ID003 Universal Learning at Keele

The Idea

As Keele develops its future institutional strategy, there is an opportunity to strengthen its position as a university that designs education around inclusion, participation and community. Universal Learning at Keele proposes a strategic approach to learning that enables high-quality participation across physical and digital spaces, ensuring that students can remain connected to the academic community regardless of personal circumstances, geography or disruption.

This is not a proposal to replace Keele’s campus-based educational experience, which remains central to the University’s identity and student offer. Rather, it extends that experience more flexibly and inclusively, creating a model in which community, belonging and academic engagement are not dependent solely on physical presence.

Universal Learning would support students who face barriers to regular campus attendance, including disability, long-term health conditions, caring responsibilities, financial pressures, international mobility constraints or periods of wider disruption.

Crucially, this is not simply about access to teaching content. It is about designing learning communities in which students can participate meaningfully, collaborate with peers, engage with staff and develop a strong sense of belonging whether learning on campus, remotely or through blended participation where pedagogically appropriate.

Rather than seeking to compete directly with large-scale online providers, the aim is to extend access to Keele’s distinctive campus-based education by offering flexible ways for students to participate when circumstances make regular attendance difficult.

This approach would build on Keele’s existing strengths in inclusive curriculum design rather than creating an entirely separate agenda. The University already demonstrates strong practice in accessible and inclusive education, supported through existing frameworks and established educational development expertise in inclusive curriculum design. Universal Learning would provide a clearer strategic framework that connects these strengths with more intentional approaches to flexible and digitally enabled participation.

Drawing on principles of Universal Design for Learning, this approach would embed accessibility, flexibility and multiple forms of engagement into curriculum design from the outset. Rather than treating accessibility as a reactive adjustment, learning would be designed to support diverse student needs, preferences and circumstances as standard practice. This could include varied forms of participation, collaborative learning opportunities, authentic assessment and flexible engagement pathways that maintain academic rigour while broadening access.

At the same time, students increasingly expect flexible learning opportunities that do not compromise academic standards, interaction or belonging. While hybrid teaching expanded rapidly during the pandemic, it was often implemented inconsistently and without a shared pedagogic framework. Keele could now move beyond emergency responses and develop a distinctive, intentional model that reflects its values and long-term ambitions. Universal Learning would build on and connect these existing strengths within a clearer institutional framework that also supports hybrid participation where appropriate.

A strong sense of community must sit at the centre of this model. Remote learners can be at greater risk of disengagement or social isolation if participation is not intentionally designed around interaction and belonging. Universal Learning would therefore place community-building alongside accessibility as a core principle. This would include peer collaboration, structured academic interaction, co-curricular engagement, digital communities of practice and mechanisms that ensure remote and campus-based students feel part of a shared Keele learning community.

This proposal is therefore not simply about where learning happens, but about how academic community is created and sustained across different modes of participation. Universal Learning at Keele aligns closely with institutional priorities around inclusivity, widening participation, student success and sustainability, while maintaining Keele’s identity as a campus-based university where in-person engagement remains the primary mode of study. It also offers important benefits for institutional resilience. Recent years have demonstrated the vulnerability of traditional delivery models to disruption, whether caused by pandemics, geopolitical instability, visa restrictions, transport disruption, environmental events or individual student circumstances.

A more flexible educational framework would strengthen Keele’s ability to maintain continuity, support students effectively during disruption and respond more confidently to future uncertainty while preserving academic quality and community connection.

Consideration would also need to be given to how hybrid participation is communicated to students. Flexible participation should not be perceived as a reduced experience, but as an extension of the same high-quality academic community. Clear expectations, intentional design and strong communication would be essential to ensure students recognise the value of this approach and remain meaningfully connected to staff, peers and wider university life.

A strong sense of belonging remains central to student success and wellbeing. Universal Learning would therefore complement, rather than replace, Keele’s campus experience. Flexible participation would support students when attendance is difficult while still encouraging meaningful engagement with campus life, peer networks, academic collaboration and the wider university community wherever possible.

The aim is not to diminish the value of place-based learning, but to ensure that community and participation remain accessible even when physical presence is constrained. Longer term, Universal Learning could also support a broader vision of community that extends beyond the physical campus through strategic partnerships, collaborative teaching, shared international learning experiences and networked academic communities.

This would create opportunities for Keele to extend its learning community beyond the physical campus through selective regional, national and international collaboration. Delivery would require a phased, evidence-led approach. Initial work should include targeted market research to better understand demand for flexible participation among different student groups, including commuting students, disabled students, international learners and working professionals.

