University of Brighton academics to assess national teaching standards

Cath Holmström, Deputy Head of School of Applied Social Science (Student Experience and Recruitment), and Joanna MacDonnell, Director of Education (Arts & Humanities), have been appointed to new subject-level panels for the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF).

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has established seven panels for a TEF pilot which aims to test two possible models for generating TEF ratings at subject level; the results will inform the direction of the second subject-level pilot in 2018-19.

HEFCE said the new panel members were selected “for their subject expertise, their standing in higher education, and evident commitment to teaching excellence and student outcomes”.

Professor Debra Humphris, the University’s Vice-Chancellor, congratulated the Brighton appointees: “This is great recognition of their respective contributions to the education and experiences of our students.”

TEF was introduced by the government to recognise excellent teaching and inform prospective students about where to study. Participating Higher Education providers receive a gold, silver or bronze award reflecting the excellence of their teaching, learning environment and student outcomes. The awards cover undergraduate teaching.

Cath Holmström

Joanna MacDonnell

Last year the University of Brighton was awarded Silver which it will hold for up to three years. The TEF panel said its teaching and learning environment experienced by students consistently exceeded the rigorous national requirements for Higher Education in the UK.

The new subject-level assessments will be carried out in the Spring by 124 members including students, academics, employers, and representatives from professional, statutory and regulatory bodies.

The pilot will run alongside the TEF Year Three process, but the pilot assessments will not interact with the provider-level TEF. HEFCE said no ratings identifying individual providers will be published, as the subject-level pilots are purely developmental.

A HEFCE spokesperson said: “Through their work on the pilot project the panel members will play a key role in helping to shape the future development of TEF at subject level.”

Professor Chris Husbands, Chair of the TEF assessment panel and Vice-Chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University, said: “With such a high calibre of assessors and panel members I am confident that we will continue to reach robust judgements through the Year Three assessment as TEF evolves in the interests of students.”