent out quickly but still securely by the appropriate personnel. 

    Data security is critical as well: the system will hold contact info for your students and staff, so it must safeguard that data and comply with privacy laws (such as FERPA or GDPR). Additionally, evaluate the vendor’s customer support and training. 

    Emergencies can happen anytime, so 24/7 technical support is highly desirable. If an issue arises at 3 AM, you’ll want immediate help. A good provider will also help train your team so everyone knows how to use the system effectively before an emergency occurs. 

    Example: The University of Washington uses a Rave-powered UW Alert system to manage communications for its large campus community. With tens of thousands of students and employees, UW relies on the system’s strong admin controls to ensure only authorized officials can send out mass alerts, and on the vendor’s support to keep the platform running smoothly.

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    Source: University of Washington

    8. Cost and Value

    Prices vary. Some platforms bill per message or user, others charge flat annual fees. Don’t choose based solely on price. Focus on total value and required features, and check for educational discounts.

    9. Scalability and Future-Proofing

    As your school grows or tech evolves, your MNS should scale accordingly. Look for vendors with a proven track record of innovation and regular updates.

    In a nutshell, what features should a good campus mass notification system include? A reliable campus notification system should have multi-channel messaging (SMS, email, phone, app alerts), easy integration with existing databases and software, real-time analytics and reporting, mobile accessibility, and role-based controls. Ideally, it should also allow for geotargeted alerts, two-way communication, and scheduled test alerts. These features help schools deliver timely, relevant updates during both emergencies and routine situations.

    Why HEM’s Mautic CRM Is a Smart Choice for Mass Notification and Communication

    Choosing a mass notification system is not just a technical decision: it’s a strategic one. That’s why many institutions are turning to HEM’s Mautic CRM, a powerful platform that blends emergency communication with everyday engagement, all in one intuitive system.

    HEM’s Mautic isn’t just a marketing tool: it’s a communication hub designed for the complex needs of modern schools. Built specifically for educational institutions, it provides the flexibility and automation required to send the right message to the right person, at exactly the right moment, whether you’re dealing with an emergency or simply sending out a campus newsletter.

    Unified Communication Across Channels

    Mautic CRM allows schools to centralize their messaging efforts, supporting email, SMS, and in-app alerts from a single dashboard. In a crisis, that means no delays switching between systems, just fast, targeted communication when every second counts.

    But its value extends beyond emergencies. With Mautic, you can schedule and automate routine announcements, manage event outreach, and nurture prospective students through personalized workflows, making it a powerful asset for both marketing and crisis response teams.

    Segmentation and Personalization

    The platform’s segmentation features let you target messages based on program, campus, enrollment stage, or any other custom criteria. This ensures your messages are always relevant, crucial when issuing alerts that may only apply to certain groups, buildings, or locations.

    Need to notify only international students about a visa-related change? Or send an urgent weather alert to your downtown campus while leaving other sites unaffected? Mautic makes it easy.

    Automation for Every Scenario

    From workflow triggers to dynamic content, HEM’s Mautic helps schools automate communication with precision. For example:

    • Trigger follow-up emails after an info session
    • Send reminders about registration deadlines
    • Automate alerts for emergency drills or test scenarios

    These workflows can be adapted for both emergency preparedness and ongoing communications, creating a seamless experience for students, faculty, and administrators alike.

    Easy Integration and Expert Support

    HEM’s CRM integrates with leading SIS and web platforms, enabling real-time syncing of contact data and activity tracking. That makes implementation smooth and ensures your alert system always has up-to-date recipient information.

    And because it’s backed by HEM’s education marketing experts, you get more than just software; you get strategic onboarding, training, and long-term support tailored to your institution’s needs.

    Ready to Future-Proof Your School Communication?

    Whether you’re managing crisis alerts or student outreach campaigns, HEM’s Mautic CRM delivers reliability, flexibility, and peace of mind. Join institutions that are redefining campus communication and doing it smarter.

    Looking for an all-in-one student information and CRM solution tailored to the education sector?

    Try the HEM’s Mautic CRM!

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Question: What is a mass notification system for schools?
    Answer: A mass notification system for schools is a platform that enables institutions to quickly inform students, faculty, and staff about emergencies or critical situations.

