Progress and prospects for the year ahead
NMITE CEO James Newby spoke recently with former Times-2 editor Jane Preston and later with NMITE co-founder David Sheppard. This is a distillation of those conversations, as James reflects on progress and prospects for the year ahead.
We will win the future, was the standout phrase from Barack Obama’s January 2011 State of the Union address. He said ”…from the earliest days of our founding, America has been the story of ordinary people who dared to dream. That's how we win the future.” He continued: “But if we want to win the future -– if we want innovation to produce jobs in America and not overseas -– then we also have to win the race to educate our kids.”
Jame Newby: I am sure that speech must have woven its way into the thoughts of those in Herefordshire, back then, who were nurturing the idea of a university in the county.
David Sheppard: I am not sure we were aware of it at the time, but we were quite clear that the UK needed engineers, that universities transform local economies and that Herefordians wanted a world class, innovative institution to complement their cattle, apples and special forces.
JN: I can tell you that fifteen years on, the belief that we can win through innovation is what drives us at NMITE. It sets the tone for 2026 and the years beyond. It shaped the foundations that we have been building up over the last few years.
DS: I recently did an analysis of our 2015 plan. I concluded that ten years on, despite Brexit, Covid, job’s-worths and the numerous obstacles accidentally or deliberately interrupting NMITE’s creation 95 percent of the original objectives are being or will be met. Satisfaction, I hope, to those who dared to dream and founded NMITE, raised over £1million (largely locally) and wrote the business plan that secured the initial Government support.
That plan, it is worth remembering, had a simple goal: to create a higher education institution that:
Transforms, in the national interest, the teaching of science, technology and engineering in the UK.
Transforms university education to deliver globally employable, work-ready graduates who through the application of interdisciplinary skills can innovate and problem solve.
and
Transforms the social and economic fabric of the county of Herefordshire and secures its sustainable future.
JN: I can say hand on heart, that we are transforming profoundly, albeit slowly, and hopefully irreversibly how engineering is taught in the UK. And yes, we are delivering clearly different, high-quality, exceptional, work ready graduates. We are but one part of helping transform the local economy. It is a very long-term task but we are making progress; as our about to be opened Centre for Innovation & Future Skills exemplifies. Together it’s a winning combination!
What's happening now?
Jane Preston: How transformative is NMITE’s flagship offer of what it calls enterprise education; what does that mean in practice?
JN: It means that we want our students to be work-ready. At other universities students get intellectual depth and technical knowledge, then they join a workplace to be trained (for 2-3 more years) in the skills needed for the job. Here they develop the skills as part of the programme – thinking and doing at the same time. Almost the entire programme involves working in teams, managing issues and personalities as a preparation for work and life. We aim to produce emotionally mature, agreeable individuals you’d be pleased to have in your workplace as well as a new breed of innovators with an inherent bias towards action.
JP: Are employers surprised at the initiative and maturity of their recruits?
JN: Pleasantly surprised, but often our graduates end up in jobs with employers who know them because they are also our curriculum partners.
JP: So instead of just pitching up to give a careers talk, local companies contribute to the curriculum?
JN: Exactly: two examples. With Koalaa Upper Limb Prosthetics we developed a module to design assistive tools to support children using prosthetic limbs. With BAE Systems last year, the task was to design an autonomous vehicle capable of navigating an obstacle course; students learn mechatronics and feedback systems control as they build to the brief. It is helpful to BAE as it enables them to test prototypes.
There are lots of such interactions and there are students now working with companies they met during the programme.’
JP: There are top class institutions in the UK offering engineering; how would you sell NMITE to a school leaver with her sights set on London’s Imperial College for example?
JN: There are students for whom that would be a great choice. But I’d ask her, do you want to be in a large institution in a big city and sit in a lecture theatre of maybe 500 people?’ We offer the same academic rigour but much more application to real time problems.
JP: Engineering struggles to attract female entrants; how is that going at NMITE?
JN: It’s slower than we would like, we’re at 20 percent female versus the 15-16 percent average elsewhere. We have bursaries confined to women and we are confident our ethos is more appealing to them. But some say it’s going to take a generation; at NMITE we will do our best to confound that prediction. The UK needs collaborative, problem solvers, which is what engineers are trained to do. Engineering suffers from the stereotype of who an engineer should be – that is still male. The discipline is actually all about problem solving, creativity and collaboration, so there is no reason why we shouldn’t aim to have gender balanced cohorts..
JP: How does the current crisis in higher education affect NMITE?
JN: We’re not immune, the sector has a real challenge in persuading young people that a traditional degree is a good life path. Degrees take too long, cost too much, saddle graduates with debt and there are real questions about employability. As well, mental health among students is as bad as it’s ever been. There is a need for a more intimate, nurturing institution where everyone knows they matter. Our students are out quicker than their peers, payback is quicker and they get a job.
JP:NMITE has university status and degree awarding powers, but it is not a university in name.
