UCL’s submission to the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2023

The TEF is a wide-ranging evaluation of the quality of teaching, learning and student outcomes. It is one of the mechanisms by which our regulator, the Office for Students (OfS), provides assurance that universities and colleges (described by the OfS as ‘providers’) are delivering what they claim.

The main aims of the TEF are to help applicants make informed choices and to encourage providers to engage in continuous improvement. 

About the submission

Similar to the first TEF, this iteration consists of a detailed submission from each provider that is grounded in its own data and comparisons with other providers. In addition, and new for this TEF, students from each provider are invited to make an independent submission.

Submissions are assessed by independent panels of experts from across the sector, including students. Although the evaluation is mainly at provider-level, detailed metrics on each subject will also be made available to the panels and there is likely to be close scrutiny where subjects fall below national benchmarks or there are inconsistencies between subjects.

Each provider will be awarded a Gold, Silver, Bronze or Requires Improvement TEF rating, and it is important to note that providers cannot charge the maximum tuition fee without a satisfactory TEF rating. In the first TEF in 2016-17, UCL received a Silver award.

Work on our submission has already begun

We have established a TEF Steering Group led by Professor Kathy Armour, Vice-Provost (Education and Student Experience).

This group will work with colleagues across UCL to develop our narrative submission and provide any support required to the Students’ Union as they prepare their independent submission. We will be looking for examples of excellent education practice and student outcomes to illustrate the strength of UCL’s teaching, and the strategies and actions you have put in place to address challenges (for example, in NSS data).

Improvements to key areas

It is worth noting that in recent months we have sharpened our focus on key student experience areas, for example with the introduction of Continuous Module Dialogue and Faculty Education Plans. We are also introducing new support for staff around assessment, where our NSS data are poor compared with the rest of the sector, and we have ensured that student experience is at the heart of our new strategic plan for education.