H.E.R.O. (Higher Education and Research Opportunities in the UK)

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Higher Education and Research Opportunities in the UK (HERO) [1] is the official gateway website to the UK higher education system and also serves as an introduction to research organisations and bodies within the UK.

The idea of a single site to promote the UK higher education system was discussed by key stakeholders in the UK higher education sector resulting in the idea of a "UK HE Mall" website being mooted.

The case for the site being that although many people perceive that the UK has a higher education "system", it is in fact made up of autonomous bodies who may or may not receive some public funding.

The UK HE Mall proposal was developed into the full HERO website, launched in November 2000, which is produced by HERO Ltd, an internet publishing company based in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.

HERO aims to be:

- the primary internet portal for academic research and higher education in the UK;

- the natural entry point for enquiries about higher education in the UK for the widest possible range of customers;

- a showcase for the diversity and quality of research and higher education in the UK.

The site does not carry advertising and is grant funded by the main UK higher education funding councils (The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW), The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) in Northern Ireland, alongside Guild HE (Formerly SCOP), the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA), the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and Universities UK (UUK).

The UK's research councils were former stakeholders in the site but now produce their own Research Councils UK site.

HERO also manages the Aimhigher and Teaching Quality Information (TQi) websites.[2]

The HERO site was relaunched in November 2006 offering improved navigation, content and functionality.