JN: University is a protected term, we need to have been operating for longer with bigger cohorts to qualify. All that said, I’m not entirely sure we want to be a university: we like the inherent challenge in the name New Model. Herefordshire has one of the lowest rates of higher education participation of anywhere in the UK and I know kids at NMITE who would not have gone to university if not for us.
The winning priorities for 2026?
DS: I sense that NMITE is just at the inflection point of the hockey stick growth curve of a start-up?
JN: I hope that we are. I am starting 2026 much buoyed by the feedback over the last year from employers (national and local), donors, well respected engineering leaders, students and schools. It is clear that the “NMITE-Way” is gaining traction, credibility and acceptance as a serious and quality alternative to traditional university engineering education. What’s more we have had some very good, thoughtful and challenging coverage on Radio 4, the broadsheet press, respected specialist media – notably September’s Nature. All are being seriously engaged with the NMITE vision and its disruption and innovation.
DS: So, what are your priorities for the next twelve months and beyond?
JN: At a New Year briefing for the whole team earlier this month I thanked and congratulated them on last year’s achievements. It gave us the foundation and confidence to tackle the four main priorities for 2026. Forgive the list but it’s probably the best way to answer the question.
First, we need to grow the range of academic programmes we offer to scale up to target size of 450 plus students. Our new programmes will always support the changing skills needs of the region and country. That means focusing on four sectors::
- Infrastructure & Construction
- Security including Agriculture, Energy, Food & Water
- Software & Digital.
- Defence
So, this year we will add an MEng in Autonomous Robotics. A project conceived last September with the British Army and welcoming its first students just one year on. In 2027 we plan to launch an MEng in Software Engineering with, in 2028 an MEng in Civil Engineering and freshened version of our successful Bachelors & Masters in Integrated Engineering. We also aim to add a programme in Radio Frequency Technologies to help meet the burgeoning demand for skills in that area.
Combined, these new programmes will bring student numbers to our target size. NMITE will then, with a turnover of about £8 -12million, be financially resilient and confident – another priority for 2026.
Second, the key to achieving steady growth will be accelerating our growing reputation for work-ready, confident, problem-solving engineers. A statement that I am confident we can soundly evidence from a rolling research programme with employers, industry partners and alumni that we launched this month. What is also becoming clear is that more and more young and the not so young are seeing the employability and financial benefits of the NMITE way for both undergraduate and upskilling education.
The growing skills shortage nationally is also increasing the urgency of our work.. We are deeply committed to partnering with employers to secure their talent pipeline and rapidly innovate new programmes to meet these skills shortages as we have with partners in defence, construction and energy.
Three, attracting more students means that we must, more consistently, deliver the promise of a distinctive learning experience. An experience that calls for exceptional and innovative teachers. So, we are boosting our investment in staff and academic quality. For our academic staff delivering Learning-by-Doing, in eight week, intensive nine to five blocks and, simultaneously, whilst modelling what it is to be a real engineer, is very demanding physically and emotionally. For those prepared to grasp the model, the rewards of teaching students to think, argue respectfully, collaborate and create are hugely satisfying.
To support our teaching staff, we will be enhancing our “NMITE Way” academic training and induction programme. It will help the existing team say at the leading edge while supporting new recruits transition (if needed) from the “sage on the stage” traditional school/university model to our “guide on the side” approach.
Four, ensure a fit-for-purpose estate and support infrastructure develops to match growth whilst we complete important regulatory requirements and accreditation by the IET and other professional institutions. Deliver growth as planned, makes sourcing capital for teaching and living space a tad easier.
Finally, we need to do more - faster. We have to demonstrate value by showing speed and agility, innovation and high levels of effectiveness. This is our distinctive competitive advantage.
DS: Unpacking those priorities a bit. What made you choose the subjects for the new programmes?
JN: Partly tracking skills shortages but mostly listening to the increasing number of employers that we partner with – currently over eighty – to understand their talent and skills needs.
Our current employer base is imbalanced. Over the next 12-18 months we will be systematically reaching out to more companies in our four target sectors, to better understand their needs. We will also demonstrate to them that our courses are just as academically rigorous and professionally accredited as any leading UK university but with one major difference. NMITE graduates are uniquely work-ready with all the other skills and emotional intelligence that employers are crying out for.
We will be encouraging them to see the time and cost benefits of either hiring or sponsoring an NMITE student. We will be suggesting that they can “try-before-they-buy” by co-selecting students then funding all or some of their fees and costs.
We will offer them a range of upskilling, reskilling, innovation and CPD programmes for their own or supply chain employees, all using the Learning by Doing approach
We will be asking them to join our team of industry coaches/mentors to support our students in their transition to the world of work. We will show them that they can work with us as already have eighty companies large and small.
Finally, some may choose to provide real problems for our students to solve. In doing so they get to meet and observe potential talent. Others with industry partners may choose to co-create our planned new degree programmes that address their skills needs.
I hope that all of them will be talking to their business peers who already employ NMITE graduates about the veracity of our proposition and the undoubted business benefits of it.
