This past week, England’s Office for Students (OfS) published the long-awaited Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) results. The TEF system assesses undergraduate teaching quality in the United Kingdom with a primary focus on higher education institutions in England.
The TEF ratings were last updated in 2019, so this new data is highly welcomed by institutions and sector professionals alike. In this article, we’ll cover what the TEF is, what the ratings mean, why it’s important for international students, and how ApplyBoard’s partner institutions did.
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What is the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF)?
In 2017, the UK government introduced the TEF as a new way to gauge the quality of teaching at its academic institutions. It’s a similar notion to the UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF), which evaluates research quality. The TEF’s existence emphasizes the sheer importance of good teaching, and gives students a government-approved resource for researching and evaluating universities, colleges, and other schools.
The framework only rates institutions which meet certain minimum quality and standards requirements. Participation is mandatory for institutions with 500 or more undergraduate students, and voluntary for those with fewer. The TEF only evaluates undergraduate teaching quality, excluding graduate programs from its assessment.
TEF results have been published in 2017, 2019, and now in 2023, with 228 academic institutions taking part.
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What Do the TEF Results Measure, and How?
The TEF results are designed to “reflect the extent to which a university or college delivers an excellent experience and outcome” for students.
In 2023, students sat as members of the TEF panel, contributing directly to the assessment process. In total, the panel was made up of 20 students and 40 academics, as well as two deputy chairs and two OfS staff members. Students were also invited to make submissions to the panel to share their own educational experiences; the OfS intends to publish those submissions before the end of 2023.
Participating institutions receive three ratings: one for the student experience, one for student outcomes, and an overall rating. Ratings will be one of the following four options:
- Gold, representing a student experience and/or outcomes which are “outstanding” in quality.
- Silver, representing a student experience and/or outcomes which are “very high quality.”
- Bronze, representing a student experience and/or outcomes which are “high quality.”
- Requires improvement, which means the institution didn’t meet the standards required to get a TEF rating.
How Does This Help International Students?
The OfS encourages students to “use TEF ratings – which provide a clear signal of a provider’s excellence – as useful context to the range of more detailed information they will want to consider when deciding what and where to study.”
The TEF doesn’t evaluate every higher education institution in England—but the ones that do participate should be proud to be on the list. If an institution gets a TEF ranking at all, it’s a sign that the UK’s government respects its teaching ability.
With many newer institutions holding high rankings, the TEF also proves that an academic institution doesn’t have to be the oldest or most prestigious to provide an excellent student experience.
The TEF provides more information to students, which is always a good thing. It’s empowering, providing a trusted ranking framework for international students interested in studying in England. Students and recruiters alike can rely on these rankings to confirm a given institution will provide a high-quality teaching experience, and ultimately, a positive student outcome.
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How Did ApplyBoard Partners Perform?
ApplyBoard is proud of our partnerships in the UK, and our partner institutions performed admirably in this year’s TEF evaluation.
For the sake of simplicity, we’ve recognized our partners below based on their overall TEF rating only. Here’s how they did:
Gold Rated
- Coventry University
- Kingston University
- Loughborough University
- Teesside University
- The University of Chichester
Silver Rated
- Arts University Bournemouth
- Arts University Plymouth
- Bishop Grosseteste University
- Bournemouth University
- De Montfort University
- Falmouth University
- Liverpool Hope University
- London Metropolitan University
- Ravensbourne University London
- Regent’s University London
- Royal Holloway, University of London
- The University of Birmingham
- The University of Bradford
- The University of Buckingham
- The University of Cumbria
- The University of Essex
- The University of Law
- The University of Reading
- The University of Westminster
- University of Brighton
- University of Chester
- University of Gloucestershire
- University of Nottingham
- University of Roehampton
- University of Sunderland
- University of the West of England, Bristol
Bronze Rated
Pending
As of October 4, 2023, the following institutions’ TEF results are pending:
- Brunel University London
- London South Bank University
- Middlesex University
- Nottingham Trent University
- Richmond American University London
- The University of Sheffield
- The University of Surrey
- University for the Creative Arts
- University of Greenwich
- University of Hertfordshire
With more international students than ever travelling to the UK to study, the new TEF results are a helpful touchpoint for students to ensure they receive the teaching excellence they’re travelling abroad for.
Congratulations to all ApplyBoard partner institutions who participated in the 2023 TEF evaluation!
Interested in applying to any of these fine institutions yourself? ApplyBoard can help! Register for your free account—we’ll guide you from application to arrival.