    Question: What features should a good campus mass notification system include?
    Answer:  A reliable campus notification system should have multi-channel messaging (SMS, email, phone, app alerts), easy integration with existing databases and software, real-time analytics and reporting, mobile accessibility, and role-based controls.

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  • Don’t believe the hype: the Government and state school admissions to Oxford University

    Don’t believe the hype: the Government and state school admissions to Oxford University

    • HEPI Director, Nick Hillman, looks at the latest row on admissions to the University of Oxford.

    In a speech on Friday, the Minister for Skills, Baroness Smith, strongly chastised her alma mater, the University of Oxford, for taking a third of their entrants from the 6% of kids that go to private schools.

    In a section of the speech entitled ‘Challenging Oxford’, we were told the situation is ‘absurd’, ‘arcane’ and ‘can’t continue’:

    Oxford recently released their state school admissions data for 2024.

    And the results were poor.

    66.2% – the lowest entry rate since 2019.

    I want to be clear, speaking at an Oxford college today, that this is unacceptable.

    The university must do better.

    The independent sector educates around 6% of school children in the UK.

    But they make-up 33.8% of Oxford entrants.

    Do you really think you’re finding the cream of the crop, if a third of your students come from 6% of the population?

    It’s absurd.

    Arcane, even.

    And it can’t continue.

    It’s because I care about Oxford and I understand the difference that it can make to people’s lives that I’m challenging you to do better.  But it certainly isn’t only Oxford that has much further to go in ensuring access.

    This language reminded me of the Laura Spence affair, which produced so much heat and so little light in the Blair / Brown years and which may even have set back sensible conversations on broadening access to selective higher education.

    I wrote in a blog over the weekend that the Government are at risk of forgetting the benefit of education for education’s sake. That represents a political hole that Ministers should do everything to avoid as it could come to define them. Ill-thought through attacks on the most elite universities for their finely-grained admissions decisions represent a similar hole best avoided. Just imagine if the Minister had set out plans to tackle a really big access problem, like boys’ educational underachievement, instead. The Trump/Harvard spat is something any progressive government should seek to avoid, not copy.

    The latest chastisement is poorly formed for at least three specific reasons: the 6% is wrong in this context; the 33.8% number does not tell us what people tend to think it does; and Oxford’s current position of not closely monitoring the state/independent split is actually in line with the regulator’s guidance.

    1. 6% represents only half the proportion (12%) of school leavers educated at independent schools. In other words, the 6% number is a snapshot for the proportion of all young people in private schools right now; it tells us nothing about those at the end of their schooling and on the cusp of higher education.
    2. The 33.8% number is unhelpful because 20%+ of Oxford’s new undergraduates hail from overseas and they are entirely ignored in the calculation. If you include the (over) one in five Oxford undergraduate entrants educated overseas, the proportion of Oxford’s intake that is made up of UK private school kids falls from from something like one-third to more like one-quarter. This matters in part because the number of international students at Oxford has grown, meaning there are fewer places for home students of all backgrounds. In 2024, Oxford admitted 100 more undergraduate students than in 2006, but there were 250 more international students – and consequently fewer Brits. We seem to be obsessed with the backgrounds of home students and, because we want their money, entirely uninterested in the backgrounds of international students.
    3. The Office for Students dislikes the state/private metric. This is because of the differences within these two categories: in other words, there are high-performing state schools and less high-performing independent schools. Last year, when the University of Cambridge said they planned to move away from a simplistic state/independent school target, John Blake, the Director of Fair Access and Participation at the Office for Students, confirmed to the BBC, ‘we do not require a target on the proportion of pupils from state schools entering a particular university.’ So universities have typically shied away from this measure in recent times. If Ministers think it is a key metric after all and if they really do wish to condemn individual institutions for their state/independent split, it would have made sense to have had a conversation with the Office for Students and to have encouraged them to put out new guidance first. At the moment, the Minister and the regulator are saying different things on an important issue of high media attention.

    Are independently educated pupils overrepresented at Oxbridge? Quite possibly, but the Minister’s stick/schtick, while at one with the Government’s wider negative approach to independent schools, seems a sub-optimal way to engineer a conversation on the issue. Perhaps Whitehall wanted a headline more than it wanted to get under the skin of the issue?

    we do not require a target on the proportion of pupils from state schools entering a particular university

    John Blake, Director for Fair access and participation

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