Our Strategy



usw 2030


Our Vision


Changing lives and our world for a better tomorrow:
USW will be a leading UK university, maximising positive impact for our students, partners, and communities.

Our Purpose

  • Ambitious for our students and staff, and dedicated to making a positive impact
  • Focused on inclusion, enterprise and growth
  • A trusted partner for long-term mutual benefit and success
  • An innovative creator of knowledge and solutions for the future
  • Proud to be anchored in south Wales with global reach

our values


Professional | 
Responsive | Creative | InspiringCollaborative

The University Strategy - USW 2030 - sets out our direction for the next decade; a pathway for the future that is bold and ambitious to ensure our continued success and long-term sustainability. 

Our vision is clear, we want to change lives and our world for the better.  Our world is changing at an intense pace and it is our job to equip our students with the skills, knowledge and experience required to maximise their potential and future opportunities in the world of work. 

Working in collaboration with industry, our research and innovation will tackle some of the biggest global challenges from energy to health to security and providing answers to real world problems.

Dr Ben Calvert VC
Dr Ben Calvert
Vice-Chancellor

Over the next decade, our ambitions are to:

  • Be a large, regional University with a distinctive full-time and part-time academic offer that is attractive to both home and global markets

  • Provide an excellent, inclusive, engaged student experience
  • Ensure our students successfully complete their studies and secure employment in their areas of expertise
  • Engage with partners to maximise our impact on their endeavours
  • Commit to improving the future well-being of the communities we serve through individual and collective action
  • Provide opportunities for students across the region and beyond to participate in and progress to higher education
  • Be an engaged, values-based employer
  • Be financially sustainable in the context of a dynamic higher education environment

USW 2030 … key aspects

Graduate Success & Opportunities

We will deliver:

  • A distinctive and relevant academic portfolio focused on student & employer needs
  • A challenge-based learning & teaching experience that transforms students’ professional identity and ambition
  • Workplace & lifelong learning that is flexible, innovative and accessible

Research & Innovation Excellence

We will deliver:

  • Internationally reputable, high impact research in accelerated development areas: sustainable environment - crime, security & justice - health & well-being - creative
  • Applied research and innovation that provides a measurable benefit to society and the economy
  • Strong, mutually beneficial strategic partnerships that address global challenges, encourage knowledge exchange and inspire innovation and entrepreneurship

External Focus

We will:

  • Work with partners to make higher education   more accessible to more people
  • Build external partnerships to improve the   future well-being of the communities we serve
  • Maximise the economic and public value of our campuses
  • Contribute to the development of the Welsh language
  • Engage with our valued alumni to maintain strong mutually beneficial connections & networks


Operational Transformation

We will:

  • Support and take pride in our focused, talented and ambitious staff
  • Maintain an inclusive workforce, champion diversity, foster collaboration and well-being
  • provide flexible, digitally enhanced environments to encourage innovative teaching, research &  collaborative work practices
  • Embrace effective and efficient service delivery to support long-term sustainability
  • Grow and diversify our income to generate surpluses for re-investment in our core purpose