
Partner & Co-Founder
Mark Leach
Founder and Editor in Chief of Wonkhe, and Founder and Chair of The Post-18 Project
mark@policy.partnersHigher education institutions have extraordinary capabilities – world-leading academics, professional services staff who are the envy of many other organisations, and students invested in the success of their university. Our offer is to give them the space, structures, and support to solve their own problems.
The strategic questions that matter most in higher education are the ones that benefit from an outside perspective – to sharpen thinking, stress-test assumptions, and bring the wider landscape into the room.
Experts in higher education policy, applying an outside-in view of the sector to the specific context of your institution.
From initial strategy setting, to review and implementation. Or on discrete interventions: away days, governance support, project development.
Our work leaves institutions equipped to make brave, informed choices – based on the world as it is, not as we wish it to be.
Depending on what's needed, we bring together different strengths – each reinforcing the others to deliver the right support at the right moment.

Independent HE analysis, commentary, data and intelligence

Multi-disciplinary consultancy practice across higher education, culture and beyond

Long-form policy research shaping the national conversation on tertiary education
Where sector intelligence meets institutional action – working directly with universities

Partner & Co-Founder
Founder and Editor in Chief of Wonkhe, and Founder and Chair of The Post-18 Project
mark@policy.partners
Partner & Co-Founder
Editor of Wonkhe and Trustee of the National Institute of Teaching
debbie@policy.partners
Partner & Co-Founder
Senior Partner at Counterculture and Associate Editor of Wonkhe
james@policy.partnersWhether you're at the beginning of a new strategy cycle, navigating a leadership transition, or simply want a sharper external perspective on the choices ahead – we'd welcome a conversation.
Contact us