UCISA

What UCISA does

UCISA is a UK-registered charity (no. 1161218) founded in 1993 that operates as the membership organization for digital leaders and practitioners in the UK higher and further education sector. It represents almost all major UK universities and many higher education colleges, organizing 22 practitioner communities spanning areas such as enterprise architecture, cybersecurity, learning analytics, service management, IT support, and digital education, alongside advocacy, training, and sector benchmarking services.

Its core operational technology is the UCISA Connect member portal built on Microsoft Power Apps Portals, supported by Microsoft Teams for community collaboration and Jiscmail for mailing lists, with Solidatus used for metadata and architecture management. UCISA also administers annual benchmarking instruments including the long-running Corporate Information Systems (CIS) survey and co-develops the Higher Education Reference Model (HERM) with international counterparts CAUDIT and EDUCAUSE. Governance is provided by a board drawn from member institutions, with day-to-day operations run by approximately 16 staff under CEO Deborah Green (appointed 2019).

The business model is institutional subscription-based, with membership fees tiered by HESA student count across multiple bands (e.g., Band 2 at £2,392 to Band 5 at £4,374 in 2026 pricing, plus a new Band 6 introduced at the 2026 AGM), supplemented by corporate memberships, paid training and events, and partnerships such as the founding role with Bett UK / Ahead by Bett. Forward signals include a 5% subscription uplift, the new Band 6 tier, expansion into further education colleges, and the launch of the inaugural UCISA Support Services Awards in 2026.

Name

UCISA

Legal name

UCISA

Website

https://ucisa.ac.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

UCISA is a UK-registered charity and membership organization serving digital leaders across almost all UK universities and further education colleges through 22 practitioner communities, benchmarking surveys, training, and the UCISA Connect member portal.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Oxford

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Institutional Membership Subscriptions: Annual subscription fees from UK universities and higher education colleges, structured in bands based on student numbers reported to HESA (Bands 1-6). Fees reviewed annually at the AGM. Membership runs from 1 January to 31 December.
2. Corporate Membership Subscriptions: Annual subscription fees from commercial organisations (e.g., technology vendors, consultancies) seeking to engage with the UCISA membership community. Corporate members receive access to the member directory, CIO panel, trend briefings, and event sponsorship opportunities.
3. Affiliate and Individual Membership Subscriptions: Affiliate membership for separate legal entities and not-for-profit educational organisations, and individual membership for former sector professionals, each with annual subscription fees.
4. Event and Conference Fees: Conferences and face-to-face events carry additional charges beyond membership fees. UCISA Services Limited (USL), the wholly-owned trading subsidiary, manages events and trading activities, with profits gifted back to UCISA as a charity.
5. Jobs Board and Job Description Bank: A Jobs Board (updated weekly) and Job Description Bank are available to institutional members, providing additional services and supporting the community of HR and IT professionals in member institutions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

UCISA is a UK membership organisation that represents digital practitioners across virtually all major universities and a growing number of further education colleges, providing institutional and corporate members with networking communities, sector benchmarking surveys, conferences and events, professional development schemes, and the UCISA Connect member portal. The organisation operates 22 distinct communities of practice covering digital education, infrastructure, security, enterprise architecture, support services, and related disciplines, and collaborates internationally on frameworks such as the Higher Education Reference Model.

Product overview

UCISA is a membership organization (not a software product company) offering a portfolio of member services including the UCISA Connect Portal (built on Power Apps Portals), events programme, surveys, toolkits, awards, and professional development schemes. The UCISA Connect Portal serves as the central hub for membership management, event booking, and resource access. UCISA also facilitates networking through various communities and provides research through sector-wide surveys (CIS, TEL, Digital Capabilities). The organization collaborates with partners to deliver the Higher Education Reference Model (HERM) and operates a subsidiary (USL) for trading activities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• UCISA Connect: The new member portal launched in 2026, providing self-service facilities for membership management, event booking, and access to UCISA resources.

Products and services

• UCISA Membership (Institutional, Corporate, Affiliate, Individual)
• UCISA Connect Portal
• UCISA Events Programme
• UCISA Sector Surveys (CIS, Digital Education, Digital Capabilities)
• UCISA Jobs Board
• Job Description Bank
• UCISA Communities and Special Interest Groups
• UCISA Toolkits
• Higher Education Reference Model (HERM)
• UCISA Mentoring Scheme
• PlusOne Bursary Scheme
• UCISA Awards Programme
• UCISA Services Limited (USL) Trading Activities

Quantifiable outcome

• CIS 2025 Survey achieved highest participation in several years, demonstrating strong sector engagement with UCISA's benchmarking resources.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