DS: More students, means greater outreach to schools. How are you going to approach this?
JN: Our prime task is to win hearts and minds. We need to show that feeding the world, shaping the future, living safely and living sustainably are some of the big issues that will be solved by engineers.
We need to showcase the breadth of careers that graduates, especially girls, can follow. We need to demonstrate that engineers are trained as creative and collaborative problem solvers who make a difference to us and our world. We need to push back the popular perception that portrays them doing boring jobs, frequently with hard hats and Hi-Viz yellow jackets. We need to be crystal clear what is to be an engineer.
I believe we can build a compelling case that persuades students (especially girls), their parents and teachers that three or four years at NMITE is a good investment. An investment that:
- Equips them with key skills for the 21st century - the ability to solve problems, communicate persuasively, be socially aware, think critically and ingeniously and above all make a difference
- Provides core technical knowledge and importantly the real experience of its application in real-life.
- Delivers the high probability of long-term, well-paid employment with employers desperate for their skills
We will show that our student recruitment is less concerned about grades or subjects (Spanish, Geography and English are OK for us) and more about the student’s Grit, Curiosity and Passion - the basis of the Engineer’s Mindset.
We will be demonstrating that our door is open; maths and physics A-level are not required; they are problem solving tools that are introduced along the way in the engineering context. We will argue that NMITE does not produce brilliant mathematicians, but we do produce good problem solving, socially aware engineers. Who yes can do the sums, but equally importantly they can imagine, question, explain and communicate. Surely a better preparation for life than many degrees?
We will also show that students contact time with teachers and industry partners is many, many times greater than traditional universities. The NMITE learning-by-doing way means that the real-world challenges that our students tackle are provided by the active participation of employers who have real questions to which they seek practical answers.
DS: Wellbeing and mental health seem to be a key part of the service provided by HE institutions. I know you won In the IHE (Independent Higher Education) Award in the Supporting Student Success category. What’s NMITE’s approach?
JN: Our award-winning student support, mental health and wellbeing puts students centre stage. As we grow it is vital that we maintain individual focus on each student; we will be eagled eyed for loss of focus.
Asking for help, asking Why, saying ‘I don’t understand’, helping each other is applauded at NMITE - nobody struggles alone. Part of being an engineer is accepting failure and learning from mistakes and the real-world ups and downs that follow. We are very aware that our hands-on approach is very challenging for some. So, we support a student’s transition from often isolated, social media distracted, school pupil to a confident, emotionally mature young adult. Someone who can work in teams, think creatively, manage issues and personalities.
As one employer said to me the other day of NMITE students: “In the first year they are shy, often mumbling teenagers avoiding eye contact; three years on they look you in the eye, as confident young adults.”
DS: You and your team have a huge amount to do, and I guess not enough hands to do all that you want. Would re-awakening or rejuvenating the volunteer task force that helped create NMITE fill some gaps?
JN: Yes that would be brilliant. Already one former trustee has offered to establish an Angel Investor Fund to support student or alumni start ups. It maybe is a year or two premature but that said these things always take longer than expected. What volunteers could help with is making introductions to senior executives regionally and nationally. Alternatively, they could, for example, undertake path-finder/over-the-hill research into potential employer partners, that would populate and pre-qualify a database of warm leads for my team to follow up and convert.
DS: If a golden goose landed in NMITE what would you do with the eggs?
JN: Expand the people and facilities to achieve the total promise of our model; buy and develop all the land we need for teaching and living space for our target size; endow more scholarships and bursaries especially for women. Above all to make a measurable difference, with our HE and FE colleagues, to the life chances of all Herefordians, whether it’s at the start of their working lives or whether later with re-skilling or upskilling. This in turn will boost the economy and establish Herefordshire as a go-to centre for outstanding education.
Plus, to satisfy my disruptive instincts, work with teachers, employers and an exam board to create “NMITE-way” alternatives to GCSE and A-levels. Exams, in my view, that are no longer fit for purpose for a curriculum that does not prepare young people for life.
DS: So, what’s going to keep you awake at night over the next twelve months?
JN: I need to balance my exhortation of the team to “Do More Faster” against my very serious obligation to carry the Ming vase handed to me by the NMITE Founders, across this floor of marbles that is UK higher education!
DS: What does success look like?
JN: There is only one critical measure of success . . .
Visibly different, extraordinarily high-quality students and the companies that come back to hire them, year after year.
It gives students (and their parents and teachers) the assurance that an NMITE degree will lead to well paid, potentially long-term employment.
So far we have been 100 percent successful.
DS: In a nutshell what’s the winning Recipe?
JN: Obviously great people. But equally important will be staying small, by university standards, so that we can educate the whole person and give our students optimal preparation for Life. If I don’t know every student, we are too big!
DS: Finally, what will your legacy be?
JN: Harold Wilson saw the Open University as his greatest achievement of his time as prime minister. It was new model as well . I think we are well on the way to achieving something similar..
