Who's Asking Whether It Works? : Hope, Universities, and The Hub for Evaluation of Applied Education and Innovation

Description

Submitted Abstract Accepted by Conference: Education is being transformed at pace. The Lifelong Learning Entitlement promises to reshape access to higher education through modular, flexible provision. Generative AI has moved from novelty to near-universality among students, with 95% now reporting some form of use (Stephenson and Armstrong, 2026). Yet amid this transformation, a critical question is rarely asked: does any of this actually improve life chances, and for whom?

The evidence base is problematic. On microcredentials and on-demand modular learning, most activity has been supply-side, with limited evidence of genuine learner or employer demand for the provision being created (WonkHE, 2022) (WonkHE, 2024). On AI, there exist large risks that unexamined adoption becomes a new vector for educational inequality (HEPI, 2026). Indeed, HEPI has called explicitly for institutions to establish systematic evaluation programmes to understand AI's impact on student outcomes.

This presentation argues that hope in education must be evidenced to be realised. It introduces the Hub for Evaluation of Applied Education and Innovation (HEAEI): a model for embedded evaluation infrastructure designed to evaluate education in partnership with practitioners — not research it from a distance – and to make easier the pathway from theory to practice.

Drawing on recent examples, including a partnership with Lancashire Colleges focused on interventions for at-risk NEET learners, and collaborations supporting internal researchers to translate their work into evaluated practice, the presentation asks what a new relationship between universities, research and evidence might look like, and what it could offer the wider sector.

Period	30 Jun 2017
Event title	Improving Life Chances and making hope possible through Education Conference
Event type	Conference
Degree of Recognition	National