AI capability3 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Bett UK (Ahead by Bett)coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 27 November 2025UCISA is a partner of Bett UK 2026 (formerly Ahead by Bett) and founding partner of Ahead by Bett, the major UK education technology event. Members receive a 20% discount on tickets. UCISA representatives speak at supplier events and provide briefings on sector concerns.
• HEFESTISminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 November 2022UCISA and HEFESTIS signed a new collaboration agreement to further support UCISA member institutions, focusing on shared services and common challenges in higher education technology management.
• Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 October 2022UCISA works with DCMS to drive up responses to the annual Cyber Security Breaches Survey from UCISA member institutions, supporting national cyber security policy and improving the representativeness of survey data from the higher education sector.
• THE Campus liveminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 10 October 2022UCISA partners with Times Higher Education (THE) Campus live events, providing members with a 20% discount and enabling UCISA to extend its reach to a broader audience of higher education digital leaders.
• JisccoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 September 2022UCISA and Jisc signed a three-year collaboration agreement covering topics such as cyber security and sustainability. The agreement builds on existing joint work and establishes a structured programme of cooperation between the two organisations on key sector challenges. Jisc also publishes reports on digital strategies in UK higher education with UCISA participation.
• EUNIS (European University Information Systems Organisation)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 February 2022EUNIS and UCISA signed a mutually beneficial collaborative agreement to strengthen cooperation between the two organisations representing IT professionals in higher education across Europe and the UK respectively. The agreement facilitates knowledge sharing, joint activities, and cross-border collaboration on common challenges.
• CAUDIT (Colleges and Universities IT)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 November 2021UCISA jointly launched the Higher Education Reference Models (HERM) with CAUDIT (Australia/NZ) and EDUCAUSE (USA), and issued a joint statement on Higher Education Reference Models. The UCISA EA Working Group won the CAUDIT Community Award in 2024 for work on HERM, demonstrating the international reach and impact of this collaboration.
• NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 October 2021UCISA has established a schedule of planned activities with the NCSC, supporting cyber security awareness and best practice sharing across UK higher education institutions through the UCISA Security Community.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• EUNIS: EUNIS is the European University Information Systems organisation, representing IT professionals in higher education across Europe. It is a direct international peer to UCISA, with a formal collaboration agreement covering joint activities and knowledge sharing.
• EDUCAUSE: EDUCAUSE is the US-based non-profit membership association for higher education IT professionals. It is the most direct international analogue to UCISA, serving a comparable mission (community, events, benchmarking, policy advocacy) for university IT leaders, and the two organisations co-develop the Higher Education Reference Model (HERM).
• CAUDIT: CAUDIT is the Australia and New Zealand equivalent of UCISA, representing IT leaders in the tertiary sector. It is a direct peer: comparable membership model, benchmarking surveys, communities of practice, and a co-developer of HERM with UCISA.

Broad incumbents

• Jisc: Jisc is the UK not-for-profit digital, data and technology agency for higher education and research. While broader in remit (it operates shared infrastructure, networks, and procurement frameworks) it partners with UCISA on cyber and sustainability and is the most influential UK peer in the same institutional audience.
• GÉANT: GÉANT is the pan-European research and education networking organisation, working closely with UK Jisc and the national research and education networks. While infrastructure-led rather than community-led, it serves a closely related audience of HE IT leaders and influences sector priorities.

Emerging players

• AHUA (Association of Heads of University Administration): AHUA is a UK membership association for senior university professional services leaders. It is an adjacent peer serving a partially overlapping institutional audience, particularly registrars and chief operating officers who work alongside IT directors.
• Association for Learning Technology (ALT): ALT is the UK professional body for learning technology in education, narrower in scope than UCISA (it focuses on pedagogy and edtech rather than the full IT function) but overlapping in audience. ALT has jointly recognised UCISA's TEL survey work via its Research Project of the Year award.

Regional players

• AoC (Association of Colleges): AoC is the UK national membership body for further education and sixth form colleges. It is a regional sector peer for UCISA's growing FE membership, with comparable advocacy, training, and events functions aimed at a related but distinct institutional segment.
• HEFESTIS: HEFESTIS is the Greek IT association for higher education institutions and a formal collaboration partner of UCISA. It is a regional peer with a comparable mission focused on a single country market, useful as a comparability benchmark for the structure of small national HE IT bodies.

Others

• Bett UK (Hyve Group): Bett UK is the major UK education technology trade show and a partner of UCISA. It is an ecosystem/adjacent peer rather than a direct competitor: both serve the UK HE IT community but Bett is a commercial events business, while UCISA convenes the practitioners year-round.

Market position

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ucisa
• Xx.com/ucisa

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about UCISA