Teaching excellence framework (TEF)
Online distance learning specialist blames old data as OfS identifies ‘absence of excellence’
Five more institutions achieve gold awards after OfS resolves challenges to original ratings
Institutions without ratings at a disadvantage during crucial recruitment period as many wrongly assume appeals are due to their being designated ‘requires improvement’
Stringing out the numerous challenges could risk influence of Teaching Excellence Framework declining across the sector, experts fear
Large swathes of scores missing as OfS publishes first results of newly revamped exercise
As deadline for submissions approaches, OfS outlines how revamped exercise will benefit sector
Label would apply to providers failing to get a rating and in England would limit the fees they can charge, according to consultation
Regulator extends existing awards, with results of reformed evaluation not due to be published until 2023
Experts fear submissions in 2021 won’t be able to appropriately account for wide range of disruptions to student experience caused by pandemic
Teaching excellence framework will also no longer be an annual exercise, with next assessment due to be published next year
This week’s spending review could see commitments revisited and important policy documents released, predicts Nick Hillman
Ministers’ eagerness to launch yet another review when so many others remain unpublished is testing the patience of universities, says Andrew McRae
Long-awaited publication of Pearce review expected in autumn, but lack of time and changes in government priorities make 2021 awards unlikely
University of Glasgow principal Sir Anton Muscatelli says inputs into England’s TEF will become unreliable owing to pandemic shocks
Both are too resource-intensive to be sustainable during this crisis, and their objectives can be achieved through other measures, argues Dorothy Bishop
The UK government is determined to make good on its manifesto pledge to crack down on substandard university programmes. But what is quality? Is it best measured by graduate earnings, learning gain, a national university curriculum – or something else entirely? Anna McKie ponders the options
Birmingham’s Kathleen Armour emphasises need for collaboration across traditional disciplinary boundaries
Education secretary’s backing for subject-level exercise before publication of TEF review prompts university warnings of ‘significant diversion of staff time’
Poland’s underperforming university system raises hard questions for those who advocate academic self-government over ‘managerialism’
Disciplinary-level assessment unlikely to survive in its current form, say sector leaders
Staffordshire and University for the Creative Arts secure gold, but Sheffield stays on silver
Royal Statistical Society vice-president Guy Nason explains why it has taken the unusual step of reporting the Teaching Excellence Framework to the UK’s statistics watchdog
The teaching excellence framework “needs urgent fixing” at all levels, review is warned
Universities UK fears cost of assessment could nudge £250,000 per provider
Only one in 10 respondents to UCU survey welcomes introduction of UK’s teaching assessment
Using the teaching excellence framework to drive up teaching standards is fundamentally misconceived, says Matt Waddup
Sir Chris Husbands visits Australia as it considers introducing performance-related funding system similar to UK’s teaching excellence framework
Only one in 50 respondents to DfE survey correctly state that ratings are not based on class observations
Data for English universities seem to show government metric based on salaries is skewed by location
Australia’s move to performance-based funding must be better thought through than England’s TEF, say Gwilym Croucher and Kenneth Moore
Review will assess whether process behind TEF ratings are ‘fit for use’ and whether scheme is in the public interest
Institutions face ‘never-ending rollercoaster’ of assessment, conference hears
UK higher education providers to be assessed across 34 disciplinary areas
Researchers clash with former minister on potential application of ‘distance travelled’ measures
University of London institution complained its large international cohort meant it was penalised in assessment
Analysis of latest data could spark similar debate to that seen in relation to the REF, about whether a complex assessment process is needed
Only 17 per cent of Ucas questionnaire’s 85,000 respondents understood government’s flagship exercise designed to improve student choice
While the latest results of the teaching excellence framework brought joy for a number of institutions, they also throw up new questions about the validity of the exercise
The Hepi/Advance HE Student Academic Survey finds undergraduates at gold-rated institutions do not rank teaching staff highly
Concerns about the teaching excellence framework’s rigour and integrity have not been addressed. The exercise needs a fundamental rethink, says Guy Nason
Understanding how and why a university achieved a particular rating has become a tougher job than ever, writes Simon Baker
Improvements in the TEF awards from one year to another is not only remarkable, says Paul Aswhin, it also calls into question the validity of this exercise to accurately measure teaching quality
THE journalists and Chris Husbands, chair of TEF, analyse the awards announced in the latest round of the teaching excellence framework
The second round of TEF outcomes shows a diverse higher education sector that excels in making a challenging and stimulating offering to its students, says Chris Husbands
Universities of Liverpool and Southampton among those to improve their ratings
UK universities have criticised proposals for discipline-level assessment in the teaching excellence framework
Better recognition of the wider social benefits of both teaching and research would help universities regain public goodwill, says Nick Petford
Head of QAA says a wave of allegations against alternative providers shows need for action on academic malpractice
Sam Gyimah tells MPs that for universities ‘to carry on as if we are still in 1965 is not acceptable’
Pleas by Conservative backbenchers for an intervention to help the OU ignore the fact that they recently made it harder to assist under-pressure institutions, says Pam Tatlow
Edge Hill vice-chancellor John Cater explains why the new non-Russell Group medical schools are so vital
Lancaster University's vice-chancellor Mark E. Smith and Nicola Owen argue that a new composite ranking offers a more nuanced view of institutional excellence
Architects of merged league table say results show how old hierarchies are outdated, but pre-92 institutions still dominate
Academics with higher qualifications or more experience could get higher scores in subject-level teaching excellence framework
The reawakening of political activism within academia sparked by the pensions strike will reinvigorate scholarship, says Jana Bacevic
Introducing a ‘consumer-style ratings system’ for degrees has the potential to cause terrible damage to universities and society in general, argues Cathy Shrank
Minister says universities ‘will no longer be able to hide if their teaching quality is not up to the world-class standard that we expect’
Making arts and humanities degrees cheaper than science courses would be 'cultural heresy' and 'economic barbarism', argues the University of Hertfordshire's vice-chancellor Quintin McKellar
Sheffield Hallam University's vice-chancellor Chris Husbands explains why cutting tuition fees would harm social mobility and why variable fees are also a bad idea
