Drawing on the experiences of IHE member institutions, this report examines how industry partnerships operate across the sector, identifies the barriers that limit effective collaboration, and highlights areas where targeted policy intervention could have the greatest impact.
As used throughout this report, 'industry partnership' does not imply subordination to employer preferences. Rather, it describes a relationship in which both parties gain value and in which the educational mission remains intact.
The report reflects the full breadth of the IHE community, from single-discipline conservatoires and specialist technical institutes to large-scale online and workforce-development providers operating nationally.
The most striking finding of the research is the extent of activity already taking place across the sector. IHE Members are co-designing curricula with employers, creating pathways for students into industries that need them, and building meaningful relationships with SMEs that no national structure currently reaches. Independent providers do not simply respond to employer demand. In the most effective and deeply embedded cases, they anticipate emerging needs, help shape demand, and play an active role in the development of the industries they serve.
Key findings:
- There is no single model of industry partnership
- Mutual benefit is the foundation of every successful partnership
- Practitioner-led teaching is a distinctive strength, but it relies on sustained investment
- Agility is both a competitive advantage and a source of tension
- In the creative industries, the challenge is compounded
- Place-based skills policy risks excluding providers whose value lies precisely in their ability to operate beyond geographical boundaries
- The evidence base on which policy decisions are taken does not adequately cover this sector.
The report concludes with eight recommendations, aimed principally at government departments with responsibility for skills policy, and those leading the development and delivery of industrial strategy sector plans. It also sets out actions for regulators, sector bodies and other organisations whose decisions influence the effectiveness of industry engagement across the higher education sector.
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Independent providers do not merely respond to employer demand. In the most embedded cases, they anticipate it, shape it, and help build the industries they serve.
Industry partnerships
Cases studies of IHE Members featured in the report
Tiro, whose award-winning science apprenticeship co-designed with the Institute of Cancer Research has helped apprentices progress into organisations including AstraZeneca and The Royal Marsden.
NMITE, founded in Herefordshire to address a higher education cold spot, whose challenge-based learning model was developed alongside employers including the Ministry of Defence and British Army.
The National Motorsport Academy, which embeds industry R&D challenges into workplace-based learning.
Escape Studios, whose long-standing partnerships with studios including Framestore and DNEG are embedded in curriculum design and assessment.
Gen2, which supports the nuclear skills pipeline in West Cumbria through its partnership with Sellafield.
Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM), whose partnership with Metropolis Studios and its Grammy Award-winning engineers has translated world-leading industry expertise into specialist training programmes.
Collective Acting Studio, whose Collective Fringe initiative helps widen access to careers in the performing arts.
Norland University of Early Childhood, which operates its own employment agency, offering a direct connection to the families who employ its graduates as nannies.
Leiths Education, which has built a network of more than 50 employer partners across the food and hospitality industry.
The University of the Built Environment, where programmes are mapped directly to industry competency frameworks across the construction sector and shaped by professional body accreditation.
The Academy of Live Technology, whose industry-embedded model at Production Park in West Yorkshire brings students, educators and employers together in a live commercial environment.