TEF 2023: Driving Excellence Through Student Expertise

The 2023 Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) was designed to secure a high-quality baseline of performance for all universities and colleges. It aims to drive improvement, or 'enhancement', to teaching delivery across the higher education sector.

This year’s TEF exercise (2023) introduced the student submission, which offers providers insight to student perspectives. The student voice, in the form of student submissions, and student expertise, in the form of student panel members alongside academic expertise, contributed to a robust evaluative process in line with TEF regulations.

TEF 2023: Lessons and Implications

There were a number of key themes that arose from the student submissions in TEF 2023. Below, I explore each of these, along with key takeaways for providers on how to better incorporate the student voice into teaching excellence.

Communication and Collaboration

Student submissions included elements of collaboration with, and constructive criticism of, providers. The submissions reinforced the significance of dialogue from faculty to module level.

Key takeaway: Student representatives should be part of strategic endeavours. For instance, when significant overhauls, like curriculum transformation projects occur, how is their value conveyed to the student body?

 

No Thriving without Belonging

The Covid-19 pandemic served as a stark reminder that a sense of community is fundamental for students to flourish in higher education. This includes not only the essence of interpersonal relationships to combat isolation but also collaborative academic pursuits.

Key takeaway: The pivotal role of students' unions in fostering environments that champion belonging and wellbeing was glaringly evident in submissions

Authenticating the TEF through Student Voice

By actively involving students in the 2023 TEF exercise, a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of teaching quality emerged, akin to a two-factor authentication. Students' voices highlighted various aspects of education that might have been overlooked, such as the importance of mental health support, accessibility, belonging, and the role of technology in the learning process.

Traditionally, the TEF relied on institutional data, academic expertise, and regulator data to assess the quality of teaching in higher education. While these elements provided valuable insights, they missed the direct experiences and perspectives of the most crucial stakeholders: the students themselves.

Key takeaway: Teaching excellence isn’t just about teaching. Wider aspects of the student experience, such as wellbeing and access to resources, are also crucial.

Championing Excellence through Aspect Ratings

A standout feature of the TEF was the debut of aspect ratings, culminating in a overall rating.  This structure empowers institutions to pinpoint areas for enhancement, channelling resources effectively. It is an invaluable tool for smaller institutions participating in the TEF, who might be resource-constrained compared to their larger counterparts. Aspect ratings enabled the panel members to delve deeper into provider statements, evaluating the evidence and demonstration of impact.

Key takeaway: Aspect ratings can be used constructively by providers to highlight target areas for improvement, supporting efficiency and resourcing for submissions.

Value for Money: Positioning TEF in the Larger Narrative

In this iteration of the TEF, providers were asked to articulate and evidence the gains they intend for their students to achieve and to outline their approach to supporting these educational gains. There is still no wholly satisfactory answer to the question of educational gain, and admittedly, some providers will have more defined measures than others.

The best demonstrations of educational gain span the student experience and student outcomes aspects, incorporating elements of belonging, academic development, personal development, digital acumen, and work readiness. Deloitte and PwC, for instance, are two organizations that recently had to retrain new staff, primarily to bridge soft skills gaps exacerbated by pandemic-induced disruptions.

Key takeaway: Effective measures of education should transcend mere employability, addressing broader issues like grade inflation, as they emphasise the holistic growth and utility of graduates on an ongoing basis.

What Can Providers Do with this Information?

In a time of resource constraints, to drive enhancement we should be asking the right questions such as how outstanding or excellent we are at delivering the basics. The aspects of the student journey that enable students to make progress such as assessment and feedback, health and well-being, and belonging.

Key takeaway: Across the sector we should be engaging with The Advance HE Student Needs Framework and University of Staffordshire’s Basic Student Needs Survey. Providers should also revisit the Student Futures Manifesto which sets out concrete actions to improve students’ experience of university.

Building on Excellent Practice

Peer mentoring either academic or generic mentoring for students is a winner. One example of peer mentoring from a student submission was that of a Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) scheme, which provides incoming first year students with an academic mentor from students in above years. 

Key takeaway: What really stood out was its impact; 80 per cent of students reporting that the scheme made their university transition more enjoyable, and 97 per cent of PAL leaders reporting that the role enhanced their own learning.

Embedding Should Extend Beyond Employability

Conversations around embedding employability within degree programmes to make it accessible to all can be extended to extra-curricular activities to support belonging. 

In How to Enable the Employability of University Graduates by Saskia Loer Hansen and Kathy Daniels, Gillian O’Brien and Darren Siggers state in their chapter that embedding employability enables career messaging to be scaled to a large number of students in a place that makes sense to them and removes the requirement for students to opt-in to extra-curricular employability activities, it also builds confidence.

Key takeaway: This thinking can be applied to extra-curricular activities, embedding and localising extra-curricular activities at school or faculty level can provide opportunities to students who otherwise would not engage with a students’ union or guild.

Drawing the curtain

In essence, while the TEF has its limitations, it is necessary. It gives providers an opportunity to reflect on their journey and chart a course for the future. For student panel members, most of whom have expertise in representing students, it is a full-circle moment: transitioning from being a student, representing students, to being part of a process that ensures the subsequent cohort of students receive excellent teaching and value for money.

About the author

Obinna Okereke is Project Manager – Student Experience at Coventry University, where he works with the Education Executive to develop student improvement projects and advise on how to enrich the student experience. More recently, in 2022, he served as TEF Deputy Panel Chair at the Office for Students. Previously, he worked internationally in Further Education and has served as a governor at Coventry University. Obinna is very engaged in higher education and beyond. He is committed to ensuring students get value for money in higher education. He is a volunteer for Inspiring the Future outside of work.