Following publication of the first iteration of Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) results in Spring 2021, the British Academy released its report ‘Knowledge Exchange in the SHAPE disciplines’ (the Report) in June 2021 which presented a diverse range of case studies showing that knowledge exchange in SHAPE disciplines yields significant social, economic and cultural benefits.
Following publication of the first iteration of Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) results in Spring 2021, the British Academy released its report ‘Knowledge Exchange in the SHAPE disciplines’ (the Report) in June 2021 which presented a diverse range of case studies showing that knowledge exchange in SHAPE disciplines yields significant social, economic and cultural benefits.
As well as showcasing innovative knowledge exchange projects (including a collaboration between Browne Jacobson and the University of Nottingham), the report also suggests possible developments for future iterations of the KEF. These include extending the assessment categories to capture more activities (e.g. by measuring explicitly how SHAPE disciplines work with policy makers, engaging with schools and how the insights from SHAPE can help drive inclusion and equality).
Much is written about STEM(M) (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, manufacturing) subjects and we probably all know which subjects are STEM(M) subjects but may be less familiar with the SHAPE subjects. They include a diverse range of subjects including Business and Management, Geography and Environmental Studies, Law, History and Archaeology and Languages, Linguistics and Classics and the Report describes them as ‘…subjects that help us understand ourselves, others and the human world around us. They provide us with the methods and forms of expression we need to build better, deeper, more colourful and more valuable lives for all.’
The KEF categorises different types of knowledge exchange activities in a framework of seven perspectives. These perspectives capture just some of the ways that the knowledge and skills within universities can be used by wider society and how wider society can inform university education and research. The seven perspectives are:
The projects showcased in the Report are categorised across these seven perspectives with some projects including several of the KEF perspectives.
We collaborated with the University of Nottingham to understand and improve the readability and comprehension of insurance policies. This followed a research study by linguistics experts in the School of English at the University of Nottingham which discovered that eight out of 10 policyholders in the UK found their insurance contracts too complex to understand.
Browne Jacobson commissioned a study from experts at the University using multiple methods, including cutting-edge eye-tracking technology. The study found that most policy wording was only comprehensible to those educated to undergraduate level but, with redrafting, complex policies could be made coherent to most individuals with lower secondary education. These improvements in readability and understanding increased the percentage of the UK adult population who could understand their policies from 13.4% to 89%, representing an extra 40.4 million people across the UK.
We worked together to explore what changes could make a policy document easier to understand and what might impede that understanding. These findings have been shared across the insurance industry in order to improve practice and accessibility. Since releasing the findings of the academic study we have worked with a number of insurance market participants to significantly improve the readability of the wordings, including by incorporating linguistic analysis by the university as part of our services.
This is a very timely report that highlights the potential for knowledge exchange activities to be developed in the SHAPE subjects in perhaps unexpected and exciting ways.
When you look at these opportunities with an eye to the future you can see a breadth of opportunity for universities to get involved. For example, two areas we have seen recently relate to health care and how it will develop to take into account social needs of society by working on innovation and research and how central government bodies have been studying and researching financial matters to provide the appropriate support for society; two areas which the pandemic has really shone a light on.
There’s been little evidence of interventions or financial management reviews this year and it appears the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has re-focussed on financial delivery. It’s also telling that there were no discernible changes to the reporting of financial irregularities in the Academies Trust Handbook 2022.
The Children’s Commissioner, Rachel De Souza, has recently published a report “Beyond the labels: a SEND system which works for every child, every time”, which she intends to sit alongside the DfE’s SEND Review (2019) and SEND Green Paper (2022) and which she hopes will put children’s voices at the heart of the government’s review of SEND system.
There’s greater opportunity than ever for parents, carers and guardians to voice any concerns they have relating to their child’s education and for their concerns to be heard and to be taken seriously. While most staff in schools and academies are conscious of their legal duties relating to complaints management, many are struggling to cope with such a significant increase in the volume of complaints they must manage.
We’re pleased to collaborate with Lloyds Bank, who recently asked us and audit and risk specialists Crowe UK to offer guidance that academy trusts would find helpful when considering setting up a trading subsidiary.
The DfE has published new guidance and opened the application process for window two of the Trust Capacity Fund (TCaF) for 2022/2023, with a fund of £86m in trust capacity funding focused particularly on education investment areas.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse was established in March 2015. We now have its report. As you would expect with such a broad scope, the report is long and makes a number of far-reaching recommendations. In this article, Dai Durbridge highlights seven of the 20 recommendations, sets out how they could impact on schools and suggests what steps to take now.
Browne Jacobson’s education team has been named as winner of the ‘Legal Advisors to Education Institutions’ category at the Education Investor Awards 2022 for a record sixth time.
Since the new Suspensions and Exclusions Statutory Guidance was published, we have received a lot of questions about the use of managed moves. For the first time, the Statutory Guidance does explain what a managed move is, but in relatively broad terms and does not cover the mechanics of how a managed move should operate.
Over 3000 young people from across the UK and Ireland took part in a virtual legal careers insight event, aimed at making the legal profession more diverse.
Holly Quirk, an associate barrister in Browne Jacobson’s Manchester office, was awarded the Legal Professional of the Year Award at this year’s Manchester Young Talent Awards.
The risk of assault against staff is, sadly, something that all schools need to consider carefully. Here one legal expert explains what they can do to protect staff and ensure they fulfil their duty of care.
Browne Jacobson’s education team has again been confirmed as a national powerhouse after securing five Tier 1 rankings relating to Education in the latest edition of Legal 500 and maintaining a Band 1 UK-wide ranking for Education in Chambers & Partners UK 2023.
Created at the end of the Brexit transition period, Retained EU Law is a category of domestic law that consists of EU-derived legislation retained in our domestic legal framework by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. This was never intended to be a permanent arrangement as parliament promised to deal with retained EU law through the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (the “Bill”).
In this article we set out the criteria, expectations and support schools should consider if notified they fall within this new category.
The words “Grammar schools” are once again being whispered in government and the question of whether the creation of new grammar schools will finally be implemented as a central focus to DFE policy has re-surfaced.
