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Public Benefit Statement 2023-24

How our charitable purposes, research, teaching, creativity, enterprise, innovation, and international engagement have delivered public benefit in 2023-24.


Annual Accounts

Charitable purposes

Our Mission is to deliver world class research and education, teaching our students to become future leaders and innovators, and benefiting the wider population through our research, enterprise and influence.

This Mission derives from our constitutional charitable Objects to “advance learning and knowledge by teaching and research, particularly in science and technology, and in close association with industry and commerce”. These Objects are set out in our Royal Charter of 1966 and constitute our charitable purposes for the public benefit.

Members of our Council, as trustees, have had due regard to the guidance on public benefit published by the Charity Commission in exercising their trustees’ powers or duties. The induction programme for new members of Council includes coverage of the Commission’s guidance. The full Council membership receives periodic briefings on regulatory matters, including the Charity Commission’s guidance and the requirements of the Office for Students (OfS).

Our commitment to delivering public benefit is at the core of our Mission. In furtherance of our Mission, our key objective during 2023-24 was to deliver excellence in our two primary charitable purposes, research and education.

Excellence in research, for us, means:

  • our research is internationally-renowned – tackling global challenges and attracting world-class researchers to work with us
  • our research collaborations attract prestige academic and commercial partners – increasing our research power and extending our influence
  • our enterprise and innovation delivers scientific and economic impact – benefiting communities locally, regionally, nationally and internationally
  • our research environment is vibrant and supportive – nurturing talent from doctoral students and early career researchers through to established academics
  • our culture is one of open enquiry and debate – challenging received wisdom and fostering the highest standards of research integrity

Excellence in education, for us, means:

  • our teaching is inspiring and highly valued, delivered through a focussed range of curricula that are academically rigorous, research driven and practice-based
  • our learning is enhanced through high-quality spaces, effective technologies, and support for students’ active participation
  • our community is inclusive, supportive and engaged, enriched by the diverse and international backgrounds of our students and staff
  • our students are empowered to make positive contributions to society – locally, nationally or internationally – through attributes including awareness, understanding, reflection and intellectual curiosity
  • our graduates have high levels of personal, professional, and academic skills enabling them to fulfil their potential and thrive in their chosen employment

In our University Strategy 2021 to 2026, we reaffirmed in our Vision Statement that our charitable objectives are undertaken for the public benefit:

Our Vision is to be an outstanding and inclusive University community, characterised by excellence in education, research and innovation, working in partnership with others for the advancement of knowledge, in support of the global common good.

Research

In accordance with our Mission and charitable purposes, we aim to benefit society through our research. Our research ethos has a strong focus upon impact, tackling challenges of global significance from sustainability to health and wellbeing. One of the four strategic pillars of our University Strategy is ‘driving high-impact research’. Our faculty comprises some of the finest researchers from around the world. As established in our Royal Charter, we value research partnerships and work with business, industry, the professions, the public sector and the voluntary sector. Consequently, our research benefits a wide range of stakeholders with international as well as national beneficiaries, ranging from individuals with improved health to international corporates with more energy efficient products. ‘Enhancing strategic partnerships’ is also one of the four strategic pillars of our University Strategy.

Through advancing knowledge, our research has a wide range of public benefits:

  • stimulating economic development
  • informing public policy and professional practice
  • innovating, informing and inspiring
  • advancing individual and societal wellbeing
  • building international connections

The international excellence of our research was evidenced by the outcomes of the Research Excellence Framework (REF2021) evaluation of research quality. In terms of the overall quality of our submission, 92% was judged to be ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’. In addition, 90% of the University’s research outputs (e.g. journal articles, books and patents) were rated ‘world leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ for its reach and significance. In terms of having an environment that supports research, 98% of our submitted research activity was graded as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’.

Our research continues to have tangible economic and social benefits, locally, regionally and nationally. The £70m Institute of Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems' (IAAPS) green propulsion centre was officially launched in September 2023. This state-of-the-art facility at the Bristol and Bath Science Park is developing clean, sustainable and affordable technologies to support the transport industry. The 2023/24 academic year also saw the establishment of five new Bath Beacons to address the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) strategic themes outlined in their five-year strategy. The new Beacons involve multidisciplinary research collaborations in harm reduction from drug use, managing antimicrobial resistance, Universal Basic Income (UBI), entrepreneurship and innovation and sport and technology in a digital society.

