The Aim of the CBHE Network
The College-Based Higher Education (CBHE) Network brings together leaders from across the UK to collaborate, share expertise and address the opportunities and challenges facing the sector. Through a strong community of practice, members work collectively to strengthen college-based higher education and shape its future development.
The network provides a dedicated space for members to:
- Share knowledge, experience and effective practice with peers across the UK
- Explore solutions to common challenges in college-based higher education
- Build professional connections and strengthen sector partnerships
- Identify and respond to emerging opportunities and policy developments
- Collaborate on initiatives that enhance the quality and impact of CBHE provision
- Champion the distinctive contribution of college-based higher education to learners, employers and communities.
Key Areas of Focus
Since its launch, network members have identified several priority themes that continue to shape discussions, activities and collaborative learning opportunities:
Supporting institutions to build a distinctive higher education identity within further education settings and create vibrant HE communities for staff and students.
Enabling members to exchange ideas, approaches and experiences that enhance teaching, learning, leadership and the student experience.
Providing a platform for members to work together on shared priorities, contribute to sector discussions and strengthen the voice of CBHE.
Workshops
We design and deliver workshops to support staff across the CBHE Network, providing opportunities to share practice, develop skills and engage with key topics in higher education.
We regularly plan and deliver new workshops in response to the needs and interests of network members. If you would like to hear about future workshops and opportunities to get involved.
Meet the Chair
Vicky Burroughs
Assistant Principal: Higher Education
Vicky is delighted to be the Chairperson for the Advance HE College-Based Higher Education Network (CBHE Network) for the 2025-26 academic year. With over 20 years of experience in the Further Education sector in Wales, she currently leads the strategic direction of Higher Education provision at Grŵp Colegau NPTC Group of Colleges.
I wanted to take on the role of Chair for the CBHE Network because I strongly believe that FE colleges offering Higher Education provide their communities with much more than just an education. I aim to build on the excellent work the network has already accomplished, co-create, and amplify our CBHE voice across the tertiary sector. I am dedicated to advancing the mission and vision of the Advance HE CBHE Network and look forward to collaborating with everyone.
Vicky Burroughs, Assistant Principal: Higher Education, Grŵp Colegau NPTC Group of Colleges and Chair for the CBHE Network
CBHE Scholarly Activity & Research Toolkit
This toolkit has been devised through collaboration with the Advance HE College-based HE (CBHE) Network Group. It’s a positioning resource to help providers and practitioners understand what they already have in place regarding their research culture, with advice and guidance to take the next steps.
The toolkit provides guidance and links to helpful resources to support CBHE providers in developing scholarly activity and research within their institutions and as part of an HE culture. Practitioners can dip in and out of the toolkit without needing to start back at the beginning.
Advance HE CBHE Network Collection on the National Teaching Repository
This collection, which sits within the National Teaching Repository, is designed to be a one-stop shop of resources geared towards helping academics, lecturers, researchers and other staff working in college-based higher education to understand, access, use and share scholarly activity. The collection has been convened by Advance HE’s College-Based HE Network.
The CBHE Repository provides a platform for researchers to share their ideas with others on a dedicated, open-access, searchable resource database. This helps your work reach a much wider audience and prevents repetition of work across academics. You can share your ideas, download others’, and apply them immediately in your practice.
You can find the collection here
Further details and resources on how to submit to the collection can be found in the resources section of the CBHE Network’s Connect page.
Previous years’ CBHE Festivals
Festival 2026
The 2026 CBHE Festival focused on Enhancing Student Success in Challenging Times: Collective Practice, Shared Learning. The event marked the culmination of a year of collaborative professional development and brought together colleagues from across the sector to explore approaches to student progression, retention and inclusive practice. Through presentations, discussions and shared experiences, attendees exchanged ideas, learned from sector peers and strengthened professional connections, reflecting the collaborative spirit at the heart of the CBHE Network.
