What HEPI does

HEPI (Higher Education Policy Institute) is the UK's leading independent think tank devoted to higher education policy, established in 2002 and structured as both a company limited by guarantee (company no. 4503712) and a registered charity (charity no. 1099645). The organization is headquartered at 99 Banbury Road, Oxford, operates UK-wide, and is explicitly non-partisan and independent of government and political parties. It is led by Director Nick Hillman OBE with a small team (1-10 employees) including Director of Policy and Strategy Rose Stephenson and Policy Manager Charlotte Armstrong.

HEPI's core products are research reports, policy analysis, and survey-based publications rather than technology platforms. The flagship product is the annual Student Academic Experience Survey, co-published with Advance HE since 2005-06 and described as the longest-running comprehensive student survey in the UK; the 2026 edition canvassed 10,065 undergraduates. Secondary products include the Unite Students Applicant Index (annual since 2022), thematic reports on topics such as student working lives, transport connectivity, and generative AI in higher education, plus events (roundtable dinners, webinars, conferences) and a policy blog. HEPI does not develop proprietary technology, does not offer APIs or software products, and distributes all reports free of charge via hepi.ac.uk.

HEPI's business model is a non-profit membership-and-sponsorship model. It is funded by organizational and university memberships and event revenue, supplemented by sponsorships and consultancy services. It operates four formalized partnership channels: the HEPI Partnership, University Partnership, Sponsorship, and Consultancy. Named partners and sponsors include Advance HE, Unite Students, Kaplan International Pathways, London Economics, UPP Foundation, UCAS, and StudentCrowd. Its primary customer segments are UK universities and higher education institutions, government and policymakers, and sector bodies and membership organizations.

Name

HEPI

Legal name

Higher Education Policy Institute

Website

https://hepi.ac.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

HEPI (Higher Education Policy Institute) is the UK's leading independent, non-partisan think tank devoted to higher education policy, founded in 2002 and based in Oxford. It serves UK universities, policymakers, and sector bodies by publishing research reports, running the Student Academic Experience Survey, and hosting policy events.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Policy Research

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

akta.pro primary industry

Education Policy Research Institutes & Think Tanks (EDADADAA)

Keywords

• Higher education policy
• Policy research
• Think tank
• Education research
• Policy analysis

Headquarters

HQ city

Oxford

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Organizational and University Memberships: HEPI is funded by organisations and universities that wish to see a vibrant higher education debate as well as through their own events.
2. Events Revenue: Revenue generated from hosting events including roundtable dinners, webinars, and conferences that bring together sector stakeholders.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

HEPI is the UK's leading independent think tank devoted to higher education policy. The organisation publishes research reports, policy analysis and commentary on topics such as funding, student experience, teaching quality, and the impact of AI on higher education. It also hosts events including webinars, roundtable dinners, and conferences, and runs partnership programs with universities and sector bodies.

Product overview

HEPI (Higher Education Policy Institute) is the UK's leading independent think tank for higher education. Rather than offering a unified software product, HEPI provides a portfolio of research products and services including the annual Student Academic Experience Survey (conducted jointly with Advance HE since 2005-06), the Unite Students Applicant Index, thematic research reports on topics such as student employment, transport connectivity, and AI in education, and policy commentary through its blog. HEPI also organizes events including webinars, roundtable dinners, and conferences, and operates partnership programs for universities and sponsors. The organization does not offer a technology platform but serves as an evidence-based policy research and analysis provider for the higher education sector.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Student Academic Experience Survey (SAES) An annual comprehensive survey canvassing the views of full-time undergraduate students across UK higher education institutions, published jointly with Advance HE. The 2026 edition surveyed more than 10,000 students.
• Unite Students Applicant Index An annual survey tracking university applicants' attitudes, covering themes including finance, social, community, wellbeing, resilience, learning, employment, independence and sustainability. Produced in partnership with Unite Students.
• Student Working Lives Report A HEPI research report examining the complex working lives of commuter and non-commuter students and the challenges of interpreting their experiences, particularly in relation to paid work.
• Interconnected Innovation Report A HEPI research report arguing that transport connectivity should play a greater role in how the UK assesses research investment, examining physical connectivity in UK research and innovation policy.
• FUTURES Framework Report

