• With a constantly shifting external environment and finite resources we will need to make shrewd investment decisions and choices. We will target support on areas prioritised by current performance and potential to contribute to our strategic objectives. We will build on our existing strengths and those aspects of our University that are truly distinctive, such as our overseas campuses and online degrees.

• The core objectives and priorities of our Strategy will be delivered through three supporting strategies:

  1. Research and Impact: To be world-leading in specific research areas and globally recognised in all our research and impact activities
  2. Education: To support our students as they become creative and culturally rich graduates, with the capacity to find employment that will enable them to be agents for change in a connected world
  3. Professional Services: To advance our University, and its staff and students, through our people, place and culture of leadership, innovation and empowerment

  These three supporting strategies are interconnected and mutually dependent, and their successful delivery will be critical to the overall success of Our Strategy 2026.

We will be recognised as a world-leading institution through our global standing and the impact of our worldwide network of campuses and partner activities.

The measure of success will be:

• Global Standing: Achieving a top 100 worldwide ranking in a recognised international league table by 2026
• National Standing: Consistently achieving an upper quartile sector position by 2026
• Reputation and Brand: A new brand tracking project will enable us to better monitor and evaluate activities aimed at enhancing our reputation and brand
• Globally Connected: Being a University connected across the world as measured by International Outlook (based on THE combined measure of international staff, students and research), achieving a top 50 position by 2026

We value honesty and integrity. We will seek to operate fairly and impartially, using high-quality evidence to inform our decisions. We will be accountable for our decisions and open to scrutiny. We will model these values in our dealings with others.

We will routinely identify potential conflicts of interest in our decision-making and actively manage them, seeking guidance where necessary. We will ensure as far as possible that funding decisions are transparent, recognising that difficult decisions are sometimes required in the pursuit of strategic objectives. Leaders should explain and communicate these decisions effectively and be accountable for them. We should aim to become a ‘learning organisation’.

We value our students and will treat them as partners.

We believe that everyone deserves an excellent education and we will seek to make our programmes open to all who are able to benefit. We will seek to develop the potential of all our students, from undergraduates through to postgraduate research students, enabling them to flourish. We will be mindful that some students face greater barriers to success than others and we will take steps to address these, enabling all students to succeed regardless of origin, background, age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy, maternity and paternity.

We will respect the opinions of all groups of students, expose them to a broad range of opinion and ideas, and teach the values of tolerance and respect. We will promote a range of views and encourage students to challenge appropriately in debate and discussion. We will encourage all students, whatever their background, to become engaged in wider University life, and we will actively foster and promote cross-cultural exchange to enrich the experience of our students.

We will promote the engagement of students in discussion and decision-making about their learning and about the affairs of the University.

We remain true to our mission – the advancement of learning and ennoblement of life – and commit to making a difference to society locally, nationally, and internationally.

We will recognise the social, economic and environmental impact of our activities and seek to minimise harm to the natural environment and increase our social value, wherever we operate. We will seek to contribute to the economic and social well-being of the Liverpool City Region, including improved health and education outcomes, and work with political and business leaders, local stakeholders and partners to maximise our positive impact.

We take seriously our civic responsibility and will seek to offer thought-leadership and strategic capacity across the City Region, nationally and internationally, and to grow the pool of skills and talent available to address pressing concerns.

We will seek to ensure that the positive impact of our research discoveries and innovations can be realised globally, wherever it is beneficial, deploying appropriate collaborations and Open Access and Open Data arrangements to share our findings and support other researchers.

We value our employees and will strive to be an employer of choice for our staff.

We will treat all our employees fairly, recognise the contributions of all and provide a broad range of opportunities for training, development and personal growth to enable staff to develop their potential within the context of a high performance and continuous improvement culture.

We will actively promote a supportive, accessible working environment in which the learning and sharing of good practice is encouraged, employees can admit and learn from mistakes and practical support is offered to enable all colleagues to contribute fully. We will encourage an inclusive culture, treat each other with respect and celebrate our diversity.

We will promote health and well-being throughout the University and work together to ensure a safe working environment for all. We will encourage engagement in local decision-making and work in partnership across the University to achieve our wider goals.

Our leaders, in particular, will actively model and promote these values, in themselves and others, and communicate our goals and values to everyone in their teams.

We value our external partners and collaborators and will respect their interests and aspirations in our mutual engagement.

We will work with others who share our ethos and aspirations and where, through partnership, we can achieve more together than separately.

We will act in the public interest at all times and in accordance with the values of the University, and protect our research, our staff and students from undue influence from organisations which do not subscribe to our values. In dealing with partners, we will aim to be honest, act with integrity and raise and tackle problems head-on so that both sides benefit positively from the relationship.

We will be recognised as a leading research-intensive University, with global knowledge leadership in established and emerging strengths, strategic partnerships delivering impact and public benefit across our research disciplines, and a national and international profile for our leading research areas.

The measure of success will be:

• Research Performance: To achieve top quartile positions in all our units in terms of proportion of world-leading outputs by 2026
• Partnerships: To increase the number of next generation partnership projects in alignment with our overall Research and Impact objectives and priorities, with a view to establishing three further strategic partners (cf Unilever) by 2026
• Intensity: All staff on teaching and research contracts will achieve outcomes that meet institutional policy principles of world-leading and internationally excellent research and impact by 2026

Our distinctive, research-connected courses, delivered flexibly across our range of campuses and partners will attract a well-qualified and diverse student body from across the world. As a result of enhanced engagement our student satisfaction will be consistently in the top quartile in the sector. Our employer connections will be unrivalled across UK higher education, helping our students to secure the best graduate jobs worldwide.

The measure of success will be:

• Student satisfaction: Increasing the satisfaction of our students as measured by national student surveys to a consistently upper quartile sector position by 2026, specifically by NSS, PTES and PRES
• Graduate prospects: Improving the number of graduates in graduate level employment or further study (as measured by the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education Survey) to a top 20 position by 2026
• Diversity: Achieving a diverse student body across all disciplines as measured by ethnicity, UK/non-UK and Low Participation Neighbourhoods
• Opportunities: Increasing the proportion of taught students (UG, PGT) who undertake a work placement, (as part of their curriculum), internship, study abroad opportunity or volunteering experience to 50%

We will be recognised as running our University to the highest standards

The measure of success will be:

• Staff Satisfaction: Improving staff satisfaction year on year, as measured through a formal staff survey (every 3 years), annual surveys of targeted areas, customer satisfaction and staff engagement
• Financial Sustainability: Financial Sustainability: Generating an average EBITDA on an ongoing basis of 13%, while maintaining a minimum holding of £60m in cash in order to reinvest to achieve our strategic objectives and meet our long term financial commitments
• Efficiency and Effectiveness: Achieving continuous improvement in operations through benchmarking and efficiency (as measured through UniForum survey)
• Student Satisfaction with Services and Support:  Achieving year-on-year improvements in overall student satisfaction with services and support by 2026 as measured by annual internal student satisfaction survey