The document summarizes the HEFCE Open Access policy introduced in April 2014 that requires journal articles and conference proceedings with an ISSN produced by UK higher education institutions to be made available through open access repositories with a maximum embargo period of 12 months for STEM fields and 24 months for arts, humanities, and social science fields. It also discusses the benefits of the policy in permanently changing author habits, enabling broader discoverability of research outputs, and being low-cost for universities. Improvements mentioned include shortening embargo periods, including books and book chapters, and requiring authors to retain rights to their publications.