The University of West London (UWL) has been recognised as one of the leading institutions within its cluster peer group in the newly released Knowledge Exchange Framework 6 (KEF6) results, published by Research England.
This recognition highlights UWL’s strong commitment to knowledge exchange – working collaboratively with businesses, communities, public services, the third sector, and individuals beyond higher education to address local, national, and global challenges.
KEF not only enables universities to reflect on and improve their own performance but also serves as a valuable resource for external partners seeking access to expertise and innovation from English higher education providers.
For this year’s results, UWL achievements include:
Maintaining overall ‘Best in class’ GPA performance for Knowledge Exchange in our cluster
Achieving ‘Top of our cluster’ with ratings of ‘Very high engagement’ in Research Partnerships, and ‘high engagement’ in IP and commercialisation.
Performance also improved in several underlying KEF metrics, including achieving ‘High Engagement’ in Innovate UK income as a proportion of research income.
UWL is also among the best in its peer group among 18 other universities.
UWL improved in 3 of the 7 KEF perspectives, increasing by one quintile in Research Partnerships, IP and Commercialisation, and Working with the Public and Third Sector.
UWL remains the highest-performing institution in Cluster M by GPA and exceeds the Cluster M average in 6 of the 7 KEF perspectives.
The sixth iteration of the Knowledge Exchange Framework is underpinned by robust data collected by universities from August 2022 to July 2025.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Anthony Hilton explains:
“KEF6 highlights the continued success of UWL across multiple areas, demonstrating the breadth and impact of our knowledge exchange activities. It showcases how our work contributes meaningfully to the economy and society – benefiting the public, businesses, and communities.
By leveraging our expertise, UWL’s collaborations with non-HE partners continue to deliver meaningful economic and social impact.
Following our successes across Research, Teaching and being ranked second in London for overall student satisfaction in the National Student Survey 2026, we are proud to add our growing strength in Knowledge Exchange to our list of achievements.”
Learn more about Knowledge Exchange, Knowledge Transfer, Technology Transfer and Regional Engagement at UWL.