Festival 2025
The Festival celebrated the excellent work of CBHE practitioners and provided an opportunity to share practice, collaborate, and develop as a collective. This year’s Festival showcased a wide range of CBHE activity, shaped by contributions from CBHE practitioners.
“The AdvanceHE College-based Higher Education conference was fantastic. It was easy to book onto, the agenda was clear, and the venue and structure of the day was very good. The sessions differed and were interesting. It was great to network with practitioners from across the UK and I have come away with lots of ideas and practices I’d like to share with my colleagues.” Event Attendee, CBHE Festival 2025
“Thank you for an incredible event. It was an extremely valuable experience for our institution, where sharing scholarship and research is still developing. The event provided a vital opportunity to engage with best practice, build confidence in disseminating research, and strengthen our sense of belonging within the wider higher education community. Most importantly, it reminded us of the importance of College-Based Higher Education and inspired us to further embed scholarship and research as a key part of our HE identity” Event Attendee, CBHE Festival 2025
Festival 2024
This year’s one-day event took place on 8 July at University Centre Peterborough, with the theme of ’Celebrating College-based Higher Education’.
The CBHE Festival was informative and inspirational, it was lovely to see in some of the talks how passionate people were about their subject areas and students, it also provided an opportunity to share good practice. It was clear to see that we all want the best for our HE students, for them to achieve beyond their expectations, and to be there to support them throughout their educational paths, after all, learning is a journey to help them reach their destination.” Angharad Morgan, Senior Officer: HE Quality & Standards, University Campus – NPTC Group of Colleges
Really great opportunity to connect with others in CBHE. Especially where we don’t traditionally get the opportunity to be as well represented at other conferences. Great to meet people with the same challenges and aspirations for their learners.” Toni Phillips, Academic coach, Newcastle College University Centre
Festival 2023
The CBHE Network curated an event in 2023 centred around College-Based Higher Education (CBHE), with themes including widening participation, teaching and learning methods, mental health, research engagement, artificial intelligence (AI), precarious employment, and HEI-SME alliances.
“It’s a great opportunity to meet colleagues and know their work. Hoping to collaborate with colleagues to carryout some interesting research.” Mahruf Shohel, The Bedford College Group, Research and Development Manager
Network members
Institutions
- Askham Bryan College
- Barnsley College
- Bedford College Group
- Belfast Metropolitan College
- Birmingham Metropolitan College
- Bishop Burton College
- Blackpool and The Fylde College
- Bolton College
- Bradford College
- Bridgend College – Coleg Penybont
- Calderdale College
- Cardiff and Vale College
- Chichester College Group
- City College Norwich
- City of Bristol College
- Coleg Cambria
- Coleg Gwent
- Cornwall College
- David Game College
- DN Colleges Group
- East Lancashire Learning Group
- East Sussex College Group
- Education Partnership North East
- Gower College Swansea
- Grwp Llandrillo Menai
- Hartpury University and Hartpury College
- Heart of Worcestershire College
- Hugh Baird College of FE
- Hull College Group
- Lakes College West Cumbria
- Leeds College of Building
- London South East Colleges (LSEC)
- Loughborough College Group
- Luminate Education Group
- Middlesbrough College
- Morley College
- Moulton College
- Myerscough College
- NCG
- Neath Port Talbot College Group
- New College Durham
- Newham College Centre
- Nottingham College
- Preston College
- Reaseheath College
- Salford City College
- Solihull College
- South Eastern Regional College
- South Gloucestershire and Stroud College
- South Thames Colleges Group
- South West College
- Southern Regional College
- Sparsholt College Hampshire
- The City of Liverpool College
- The Guernsey Institute
- The Sheffield College
- Trafford and Stockport College Group
- UCEN Manchester
- University Campus Oldham
- University Centre Peterborough
- University Centre Somerset
- University Centre South Devon
- University Centre Weston
- Warwickshire College
- West Suffolk College
- Wirral Met College
