Buckinghamshire New University has scored highly for the way it shares knowledge with wider society in the first Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) results published today (31 March). The University performed strongly against other similar institutions in three key areas including skills, enterprise and entrepreneurship (top 30%); public and community engagement (top 40%); and working with the public and third sectors (top 50%).

Led by Research England, the purposes of the KEF are to provide:

• universities with new tools to understand, benchmark and improve their individual performance;
• businesses and partners with information on universities’ strengths in KE; and
• greater public visibility and accountability of university KE activities.

Professor Nick Braisby, Vice-Chancellor at Buckinghamshire New University, said: "Bucks New University engages with the wider world in many different ways and knowledge exchange has long been at the heart of our research and innovation activities. We are passionate about working collaboratively with industry and our local communities to benefit both the economy and society. I am proud to see Bucks performing so highly across three important areas. We will continue to work tirelessly to expand our KE activities at a local, national, and international level."

Examples of the University’s knowledge exchange activities include:

• Ongoing engagement by Professor Margaret Greenfields with members of the Gypsy, Traveller and Roma communities to enhance access to equalities including a report exploring the impacts of hate crime. The University has led the development of a pledge to widen the participation of members of Traveller, Roma, Showmen and Boater (GTRSB) in higher education.
• Through GLIDE (Graduate Link to Develop New Enterprise) we increase entrepreneurship by supporting our graduates with the ambition to start a business, by linking them to the knowledge expertise, technology and research within our University and helping them to develop contacts across the wider business network.
• The University is a member of the Arc Universities Group (AUG), a network of universities to foster collaboration, research, skills and innovation to support the economic growth of the Oxford - Cambridge Arc region. We are actively involved with the Environmental Partnership and Sustainable Aviation boards.
• Bucks New University is taking a lead in developing the county’s skills agenda, working closely with regional and national employers to address the skills gap in STEM areas, including digital health, creative and media skills. Professor Florin Ioras is part of a team responding to the impact of the COVID19 pandemic on West London’s economy and communities.

Each institution’s performance in the KEF is represented through seven perspectives across which universities typically exchange knowledge with wider society. Research England has clustered English universities in to broad types, to enable fair comparisons between them. There are eight such clusters and Bucks New University shares its cluster with institutions including the universities of Solent, Winchester, Bath Spa, Edge Hill and West London.

The KEF, announced in 2020 as part of the Government’s Industrial Strategy, forms the third pillar of assessment of universities’ activities, alongside the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) and the Research Excellence Framework (REF).