At Fairfield School of Business, research is not separate from teaching; it shapes and strengthens it. Our teaching is informed both by research into learning and teaching, which helps us understand how students learn most effectively, and by the academic expertise of our staff, whose research and specialist knowledge within their disciplines bring current thinking, insight and real-world relevance into the curriculum. This is grounded in who we are: an institution built around widening access, working with mature students, career changers and learners who don’t fit the traditional entry mould.

The FSB Applied Research Hub exists to deepen our understanding of what works for these students, to strengthen the academic credibility that underpins our validation partnerships, and to ensure that everything we teach – and everything we go on to develop – is built on evidence, not assumption.

That understanding doesn’t stop at our own classrooms. Our students go on to work across the industries and communities we serve, so research that improves their outcomes has a wider reach too – supporting local employers, the businesses our graduates join or start, and the communities our campuses serve across the UK.

This matters as FSB grows. Every new programme we develop is intended to build on a genuine institutional strength, informed by research, rather than being a reaction to market trends alone. The Hub is where that thinking happens, and where we can show partner universities, regulators and prospective students the evidence behind our approach.