Innovative Practice Grants 2026

The Innovative Practice Grants are awarded annually to small, specialist and college-based higher education institutions across the UK for sharing good practice as a short form case study. The scheme gives smaller institutions a platform to share their innovations, and many of the insights are applicable across higher education institutions of all shapes and sizes.

This year we have awarded 16 Grants covering several themes such as employability, student success and inclusion. As with this year’s Global Impact Grants, which are available here, there is an understandable focus on artificial intelligence, and institutions trying to find the best ways to use the technology even as it develops rapidly. This is paramount for smaller institutions who potentially operate with smaller budgets and staff resource, so finding ways of being more productive and efficient can help their long term sustainability.

We’d like to thank all of the authors and contributors for their work in producing such insightful and impactful case studies, and hope there are ideas and projects that you can adapt and use in your own institutional context.

Read the case studies below.