Three students walking on a university campus

ARU draft 10-year strategy

We want to draw on your ideas, experience and ambition to develop our next 10-year strategy.

Tell us what you think

Vice Chancellor's introduction

Over the past decade, we have taken great strides forward as a university. We are proud of our achievements and the impact we have had on our students, our partners and the communities we serve. Your ideas, experience and ambitions have been crucial to our success and we want to draw on them again as we develop our next 10-year strategy.

Working together has seen ARU establish a new university in Peterborough, addressing a former higher education cold spot. We also established a School of Medicine, while our merger with Writtle University College broadened our offer and preserved Writtle’s high quality provision. We’ve achieved Gold in the national Teaching Excellence Framework, become the UK’s leading provider of police education and won national awards, including the Times Higher Education’s University of the Year.

Through all these successes our focus has been on strengthening the impact of our education and our research. We’ve invested in our future to create a distinctive civic university rooted in its communities. Above all, we have stayed true to our mission of transforming lives through innovative, inclusive and entrepreneurial education and research.

As we identify our priorities and commitments for the next ten years, that mission remains unchanged. What’s new is a reframing of our values, around Ambition, Collaboration, Inclusion and Integrity, and a refreshing of our key strategic priorities. Together, these go to the heart of who we are and will help us focus our efforts and resources as we face the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

To set out our priorities we have identified five strategic goals – Empowering Learning, Discovery with Purpose, Thriving Places, Belonging and Achieving, and Growth and Sustainability. The initiatives we will pursue to address the priorities set out under each goal will be detailed in a 3-year delivery plan that we will also publish in the summer.

In the consultation phase for this new 10-year strategy we really want to hear from you, to make the most of your ideas and reflections. We’d like your thoughts on how we can best build sustainable, inclusive futures for all, in our education, in our research and in the way we work. Your experience and contributions will help us build on the impact we have across our region, and to identify and achieve our global ambitions. I’m confident that working together we can produce a bold and ambitious strategy that will ensure the next ten years are as successful for ARU as the previous ten have been.

Professor Roderick Watkins
Vice Chancellor

Roderick Watkins Hear more from our Vice Chancellor

Shaping ARU's next 10-year strategy

It’s time to look ahead. We’re shaping ARU’s next 10-year strategy, and your voice matters.

Our mission

Transforming lives through innovative, inclusive and entrepreneurial education and research

Our values


Our goals

Empowering learning

We provide transformative education that empowers every student to achieve their full potential and make a positive impact.

We will:

  • Offer a vibrant and diverse portfolio of contemporary, career-focused courses, working closely with employers, practitioners, researchers and our students to continuously update curricula and improve outcomes and experience.
  • Deliver an outstanding, inclusive learning environment – both physical and digital – that meets the needs and aspirations of our diverse student cohorts, harnessing emerging technologies and offering innovative, flexible ways to engage.
  • Offer transformative, real‑world learning experiences that build confidence, deepen understanding and connect students to industry, professional practice and their wider communities.
  • Work with employers and other education providers to create pathways to higher education for all, increasing attainment and access, promoting lifelong learning, and tackling skills gaps.
  • Equip our graduates with the future-ready skills and capabilities to be resilient, creative and adaptable, leading successful careers and contributing positively to society.

Discovery with purpose

We pioneer solution-focussed, collaborative and interdisciplinary research and innovation to achieve a positive impact on people’s lives and drive social and economic progress.

We will:

  • Strengthen our focus on our three research themes – Sustainable Futures, Safe and Inclusive Communities and Health, Performance and Wellbeing – and significantly enhance external funding and research excellence across our research institutes and centres.
  • Forge ambitious collaborations with universities and key stakeholders to address contemporary challenges and priorities, regionally, nationally and globally.
  • Maximise impact through developing innovative, inclusive and co-creative approaches to engagement between academia, industry, the professions, government and wider society.
  • Develop a dynamic portfolio of knowledge exchange and entrepreneurial ventures of tangible value to our partners, clients and funders.
  • Provide outstanding professional and technological support for our research and innovation, promoting researcher development and ensuring access to leading-edge infrastructure and digital technologies.

Thriving places

We collaborate with partners across the East of England and beyond to enhance quality of life, connect and empower communities, and drive inclusive, sustainable growth.

We will:

  • Deploy our expertise, leadership and resources to drive inclusive, sustainable growth and development across the East of England in partnership with key stakeholders.
  • Strengthen collaborations with our industry, NHS, government and third sector partners and funders to enhance quality of life and tackle inequalities within our communities.
  • Strengthen the distinctiveness, complementarity and connectedness of each of our campuses, harnessing local relationships, creating a powerful sense of place, and ensuring that together we are greater than the sum of our parts.
  • Develop our campus and digital environments to promote wellbeing and a sense of belonging, encourage collaboration, and offer outstanding facilities that serve the needs of our students, staff and local communities.
  • Build global partnerships that expand our reach and impact, driving social and economic improvement.

Belonging and achieving

We work closely together to foster a culture where every member of our community thrives, feels valued, and is inspired and supported to achieve success.

We will:

  • Live by and embed our values across ARU, creating a shared sense of purpose and identity that strengthens belonging, promotes wellbeing and drives success.
  • Design and deliver sector-leading development programmes and services with equity at their core, removing barriers, tackling inequalities and enabling outstanding achievement.
  • Work in partnership across and within our communities, empowering students, staff and partners to co-create our collective future and realise ambitions.
  • Attract, support and develop exceptional, high-performing people to create a diverse, agile, future-ready community that delivers on our mission.
  • Build a powerful and engaged network of alumni, advocates and supporters who promote the reputation and reach of ARU and draw ongoing benefit from their relationship with us.

Growth and sustainability

We champion and promote sustainable growth to benefit students, partners and communities, in pursuit of international sustainability goals.

We will:

  • Put sustainability at the heart of everything we do – across education, research and operations – aligning our work with international sustainability goals.
  • Evolve and strengthen our business model, promoting agility, diversifying income and managing resources creatively, driving excellent value for money and making smart, sustainable investments to ensure ARU prospers in the long term.
  • Harness emerging technologies to unlock new, sustainable opportunities across our education, research and operations, deploying innovation to empower every member of our community.
  • Provide resilient, sustainable environments where students, staff and partners can collaborate, co-create their futures and respond positively to the challenges ahead.
  • Foster a sustainability-focused culture that inspires bold thinking and courageous action, empowering our community to shape an inclusive, equitable and sustainable future.
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