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Why TEF is good for students, Myles Smith and Laura Hughes
Look ahead Why TEF is good for students Myles Smith and Laura Hughes review the new tertiary education assessment
Universities up and down the land have either been celebrating or concerned about their results in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), with some big names scoring surprising results. The TEF is the Government’s new method of assessing the quality of teaching delivered by higher education providers, graded by Gold, Silver or Bronze awards, and it is designed to give students better information to help them decide what and where to study. Students might at first disregard the results as just another league table, but with the TEF there are some significant differentiations that are worth a closer look. So, what does this mean for students looking for a top university, and how will it help them choose?
When the major league tables look at each university, they tend to focus on absolute performance, so it stands to reason that the ‘top’ providers get the best scores. Research-intensive universities have for years dominated the higher positions in the traditional ranking, but this is challenged by the TEF’s focus on quality of teaching. Unlike almost all other higher education league tables, research performance makes no difference to the outcome of the TEF ratings.
Furthermore, entry grades are not used as an indicator of quality as they are in other methods of evaluating universities. It is true that a better cohort tends to perform better and have the best outcomes. Institutions bringing in the highest numbers of students with AAA grades are expected to have more students graduating with a good honours degree, 2:1 and above. However, the TEF benchmarking system transforms raw data into a measure of value-added. Applying this to graduate prospects, future earnings and the whole range of TEF metrics, builds up a picture of how any given university should perform, relative to its specific intake of undergraduate students and their entry qualifications, subjects studied and characteristics. For students who are considering which education provider to choose, this shows clearly which ones are outperforming expectations and therefore adding the most value to their students.
The TEF focus on teaching and adding value is a positive step towards making universities and their academics even more accountable for the outcomes of their students. Dr Eylem Atakav, Senior Lecturer in Film and Television Studies at The
University of East Anglia agrees. ‘You can achieve a lot by thinking differently about education. Academics don’t belong in ivory towers, focusing only on their own work. We must understand students and what they want, and involve them in what we do and our professional networks. I believe that it’s vital to take students outside the classroom to inspire them and truly prepare them for the world of work.’
The underlying data for the TEF was similar to that used by other major league tables such as: the National Student Survey (NSS), which gathers undergraduates’ opinions about their course and is one of the most influential sources of information for prospective students; the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey (DLHE); and various other HE statistical metrics, including continuation rates and learning environment. However, instead of ranking these directly, results were flagged either negative or positive. The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) describes flagging as highlighting results that are significantly different from what was benchmarked, and if a provider is more than 3 percentage points and 3 standard deviations away from their benchmark, then a double flag is applied. In terms of the final results, providers with 3 or more positive flags are provisionally awarded a Gold award, while ones with two or more negative flags are initially considered Bronze, subject to panel assessment.
Unlike any major league table, universities had a right to reply to the TEF assessment, because it is a voluntary initiative. Panel submissions allowed each university to provide context to the data, explain any variance against expectations and, crucially, show how they intend to address any negatives. If the panel was satisfied that a provider was taking the right steps to tackle any negatives, a different result could be awarded. Likewise, if the panel was not satisfied that the performance of an institution could truly be called Gold standard, then it could be reclassified, preventing Universities from adjusting their metrics to change league table performance.
With the TEF, students can rest assured that institutions are not only outperforming expectations, but also satisfying a panel of HE experts that they are deserving of a Gold Award. Likewise, those providers that are significantly underperforming relative to expectations are highlighted to students for the first time. Top performing students deserve a university where they will be able to be the best they can be and a university rated Gold in TEF is currently a strong indicator of that. What’s more, from 2019/20, things will become even clearer for those considering university, since the government plans to publish ratings for specific subject areas alongside higher education providers as a whole.
Myles Smith and Lauren Hughes are Higher Education Advisers at UEA, Norwich, of which they are both graduates
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Art and Three Dimensional Design pupils from Ipswich High School are exhibiting work at Jimmy’s Farm Festival, a local celebration of art, agriculture and food. Sculptures made by Year 12 students, as part of their A Level in Three Dimensional Design, will be exhibited in the vegetable garden at Jimmy’s Farm for the Summer and on show during the festival, whilst willow animals crafted by Year 8 pupils will be on show in the festival’s grounds.
Head of Art at Ipswich High School, Imogen Vickers, commented, ‘Following a trip to Jimmy’s Farm to gather source material, and sketches to design various farm animals, Year 8 students worked with great enthusiasm to create a spectacular collection of life-size willow sculptures. They persevered with the challenges of construction and worked well collaboratively. We are looking forward to seeing them displayed at Jimmy’s Festival.’
Head of Three Dimensional Design at Ipswich High School, Joe Earley, said, ‘It has been a really exciting year for our Year 12 Design students who have had the opportunity to work with Jimmy’s Farm and produce a series of large structures for their summer festival in July. They have agreed to display their work in their grounds near to their vegetable patch throughout the summer holidays. All designs were inspired by a trip to Aldeburgh.’
