Devolution drives new alliances – but what can they achieve?

Universities risk being left behind if they do not form regional alliances, experts have said, as more institutions look to club together locally to tap into the opportunities offered by devolution and address financial and political pressures.

While there are several longstanding regional university groups, such as London Higher and Yorkshire Universities, the past few years have seen a surge in new partnerships, often involving colleges as well as universities.

These include Universities West, formed by several universities in the West of England, and the Luminate Education Group, a collaboration between Leeds Beckett University and a local further education group. The West London Alliance was formed in 2025, while the Universities for North East England group was established the year prior. Similar ventures have also emerged in Scotland and Wales. 

These new alliances are commonly a reaction to the development of mayoral combined authorities and devolution, according to Richard Brabner, founder of Godwinson Consulting and visiting professor of civic engagement at Newcastle University. 

Although many of these groups were in the works prior to the recent change in Labour leadership, place-based policymaking is set to be a key priority for new prime minister Andy Burnham.

Steve West, vice-chancellor of the University of the West of England Bristol and chair of the recently formed Universities West, said conversations between the area’s institutions about establishing a formal alliance had been ongoing for a while, but recent developments encouraged them to go ahead. 

“With Labour and a new energy being put into the whole piece around placemaking and with, frankly, a combined authority metro mayor who absolutely gets it in terms of regional growth…that was the incentive really to get on and do something,” he said. 

“We had a conversation with our metro mayor. She was keen for us to help her present a single narrative as she was designing and developing the industrial strategy for the west of England and so it made sense.”

The group will be working alongside its further education equivalent, Colleges West, and a key priority will be mapping the universities’ programmes alongside further education pathways “so that students can progress seamlessly…into universities that are right for them,” said West. He noted that progression rates from school to higher education are relatively low in the west of England compared with other parts of the country.

Alliances of this kind are generally simpler for universities in regions that have mayoral combined authorities, said Brabner, creating a “challenge” for institutions in other parts of the country. 

“They fear that they’re missing out,” he said. “There needs to be a concerted effort from the sector and from government – both regionally and nationally – about how we can ensure that those institutions, that we want to be part of the solution for their places that aren’t part of this move for devolution, can play a role.”

Peter O’Brien, executive director of Yorkshire Universities, which was established in 1987, said he had never before seen “this amount of opportunity for this type of work to land with a government”. 

The Post-16 Skills White Paper, published at the end of 2025, explicitly called for tertiary education providers to work more closely together in their regions. 

As universities fight for more government funding, they are hopeful that regional alliances may better enable them to demonstrate the contributions the sector is making at local and national level. 

However, ongoing financial challenges can make regional collaboration harder, particularly as universities increasingly find themselves competing for students. 

“Understandably, individual institutions are prioritising their financial viability,” said O’Brien, meaning members may not be equally as focused on wider regional goals. 

But he said regional groups can be a “vehicle” to help support efficiency and transformation targets. 

West said Universities West planned to look at opportunities for sharing services and improving efficiencies, but that progress across the sector is being held back by VAT rules. 

“You don’t get points for collaboration,” he said. “The real challenge is: we’re autonomous institutions, we’re all measured through the same metrics. 

“Nowhere in any of that speaks to collaboration. I think we have to come up with a new way of demonstrating worth in collaboration [and] what you do together.”

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com