Initial pilot activity across selected disciplines could then explore flexible and hybrid participation where pedagogically appropriate. This approach should not be assumed to apply uniformly across all programmes. Laboratory teaching, clinical education, professional accreditation requirements, invigilated assessment, placements and practice-based disciplines will require discipline-specific consideration. Universal Learning should therefore be understood as a strategic framework rather than a one-size-fits-all delivery expectation.

Alongside this, Keele could develop a clear Universal Learning framework offering practical guidance on session design, assessment, student engagement and inclusive practice. Staff development and peer support would be essential, alongside explicit recognition of workload implications, staff capacity and the complexity of delivering high-quality hybrid learning sustainably. Ongoing evaluation, including feedback from both on-campus and remote students, would inform refinement and future development.

By embedding universal learning principles into its strategy, Keele can demonstrate a commitment to designing education around the realities of students’ lives while preserving its distinctive educational identity. Flexible participation would sit alongside campus-based provision as a supportive and inclusive option where appropriate, rather than replacing the traditional residential model. The broader strategic opportunity is to redefine community not as something limited to physical campus presence, but as something intentionally created through inclusive participation, connection and shared academic purpose.

Rather than expecting students to adapt to rigid delivery models, the University can design education around the realities of contemporary student life. This offers a credible, values-driven approach to improving access, inclusion, resilience and community, ensuring Keele’s future educational provision remains relevant, sustainable and genuinely connected to the diverse learners it serves.

Why This Idea Should Be Considered

Universal Learning at Keele directly addresses several major challenges facing higher education, including accessibility, student diversity, resilience, internationalisation and evolving expectations around participation.

Many students face barriers to regular campus attendance due to disability, health conditions, caring responsibilities, financial pressures or mobility constraints, yet still require a high-quality academic experience and meaningful connection to the university community.

At the same time, developments in generative AI are encouraging universities to rethink traditional approaches to teaching and assessment. Greater emphasis on authentic assessment, collaboration, application and demonstration of competence aligns well with more flexible and inclusive learning design.

This approach strengthens institutional resilience by enabling continuity during disruption, while also supporting more sustainable and flexible forms of international engagement.

Importantly, Universal Learning provides an opportunity to reimagine academic community itself — not as something dependent entirely on physical co-location, but as something intentionally created through participation, collaboration, belonging and shared educational purpose.

How We Would Implement This Idea

Keele could implement this idea through a phased, evidence-led approach focused on pedagogy, infrastructure, support and evaluation. Initial pilot activity should identify disciplines where flexible participation is pedagogically viable and strategically valuable.

Implementation would require:

• appropriately equipped teaching spaces
• reliable digital infrastructure
• accessible teaching platforms
• live captioning and accessibility tools
• robust technical support
• targeted staff development
• explicit recognition of workload implications, staff capacity and sustainable delivery expectations
• operational support for technical reliability in hybrid teaching environments

A Universal Learning framework should guide curriculum design, assessment, participation and community-building. Students should also be involved in co-designing elements of the learning experience, ensuring flexibility reflects genuine learner need rather than institutional assumption.

A complementary digital strategy could help establish a more consistent digital baseline for participation in flexible and digitally enabled learning environments. One possible approach would be to explore options that improve equitable access to essential digital tools, whether through institutional device schemes, voucher support, enhanced loan provision or other targeted interventions.

Implementation would require careful consideration of financial sustainability, programme-specific requirements and operational practicality. In some disciplines, particularly those involving specialist software, professional accreditation requirements, invigilated digital assessment or controlled testing environments, dedicated institutionally managed computing provision may remain essential.

The broader strategic principle is not necessarily the replacement of existing infrastructure but ensuring that access to appropriate technology does not become a barrier to participation, engagement or community connection.

Longer term, the framework could support wider partnership-based and international learning communities.

What Success Would Look Like

Success would be demonstrated through measurable improvements in access, participation, belonging and educational resilience.

Indicators could include:

• improved retention for students facing attendance barriers
• stronger student engagement across participation modes
• improved belonging, participation and sense of community measures
• reduced attainment gaps for underrepresented groups
• staff confidence in inclusive flexible teaching
• reliable continuity during disruption
• positive student feedback on participation quality
• successful discipline-appropriate implementation

Success would mean Keele being recognised for a coherent, inclusive, community-centred educational model that combines accessibility, resilience and academic quality.