Independent Higher Education (IHE) has published a major new report highlighting how independent higher education providers are partnering with industry to deliver skills, innovation and economic growth.
Building a skilled economy: How IHE Members partner with industry draws on evidence from seventeen IHE member institutions, employers and sector experts. The report finds that independent and specialist providers are already delivering many of the outcomes policymakers want to see, including employer-designed programmes, workforce development in priority sectors, and direct routes into employment.
However, the report warns that their contribution is often constrained by structural factors within the current system. These include regulatory cycles that cannot keep pace with industry change, graduate outcomes measures that fail to adequately capture how careers develop in specialist sectors, and funding and assessment models built around scale and geography that can leave specialist, employer-connected provision at a disadvantage.
Launched during IHE's Industry and Skills Week (10-13 August 2026), the report argues that systemic barriers and regulatory instability are preventing innovative, employer-connected providers from responding to skills needs at the pace industry requires. It calls for coordinated action across skills policy, regulation and funding to create a more stable and responsive system.
The recommendations include calls for greater policy certainty for employers and providers, more proportionate routes into funded skills delivery, stronger recognition of provider expertise in skills planning and industrial strategy, better support for SME engagement, and reforms that enable higher education to respond more quickly to changing workforce needs.
The report also highlights the need for funding, innovation and data frameworks that better reflect the realities of online learning, specialist provision, and freelance-intensive sectors. Drawing on case studies from across the IHE membership, the report highlights how independent providers throughout the UK are working alongside employers to develop industry-relevant skills and drive productivity across sectors ranging from nuclear and construction to the creative industries and early years education.
Commenting on the release of the report, Alex Proudfoot, Chief Executive of Independent Higher Education, said:
"This contribution could hardly be more urgent. Economic growth, regional devolution and the disruption created by artificial intelligence all demand a more responsive education and skills system. Employers value IHE Members because they understand their industries, speak their language and respond with pace and purpose.
"The case studies in this report show students learning from the professionals they aspire to be, solving real-world problems and building relationships that turn education into opportunity. They also show the extent to which specialist providers are already helping industries develop the talent they need.
"With targeted action in the right places, these models can do even more to support students, employers and economic growth. Together, they can be a driving force behind building a more skilled, innovative and prosperous economy."