In January 2024, Research England announced the establishment of a new £13m Centre of Excellence in water-based health monitoring WBE@Bath, to be based at the University. The Centre will develop a public health surveillance system to detect outbreaks of diseases by testing water systems for traces of pathogens or other biomarkers at a community level. We are also a key partner in a major UK government investment in research to improve the sustainability of chemical and polymer production. The Sustainable Chemicals and Materials Manufacturing Hub (SCHEMA) aims to improve the sustainability of chemical and polymer production by transforming their design, manufacture, and recyclability at all stages of the product lifecycle. The Hub has been funded by £11m from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

In 2023-24, the value of our research portfolio was around £196m. We secured £58.9m in awards during the year. Around 58% of our research income is provided by UK research councils and these funders include impact in their criteria for evaluating grant applications. Consequently, the University has an objective view of the potential public benefit of much of its research. We will continue to strengthen our international networks and partnerships to enhance our international profile and our ability to sustain a world class research capability. During 2023-24, our second donation of laboratory and audio-visual equipment was delivered to our twinning partner, Luhansk Taras Shevchenko National University, as part of the UK-Ukraine Twinning Initiative to support universities in Ukraine.

We believe that there is a clear second order public benefit in having an informed population, both nationally and internationally, particularly where complex global issues are concerned. We are proactive in engaging the media with our research work and providing expert comment on topical issues, including the Gaza conflict, use of AI and the UK general election in July 2024.

We work actively to ensure that our research is disseminated and understood beyond the world of academia. Our Institute for Policy Research has published a series of Policy Briefs and Reports during 2023-24 which are circulated to key decisionmakers on a range of topics, including the impact of Low Emission Zones on improving air quality, physical health and mental wellbeing and staff retention in the NHS. Our Public Engagement Unit also plays a key role in disseminating our research. We utilise a wide variety of media to disseminate knowledge beyond the confines of campus, including MOOCS, events and a range of social media channels.

In advancing knowledge to improve health and wellbeing, we undertake various projects in medical research and medicallyassociated biological research. This work is funded by the Medical Research Council, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, and major medical charities, including the Wellcome Trust, Cancer Research UK, British Heart Foundation, Arthritis Research UK and Diabetes UK. Research in the UK involving vertebrate animals is regulated, within the framework of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, by the Home Office Animals Scientific Procedures Division and Inspectorate. All work on vertebrate animals is conducted under Home Office Licence. This means that any projects we undertake have been through an ethical review process and have then been assessed by a Home Office Inspector. We are committed to the three Rs – Refinement, Reduction and Replacement of experiments involving animals.

Education

In advancing and disseminating knowledge, the education we provide has a wide range of public benefits:

  • developing people
  • providing skills for the workforce
  • informing professional practice
  • innovating, informing and inspiring
  • building international connections

We are a first-choice university destination for students in an increasingly competitive, international recruitment market. Students are attracted by our excellent academic reputation, our outstanding graduate employment record, our world class sports facilities, and the wide array of other social, recreational and personal development opportunities we offer. Our ability to offer placement options across our discipline base, and with leading organisations, is one of the features that distinguishes us from other top UK research-intensive universities. Our graduates have excellent employment prospects, not only because of their discipline-specific knowledge and skills but also because of the emphasis we place on developing wellrounded, enterprising individuals with high aspirations. As a result, our graduates are well-equipped to contribute to economic growth and policy development, as well as making a positive social contribution.

Our teaching excellence is evidenced by our ‘Triple Gold’ award for the overall assessment in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF 2023), as well as the two underpinning aspect assessments (Student Experience and Student Outcomes). We are ranked in the top ten in all of the most recent editions of the major national university league tables, including a 7th place ranking in The Guardian University Guide 2025. We are ranked joint 150th in the QS World University Rankings 2025. In 2023- 24, our core student population comprised 15,145 undergraduates, 3,675 taught postgraduates and 1,650 research postgraduates.

Our students are key beneficiaries of our teaching activities and we measure our success in terms of their outcomes and their experience. Our continuation, completion and progression rates are some of the best in the sector and this contributed to us achieving Gold in the TEF 2023 for Student Outcomes. 97% of our taught, full-time, first-degree students continue1 and complete2 their studies, and 86% progress to professional or managerial studies or other positive outcomes such as further study.3 In terms of undergraduate student experience, we perform strongly at institutional level in the National Student Survey (NSS), scoring above the OfS benchmarks4 in 23 of 27 questions in NSS 2024, and in six out of seven survey themes. Historical performance in NSS contributed to the Gold award for Student Experience in the TEF 2023.

