Part of ongoing research into the efficacy of blended learning in higher education within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The need for, and development of, a Blended Learning Environment Instrument (BLEI) are explained. This new instrument assesses student perceptions across five core aspects of blended learning environments: Infrastructure, Access, Interaction, Response and Results. A pilot using 269 students enrolled at universities in KSA are presented and tested for reliability and validity. The availability of the BLEI will assist researchers and developers when evaluating blended learning in higher education, full details are available from the author.