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UCL receives Silver in first year of Teaching Excellence Framework awards

22 June 2017

The quality of UCL's education has been recognised by a Silver award under the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF).

Engineering students

The TEF Panel of assessors judged that outcomes for UCL students are excellent, and in regards to highly skilled employment or further study, outstanding. The award reflects, in particular, evidence of:

  • a highly successful approach to supporting students into employment or further study, and particularly into highly skilled employment or further study
  • a developing culture of recognising and rewarding excellence in learning and teaching
  • the introduction of innovations to ensure stretch in the curriculum, especially around research-informed teaching
  • the availability of a wide array of exceptional learning resources, both physical and digital.

The TEF Panel recognised that satisfaction with academic support and assessment and feedback are below benchmark but deemed this was largely addressed in UCL's TEF 2017 Narrative Submission.

TEF was introduced by the Government 'to recognise and reward excellent learning and teaching'. In 2017, its first year of operation, each participating university submitted an evidenced narrative of teaching and learning activities for assessment by the TEF Panel, alongside institution wide data already collected (such as NSS results, student retention and student outcomes).

TEF awards reflect how well an institution is performing against expectations for their student intake. UCL recruits talented and high performing students and it seeks to create an environment for the most challenging and fulfilling university education. UCL is notable for the strong results achieved by its students and for its excellent track record of supporting them into highly skilled employment. The 2017 TEF outcome indicates there is room for improvement and we are working hard to make the improvements in assessment and feedback and academic support that students want to see.

UCL President & Provost, Professor Michael Arthur, said: "UCL puts education firmly on a par with research and we will not be satisfied until we have achieved a gold standard. We support the fundamental idea behind the TEF, to promote and recognise excellent teaching and learning. UCL 2034 and our Education Strategy provide us with a clear route towards that excellence."

UCL is developing its teaching and learning through the Connected Curriculum, which aims to give every student at every level the opportunity to engage in research. The university also works in partnership with students to shape both policy and degree programmes. 

To find out more about UCL Education, visit the UCL TEF website.

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