Beneficiaries of our education activities range from school age (aspiration raising/mentoring) through to mature learners (continuing professional development and MOOCS), and include undergraduates, taught postgraduates and research postgraduates. We recruit internationally and are committed to promoting a diverse student population. The 2023-24 session saw the sixth year of delivery of our online programmes in partnership with Wiley. This partnership enables us to deliver teaching in a mode that is likely to be more convenient for mature students and those with caring responsibilities.

Our new Access and Participation Plan (APP) 2024 to 2028 was approved by the OfS in November 2023. We were one of 40 volunteer providers that submitted an APP during 2022-23 following a new set of regulations and guidance. The Plan focuses on nine key risks to equality of opportunity, with a particular focus on home undergraduate students from low socio-economic backgrounds and those who identify as a minority ethnic group and/or have a declared disability. The Plan addresses how we will improve the diversity of students who access our University, making sure students from specific groups complete their studies and narrowing the degree outcome gap.

We recognise that our living costs may be a barrier to accessing our education. We publicise the financial support that we can provide to prospective students through our website and Open Days. In 2023-24 we provided £3.5m of financial support to 1,101 undergraduate students in the form of bursaries for individuals paying fees under the 2012 fee regime with a household residual income (HRI) of £25,000 or below. This included £709k of support to 147 students in receipt of the University’s Gold Scholarship Programme, which is jointly funded by us and sponsors. Our Alumni Funds provided £62k of financial support to 35 undergraduates with an HRI of £42,875 and below. The Accommodation Bursary scheme which was introduced in 2020-21 was expanded in 2022-23 to include those with HRI’s of between £25,001 and £60,000 and who met the new scheme criteria. This scheme provided £446k of bursaries in the form of credits to accommodation accounts for 734 students. In total, £4.0m of financial support was awarded to 1,576 undergraduate students.

Employers are also beneficiaries of our education activities through the skillset of our graduates. Domestically, we were ranked 3rd in the UK for graduates securing high-skilled jobs in the Daily Mail University Guide 2025, The Times and Sunday Times 2025 guide placed us 7th for graduate prospects, and we are ranked 6th in the UK for ‘career after 15 months’ in The Guardian University Guide 2025. In the QS World University Rankings 2025, we were ranked 109th in the world in the employer reputation performance measure. We were ranked in the Top 100 of the most recent international QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2022. We also measure our success in delivering the skills that employers want in terms of our ability to maintain our network of placement sponsors.

The wider community also benefits from our ability to attract high quality, engaged students. Working in close partnership with the Students’ Union, we offer a wide range of opportunities for personal development, including volunteering, summer internships, personal development and skills training. In providing a wide range of opportunities to learn through experience and enhance personal development and career prospects, we are producing graduates who are well-equipped to act as good citizens and members of local, national and international society. Students can volunteer to help with outreach activities, encouraging gifted and talented young people from socio-economic groups under-represented in Higher Education, to raise their educational aspirations. We provide a supportive learning environment, with central student services and academic departments working in partnership.

Creativity, enterprise and innovation

The knowledge that we generate through our research and education activities can be exploited to achieve a number of public benefits:

  • innovating, informing and inspiring
  • engaging communities and working in partnership
  • stimulating local economic and social development
  • building international connections

We are sector leaders in knowledge exchange, applying fresh thinking to accelerate economic growth and social advances. Our Innovation Centre is helping to diversify the economic profile of the City by incubating high yield businesses. We are a member of the SETsquared partnership which in March 2024 was ranked as the 3rd leading start-up hub in Europe and the top entry from the UK and Ireland by the Financial Times and Statista’s Special Report on Europe’s Leading Start-Up Hubs. Since launching in 2002, SETsquared has supported over 5,000 entrepreneurs, helping them to raise investment of £4.4 billion. An impact report by Warwick Economics published in December 2022 reported that companies supported by the SETsquared Partnership ecosystem have contributed £15.7 billion GVA (Gross Value Added) to the UK economy over the last 20 years.

