Since 2013, partnership between the National Forum and the Higher Education Authority (HEA) in the area of student success has supported the realisation of related actions in the National Access Plan and Higher Education System Performance Framework 2018-20, and complemented ongoing work in the National Student Engagement Programme and StudentSurvey.ie. In addition, the €5m 2020 Strategic Alignment of Teaching and Learning (SATLE) Fund has supported the establishment of 74 enhancement initiatives across the sector, each with a strategic focus on transforming teaching and learning for student success.

The report Understanding and Enabling Student Success in Irish Higher Education, published in 2019 considered student success through three lenses. Firstly, it explored the concept of student success from the key perspectives of national policy and students, from the explicit strategic missions of Irish higher education institutions and from the international literature. It then examined a range of themes that have been pivotal to our understanding of student success and how it can be supported. Finally, it looked at the development of an Irish national understanding of student success.