Research England has unveiled this year’s Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) results which confirm that the University of Bedfordshire performed strongly in a number of key areas, including support for graduate start-ups and local and regional community engagement.
KEF assesses how universities impact the economy and society. The 2023 results showcase that Bedfordshire has excelled in three key categories – ‘Public & Community Engagement’, ‘Research Partnerships’ and ‘Graduate Start-Ups & CPD’ (Continuing Professional Development) – and this year’s results include year-by-year comparison, showing significant improvement themes.
Bedfordshire has consistently scored as one of the top 5% of UK universities regarding alumni start-ups and CPD courses, previously recognised in a study by HESA in 2022, while earlier this year Money.co.uk ranked the University in top place for helping to create and nurture social enterprises.
Professor Andrew Church, Pro Vice Chancellor for Research & Innovation, commented:
“These results are all down to a genuinely successful effort by all staff and it is pleasing to see the University of Bedfordshire being recognised nationally through independent metrics. Academics have often built these partnerships using small seed corn funding, either from regional projects or our own funding initiatives, such as the Participatory Research Fund, so it’s fantastic that their efforts have been acknowledged.”
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