We aim to create tomorrow’s business leaders and foster an innovative culture. We signpost sources of skills development, funding and support. We offer enterprise education for students and they are encouraged to develop entrepreneurial skills. A number of students develop business models or launch their own businesses whilst studying. SETsquared offers two programmes to our students, the Entrepreneurship Programme and Intrapreneurial Knowledge Exchange Enterprise Pathway (IKEEP). This training aims to equip students with the skills to drive innovation and bring fresh thinking to businesses.

As part of our culture of creativity, enterprise and innovation, we seek to make a positive social, as well as economic, impact. We also provide access for the local community to sports, social and recreational facilities on the campus, including significant events such as the 2023 World Modern Pentathlon Championship. The Minerva Series of Lectures provides opportunities to hear our experts share their insights on a range of topics, including science, politics, health, and sustainability.

International engagement

We believe that there is a benefit to our academic activities and, hence our charitable objectives, in having a truly international culture on campus. Our international culture also has benefits locally and regionally. Our ability to attract internationally renowned researchers contributes to our capacity to contribute to the regional and national knowledge economy. Through our international connections we can provide a conduit to disseminate best international practice and cutting-edge research locally, regionally and nationally. We also believe that a culturally diverse student population makes a positive impact on the experience of all our students.

In addition to the international profile of our education and research activities, we are forging international connections through our alumni network and our world class sports facilities. We have around 150,000 alumni across 170 countries. Our alumni are encouraged to make philanthropic donations to enhance the student experience, our physical infrastructure and our research capacity. This enhances our capacity to deliver our charitable objectives. We also have around 1,600 Alumni Experts, spread across 140 countries who support other alumni and students via our online mentoring platform, Bath Connection.

Sustainability and climate action

Our University Strategy includes a commitment to support a sustainable community and to adopt good environmental practice. We also recognise our responsibility to address the grand challenges of sustainability and climate change, and our approach allows us to empower our students and deliver research with impact alongside reducing our own environmental impact. Since we declared a climate emergency in 2020, we have begun our journey through a joined-up, ‘whole institution’ response, across the 4 themes of Education, Research, Footprint and Partnerships, and is supported by our 11 Climate Action Principles.

We commit to:

1. Carbon emissions reduction

  • Being Net Zero Carbon in its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030
  • A 50% reduction in its Scope 3 emissions by 2030
  • Being Net Zero Carbon in its Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 2040

2. Research and innovation

We support world-class research activities and, in wider collaborations, support the delivery of impactful research and innovation, supporting the transition to the net zero carbon economy.

3. Education

Developing educational initiatives to build a world-class reputation for high-quality education on climate-related issues with global reach and scale, for example by:

  • providing opportunities for every student to study and work on climate-related issues
  • delivering programmes with a sustainability agenda
  • delivering pedagogically innovative teaching practices to reduce carbon emissions

4. University strategy

Supporting the transition to the net zero carbon economy through our strategy, sub-strategies and core decision-making and throughout our core values and our commitments.

5. University governance

Ensuring there is clear leadership and governance for implementation of the Climate Action Framework, with public accountability through transparent disclosure of progress against our principles.

6. University campus emissions reduction and climate change adaptation

Reducing all our campus carbon emissions, in a manner that is consistent with the broader principles of sustainability and in a Just Transition. Understanding and responding to the consequences of climate change adaptation on the campus and our supply chain.

7. Internationalisation strategy

Supporting and encouraging carbon-responsible international engagement to ensure sustainable collaborations that meet our strategic internationalisation goals.

8. Carbon management

Improving the data quality relating to our carbon emissions, recognising that this is a strategic tool to understand and systematically reduce its carbon footprint.

9. University finances

Taking the principles of the Climate Action Framework into account in all key funding and investment decisions.

10. University community awareness and action

Supporting behavioural and cultural changes to enable carbon reduction targets through engagement across our community.

11. University of Bath: local leader and partner

Working with key partners from the local community, industry, public sector bodies and third sector organisations, to support the transition to the net zero carbon economy.

Our approach was created through consultation with our whole community, and staff and students continue to believe in this vision, supporting strong action across all aspects of university life, and are fully involved in implementing the necessary action, across the 4 themes of Education, Research, Footprint and Partnerships.

