THE UK Government’s new Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) results were published earlier today and the results show Bishop Grosseteste University in a golden light. The Lincoln-based university has been awarded the Gold rating, the highest possible, putting it in the top 26% of universities in the country.
What is the TEF?
The TEF is an independent scheme set up by the UK Government to assess the quality of teaching at universities in the UK. It is run by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and supported by Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA). Universities are awarded either Gold, Silver or Bronze rankings.
Unlike some rankings, the focus is on undergraduate teaching and the award is institution-wide, rather than subject based. Jo Johnson, the government’s Higher Education and Science Minster, says that these results are meant to “help students to choose which university or college to study at.”
This was a trial year for ranking universities in this manner. Chris Husbands, Chair of the TEF assessment panel, says that “[t]he teaching excellence framework results offer – for the first time – an overview of teaching excellence across the entire UK higher education sector… Taken together, this is a set of material on teaching excellence that goes further than has been possible for any other university system in the world.”
How does the TEF work?
The TEF judges the teaching quality, the learning environment and student outcomes at each university. The information comes from the National Student Survey (NSS) (which gathers students’ views on the quality of teaching, assessment and academic support received), the universities’ dropout rates (i.e. how many students complete their courses) and what graduates did after leaving. Each university also gave the assessors a written submission as contextual evidence.
Why has Bishop Grosseteste done so well?
Student World Online has previously heard from students at Bishop Grosseteste (BGU) about the high-quality of all teaching and non-teaching staff and it already ranks highly on other student surveys (it is the 2nd highest ranked public university in England for student satisfaction in the National Student Survey 2016).
Because the TEF looks at the quality of the teaching with a focus on undergraduate level, it is not surprising to see BGU in the Gold category. The TEF panel’s written statement praised the University’s “personalised approach with high quality support maximising retention, attainment and progression”. It also mentioned the non-academic support that is available at BGU, which ensures “that students from all backgrounds achieve excellent outcomes”.
BGU is also one of the top 3 universities for student employability (Destination of Leavers for Higher Education Survey 2014/15) and the TEF Panel picked up on this as well, stating: “Employability and enterprise skills are embedded throughout the student experience enabling students to acquire knowledge, skills and understanding that are most highly valued by employers”.
What the University says:
“This is an outstanding result for the university. I have always been confident that we offer a gold standard experience to our students. However to receive this external judgment at national level by the panel of experts is very pleasing indeed.
“To be judged to be in the top 26% of higher education providers across the whole country is confirmation of the quality of the education our students receive at BGU. It is also evidence that students who come to BGU are very likely to complete their studies successfully and to gain employment in the shortest possible time following graduation.
“We are thrilled at this outcome; BGU certainly deserves its gold mark of quality and I should like to pay tribute to the quality of leadership of the whole student experience by my senior colleagues at Bishop Grosseteste University.”
Vice-Chancellor of Bishop Grosseteste University the Rev. Canon Professor Peter Neil
If you would like to learn why BGU is rated Gold, head to their profile and send an enquiry for more information.