Quantifiable outcome

• Student Academic Experience Survey 2026: 45% rate value for money as good/very good - highest in over a decade
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Advance HEcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAdvance HE is a member-led charity working with institutions and higher education across the world. They co-publish the Student Academic Experience Survey with HEPI, which is the longest-running comprehensive student survey in the UK, now entering its third decade since launch in 2005-06.
• Unite StudentscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on the annual Applicant Index, now in its fifth year (2026). The Index systematically tracks university applicants' attitudes each year, covering themes including finance, social, community, wellbeing, resilience, learning, employment, independence and sustainability.
• Kaplan International PathwaysminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned London Economics to calculate economic consequences for the UK economy of hosting international students. This is the fourth iteration of this work, using 2024/25 data and for the first time using international students' actual addresses.
• London EconomicsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned economic research partner calculating the economic benefits and public costs of international students to the UK economy, broken down by parliamentary constituency.
• UPP FoundationminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCollaboration on roundtable dinner events focused on student accommodation policy issues.
• UCASminorGTM or Marketing PartnerJoint events collaboration with UCAS Chief Executive Dr Jo Saxton CBE participating as speaker in HEPI/Unite Students Applicant Index launch webinar.
• StudentCrowdminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCollaboration on events with StudentCrowd's Director of Strategic Partnerships participating as speaker in joint webinars.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• MillionPlus: MillionPlus is the UK association/think tank for modern universities, producing research and policy commentary on higher education. It is the closest UK analogue to HEPI, with a parallel mission of evidence-based HE policy advocacy, though focused on the post-1992 university segment rather than the whole sector.
• Wonkhe: Wonkhe is a UK higher education analysis and commentary platform that publishes opinion, research and event content aimed at university leaders and policymakers. It competes with HEPI for attention in the UK HE policy debate and shares a similar audience of vice-chancellors, policymakers and sector commentators.

Broad incumbents

• Policy Exchange: Policy Exchange is one of the UK's largest and most prominent think tanks, publishing across multiple policy areas including higher education, regulation and innovation. It is a broader-incumbent peer: it competes for the same government and media attention on HE issues but does not specialize in higher education.
• IPPR (Institute for Public Policy Research): IPPR is a major UK progressive think tank covering economic, social and education policy including HE funding and skills. It is comparable to HEPI as a multi-disciplinary UK policy research organization but with much broader scope and larger research capacity.

Others

• Advance HE: Advance HE is a UK member-led charity working with higher education institutions on teaching, leadership and governance. It is a core strategic partner of HEPI (co-publisher of SAES) and operates in the same HE ecosystem, but it is a sector membership body rather than an independent policy think tank.
• Universities UK: Universities UK is the representative body for UK higher education institutions, producing its own policy research and advocacy on HE funding, regulation and international strategy. It is an adjacent sector organization rather than a direct competitor, but it competes for influence over the same HE policy agenda.
• National Union of Students (NUS): NUS is the UK confederation of students' unions and a key stakeholder producing research on student experience, funding and access. It intersects with HEPI's student-experience and policy work but is a representative body rather than an independent think tank.
• Russell Group: The Russell Group represents 24 research-intensive UK universities and publishes policy positions on research funding, regulation and international strategy. It is an adjacent sector body that competes for influence on HE policy — particularly on research and innovation — but is not a specialist HE think tank.

Emerging players

• Sutton Trust: The Sutton Trust is a UK foundation focused on social mobility through education, producing influential research on access and participation in higher education. It overlaps with HEPI on the access-and-participation policy strand, though it concentrates on fairness and mobility rather than the full HE agenda.
• Resolution Foundation: The Resolution Foundation is a UK think tank focused on living standards, work and the economy, with adjacent work on HE funding, maintenance loans and graduate outcomes. It publishes on overlapping HE-policy themes and serves a similar government-and-media audience, though it is not HE-specific.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HEPI_news
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hepi

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about HEPI