Through the Education we’re delivering, we aim to empower our students and graduates with sustainability skills and knowledge to empower them to be leaders, innovators and changemakers now and in the future. Through our Climate Action Project, we are helping build a world-class reputation for high-quality education across a range of disciplines to fully address climate change. To achieve this, we are embedding sustainability in all course experiences and are seeking to provide impactful learning opportunities for every student to study and work on sustainability issues. We’re also introducing new courses and exploring pedagogically innovative teaching practices to reduce carbon emissions.

Sustainability is one of our three key Research themes and ground-breaking work is taking place across the spectrum of disciplines covered by our research, with experts researching solutions to the climate crisis from multiple angles. Our research has already developed solutions which are delivering real emission reductions now, whilst current work will be part of the solutions of the future – not only in transitioning to the low carbon economy through technical, political and behavioural measures but also in building adaptative capacity and resilience for a changed climate.

Within our Strategy we have a clear commitment to environmental best practice, and we are demonstrating this in our commitment to reach net zero emissions across all scopes within our Footprint by 2040. We’re proud that despite significant growth as a university since 2005, we’ve achieved a 43% reduction of our scope 1 and 2 emissions in that time. Now, we have initial pathways to achieving net zero but it is only through the support and action of our whole community, and also many external stakeholders, that we will be successful.

As a civic organisation, we take great responsibility in how we can support and influence wider societal transformation in response to the climate crisis and sustainability challenges. As such, we are active in developing meaningful collaborative Partnerships to help address sustainability challenges across the sector, nationally and internationally but also from more local place-based relationships with the West of England Combined Authority and Bath and North East Somerset Council.

We produce a public annual report which details recent activities and our progress to date. Find out more about the Climate Action Project and our sector-leading work in this and the wider sustainability area - see Climate change and the University of Bath.

Other impacts of our activities

We are the second largest employer in Bath & North East Somerset, with around 3,800 employees. A study conducted by BiGGAR Economics in 2021 showed that in 2019-20, the operational and purposeful activities of the University supported 1 in every 18 jobs in B&NES, and a further 2,110 jobs in the UK as a whole. We now undertake three ‘Work and Wellbeing’ surveys a year, benchmarking the results against ONS data. We are also a socially responsible employer, with accreditation from the Living Wage Foundation, Disability Confident Leader accreditation and an excellent record in AthenaSWAN.

In May 2024, four of Bath and North East Somerset’s key civic institutions, we, together with Bath Spa University, Bath and North East Somerset Council and the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust, signed an agreement to work more closely together for the benefit the region. The Future Ambition Civic Agreement commits us to collaborate and address key challenges and opportunities for the region to help its communities thrive, as well as learning from each other to continuously improve how we operate. The five key themes include; working to ensure opportunity for all, the development of digital infrastructure, a focus on climate and nature preservation, developing a sense of community through supporting creativity and culture, and driving sustainable growth through inclusive innovation.

We do not believe that there is any direct harm or detriment to the public arising from our Mission and corporate goals. However, our success in attracting students does mean that our student population puts a significant demand on the residential accommodation in the Bath and North East Somerset area so we liaise with the planning team of the Bath and North East Somerset Council to inform their accommodation forecasts. During 2022-23, our new Campus Masterplan was incorporated in the B&NES Local Plan: Partial Update. The Masterplan assesses the future development capacity of campus and balances demand for new residential accommodation and non-residential accommodation on campus. We are currently liaising with the B&NES planning team to inform the evidence base to be used to underpin the development of the new Local Plan.

We hold three meetings a year of the University of Bath Local Residents Forum to ensure that our nearest neighbours are briefed on our capital plans and our programme of events for campus. In this way, we try to mitigate the impact of our activities on our immediate community.

We seek to promote the highest standards of scientific and professional integrity and to give due consideration to the ethical, social and environmental issues arising from our activities.

Trade Union facility time

The number of University employees who were relevant union officials during the year to 31 March 2024 was 36 (27.9 FTE). All of these employees spent between 1% and 50% of their time working on facility time. The percentage of the University’s total pay bill spent on facility time was 0.11%. The percentage of time spent on paid trade union activities as a percentage of total paid facility time hours was 27.47%.

  1. 2018-19 to 2021-22 entrants  

  2. 2015-16 to 2018-19 entrants  

  3. 2018-19 to 2021-22 qualifiers  

  4. A weighted sector average which adjusts for student and course mix 

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