ID017 Excellence

The Idea

In a competitive sector with well-established markers of quality, an effective way to stand out and succeed is to be excellent and be recognised as such, nationally and globally.

Over the period of the new strategy, Keele should set an explicit ambition to achieve significantly enhanced performance across the metrics that shape perceptions of excellence in the minds of the sector, our peers and the public. These include the measures used to calculate national and international rankings and league tables. This means more focused and higher-quality research, even stronger student satisfaction, sector-leading graduate outcomes, and a clear institution-wide focus on defined and measurable standards of excellence in everything we do.

This is not mutually exclusive with Keele's distinctive strengths. Our leadership in sustainability, interdisciplinarity, regional regeneration and civic engagement remains a powerful differentiator and should continue to be central to our identity. These strengths can also be leveraged further as routes to achieving recognised areas of excellence. While there will be uniquely Keele approaches to success, the strategic intent should be unambiguous: to deliver strong performance against well-understood and widely recognised sector measures that are communicated clearly to prospective students, partners and the wider public.

Why This Idea Should Be Considered

Many of the universities founded alongside Keele have outpaced us on traditional markers of excellence, often to the point where they are no longer considered direct comparators. The journeys that took York, Exeter and Warwick into the Russell Group could plausibly have been ours. Similarly, Loughborough and Bath's focus on graduate employability, or Lancaster's reputation for internationally excellent research, could have been reflected through a distinctive Keele lens, positioning us consistently among the UK's leading universities.

Keele deserves external recognition for its excellent teaching and research, and North Staffordshire deserves a university that is widely regarded as excellent. Achieving this will enable us to compete more effectively in an increasingly global and competitive sector, where pressure from higher-ranked institutions continues to intensify.

Enhancing Keele's reputation would strengthen our ability to communicate the quality of our institution and our people. It would also create tangible benefits for students, staff and graduates through enhanced employability, stronger research networks, greater opportunities for collaboration and increased access to professional development and progression.

How We Would Implement This Idea

Many of the necessary foundations are already in place, including a broader and more market-aligned academic portfolio, expanding placement opportunities, a strong culture that values the student experience, and established marketing and recruitment functions capable of communicating success and amplifying impact.

The next step is to establish clearly defined, approved and widely shared targets that create institution-wide understanding and commitment. Targeted strategic investment could support significant improvements in REF performance, NSS outcomes, graduate employability and other measures that influence external perceptions of quality.

Success would depend on:

• Clearly defined ambitions and performance targets
• Transparent oversight and accountability for delivery
• A strong understanding of competitor strengths and positioning
• Focused investment in areas with the greatest potential impact and return
• Alignment of institutional priorities across academic and professional services teams

While some aspects of this approach may be challenging, the potential benefits are substantial. Increased income, stronger external recognition and greater pride across the university community would outweigh the discomfort sometimes associated with ambitious performance targets.

There is also an opportunity to link the university's reputational ambitions to personal and team development, ensuring that recognised measures of success are monitored, rewarded and celebrated. Staff across the institution are already working hard to deliver excellent outcomes; this approach would align those efforts around a clear and shared vision of excellence.

What Success Would Look Like

• Top 20 placement in at least one national university league table by 2030
• Top 200 placement in an international university ranking
• More consistent academic performance across disciplines through targeted support and investment
• Successful recruitment and retention of outstanding staff and students from around the world
• Higher-quality partnerships with leading global universities, businesses and organisations
• Increased application volumes, allowing greater selectivity in recruitment
• Growth in student enrolments, generating additional income for investment in research, facilities, student hubs and accommodation
• A vibrant and internationally attractive research environment that delivers greater impact
• A stronger institutional brand and reputation
• A confident, sustainable and financially resilient university that is well positioned for future opportunities and challenges