2035: our strategy
Our strategy, Distinctively Brighton 2035, provides a bold vision and clear direction towards a university that is both radically transformed and radically relevant. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine what universities can be and what they are for.
Our transformation will ensure that we are not only financially sustainable, but that we reflect and serve the needs of our students, staff, communities and the world. More of the same will not deliver the change required by the university or the world in 2035. A disruptive approach is needed.
Our strategy, Distinctively Brighton 2035, provides a bold vision and clear direction towards a university that is both radically transformed and radically relevant. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reimagine what universities can be and what they are for.
Our transformation will ensure that we are not only financially sustainable, but that we reflect and serve the needs of our students, staff, communities and the world. More of the same will not deliver the change required by the university or the world in 2035. A disruptive approach is needed.
...the world needs more from its people than it has ever needed before
...the world needs more from its people than it has ever needed before
In developing this bold strategy, we have recognised that the world needs more from its people than it has ever needed before.
The challenge (and the opportunity) is clear: it is estimated that by 2035 88% of new jobs in the UK will be at graduate level; current estimates suggest 26% of UK workers are underqualified; and over the next five years nearly 39% of existing skills will be disrupted.
CURRENT ESTIMATES
of UK workers are underqualified
(UUK, Jobs of the Future, August 2023)
BY THE YEAR 2035
of new jobs in the UK will be at graduate level
(UUK, Jobs of the Future, August 2023)
OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS
of existing skills will be disrupted
(World Economic Forum, Future of Jobs Report, 2025)
Technical knowledge and skills will remain at the heart of what we deliver. But University of Brighton graduates will also, and more importantly, be equipped to form an army of disrupters, hustlers, challengers and innovators. They will have confidence about the future and their role as agents of change. Our students and partners don’t need to fit in to belong at Brighton.
Brighton’s students already embody the change we want to see.
They are more likely to come from diverse or non-traditional backgrounds and more likely to face barriers than peers at other universities – yet they go on to achieve greater gains. Many have alternative qualifications, and a higher proportion are female, trans or living with disabilities or mental health conditions.
In 2023, Brighton was rated ‘Outstanding’ for educational gain in the Teaching Excellence Framework – recognising the transformational impact we have on students’ lives.
Our commitment to inclusive education isn’t just about who we welcome – it’s about how we equip every student to thrive in a world shaped by rapid change.
THAT'S WHAT MAKES BRIGHTON DISTINCT.
What we do for tomorrow matters.
We have also sought to anticipate the changes in the educational engagement, personal priorities and aspirations of our future students by listening hard to the experiences and desires of current and future students.
We have considered our history and the unique character of the City of Brighton & Hove. Our communities, locally and globally, may be facing unprecedented technological churn, but Brighton’s own leading research evidences the extent to which this technological change will put a higher premium on human skills in the workforce: ethical reasoning, emotional intelligence and complex problem solving. Our vision for 2035 embraces these insights and proposes a consciously digital approach to technological disruption and a core credentials curriculum rooted in problem-based and applied learning that will empower Brighton graduates.
If radical change can happen anywhere, it is in this place. We are of Brighton.
WE ARE BRIGHTON.
Our strategy embraces and celebrates the diversity of our staff and student community. Supporting, developing and valuing our people and their wellbeing is a crucial part of our mission.
The detail of how we will deliver this bold transformation will be developed by the university community and wider stakeholders over the coming months and years. Collectively we will reimagine Brighton through sharing ideas and innovation, and co-creating and designing new educational approaches, systems and processes – developing a future for Brighton which is Distinctively Brighton.