Our students - Aston University 2030 Strategy

Recognising the value-add that higher education provides in terms of employability and social mobility, we will offer our students career support for life.

On joining Aston University, students will become part of Aston for Life, which is a thriving community that offers a unique portfolio of personal, professional development and networking opportunities, insights and support that are essential for work and life, both during study and beyond.

We will develop a new Student Services in the Cloud platform (a virtual Student Services Hub) that provides end-to-end engagement and support for our students anywhere and anytime with direct links to digital resources, applications, and advice (augmented by our integrated data platform in the Cloud with new generation AI).

5. Lifelong learning opportunities and personalised end-to-end student support.

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Our Digital Enterprise strategy and next generation information systems will evolve to support technology-rich learning approaches anywhere at any time.

Our flexible and blended learning approaches will embrace the changing nature of knowledge acquisition at a time when information is expanding at an exponential rate in almost every field.

We will provide contemporary digital tech to all learners, encompassing relevant e-texts and e-links to online learning resources, including the hardware and software required for their programme of study.

Our laboratories, enhanced by state-of-the-art digital infrastructure will support learning across disciplines and professions, and evolve in select areas as super-labs for active learning, bootcamps and inter-disciplinary projects at scale.

4. Access to contemporary physical and digital resources for all courses of study.

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We recognise the diversity of our learners and their unique interests and needs for preferred approaches to study and development.

All taught provisions will enable our learners to make choices about what, and how, they study and the nature of their assessment (involving authentic assessment approaches as our core model).

Our new Block Learning Mode will provide our students with a better paced learning mode leading to higher success rate, satisfaction and retention.

3. Unique opportunities to personalise individual learning journeys.

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Develop a positive data informed approach to health and well being as an important life-skill.

Provide integrated healthcare support through the interconnectedness of the new Aston Health Services Hub, Sports Centre and the range of available mental health and wellbeing resources.

2. An environment and tools for a positive approach to health and wellbeing as a life-skill.

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Engagement with industry and research will form a core element of all taught and postgraduate research provisions, with professional practice embedded in all taught provision (undergraduate and postgraduate courses).

At undergraduate level, all students will undertake an Aston Power Skills stackable module which develops the digital skills for the digital economy (contextualised to discipline and profession); build leadership, management and entrepreneurship skills; and develop an awareness and understanding of environmental sustainability and its implications for professional practice. We are one of a select group of universities with the responsible futures accreditation for our whole of institution approach to environmental sustainability and social responsibility, which form an integral part of the new Aston Power Skills module.

For postgraduate taught courses, we will adopt the Aston Global Advantage offer and postgraduate researchers will have the opportunity to be part of our active research community, engaging with research leaders at Aston, nationally and internationally.

Given the significance of effective collaboration and networking skills for all careers, we will develop in all students these important employability skills via experiential learning experiences.

All courses will engage industry professionals to enhance industry relevance and practice.

1. Skills and support needed to enhance lifelong career potential.

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3. Unique opportunities to personalise individual learning journeys.

2. An environment and tools for a positive approach to health and wellbeing as a life-skill.

5. Lifelong learning opportunities and personalised end-to-end student support.

4. Access to contemporary physical and digital resources for all courses of study.

• Education strategy

• College strategies

• Digital Enterprise strategy

• Estates strategy

• Access and Participation plan

Enabling strategies

Life-Skills:
Beyond discipline-based and professional knowledge and skills, all Aston University students will graduate with advanced levels of intercultural, digital, entrepreneurial, and environmental literacy, as well as with a positive and informed approach to maintaining their health and wellbeing. This will set position them for success in their approach to work and life and enable them to make positive impact in their careers from day one.

Employability:
Their industry relevant skills and qualifications, the networks they have curated, and the professional experience they have gained during studies means that Aston University graduates have a competitive edge in the job market. They will progress quickly to high value jobs and often well remunerated roles – as an employee in an organisation or by setting up and running their own enterprises.

The ability to benefit from personal and professional development opportunities through the ‘Aston for Life’ platform means throughout their careers they will be supported to progress into leadership roles, to re-skill and up-skill in line with the changing economies. This adaptability will ensure throughout their careers they will be able to navigate between sectors as the world of work changes.

Social Mobility:
Aston University has shown that it is possible to be both an inclusive university and one which delivers impressive graduate outcomes, irrespective of their starting point or social capital, an Aston University education will help to improve the access to opportunity for our students. Through preparing our students from all backgrounds for high value careers in a changing world of work we will deliver transformational social mobility and continue to be renowned as a national leader.

Impact

• Student Satisfaction (NSS)

• Student Voice (NSS)

• Postgraduate Taught Experience (PTES)

• Postgraduate Research Experience (PRES)

• Access (OfS)

• UG Retention

• Awarding Gap

• Graduate Employability

• Number of Students Completing Entrepreneurship
Coaching

• Number of Students Completing ‘Aston Power Skills’

Measures

1. Skills and support needed to enhance lifelong career potential.

We will do this by:

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Increasing our capacity – for sustained excellence and impact in Science – Technology – Enterprise.

Diversifying our academic portfolio – growing our student communities on Campus, at Aston London and Off shore Hubs, and via Aston Online.

Diversifying and scaling-up our commercial activities – including joint ventures with strategic partners, Conference Aston, research, knowledge exchange and commercialisation, philanthropic initiatives, and training for industry and businesses through modularised and digitally enabled learning.

Improving our standing in international and national rankings – strengthening our reputation among businesses and the community based on how we engage and the impacts we create through education and research.

We have established five key value propositions that will provide all students with:

The Aston University Experience sets learners apart from those who have studied elsewhere. Our commitment to building and enhancing each individual’s career potential is achieved through a skills-based approach by focusing on the skills sought by employers (for now and the future), engaging students with relevant and diverse experiential learning opportunities, and exposing them to contemporary industrial experiences and the latest and emerging research and practice in a chosen field of study.

Our strategy builds on our strengths in employability and graduate outcomes, which are part of Aston’s DNA, as we have a longstanding reputation for excellence and impact in this field. We aim to maintain the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) Gold status as an independent indicator of our excellence in teaching, learning and student outcomes. Of equal importance, is ensuring a sense of belonging and providing the tools and support needed to thrive by building intercultural and social awareness, and a positive lifelong approach to health and wellbeing.

Through our commitment to building graduate outcomes for work and life, learners are encouraged and supported to network and build collaborations within the university and externally, in support of lifelong learning development and greater adaptability to the future of work in a changing world.

Our value proposition for our students involves an integrated portfolio of contemporary learning and development opportunities supported by unique experiences and professional practice, all designed to elevate their learning and prepare them well for both work and life within a changing world.

Ready for work and life

OUR STUDENTS