Triple win in Advance HE Teaching Excellence Awards 2025
We are thrilled to share that two colleagues have been awarded National Teaching Fellowships (NTFS), and one team has scooped the Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE)! Read on to find out more about their inspiring work and the difference they’re making in higher education.
National Teaching Fellowship Scheme award-winner: Dr. Freeha Azmat
Dr Freeha Azmat, Reader in Engineering Education at WMG, has been named a National Teaching Fellow for her outstanding leadership in engineering education, inclusion, and curriculum design.
Tell us about your award-winning work...
Freeha: My work in engineering education has always been guided by a commitment to equity, access, and meaningful real-world impact. Over the past 15 years, I’ve worked to embed inclusive, industry-relevant, and authentic learning into the core of engineering curricula. I have led the development of Degree Apprenticeships in Engineering and Digital Technologies, co-designed with leading employers such as Jaguar Land Rover, Dyson, Thales, and Goldman Sachs. These programmes now welcome over 250 students annually and have generated £31M in tuition revenue, while significantly addressing national skills shortages in the sector.
My educational leadership extends across policy, pedagogy, and practice. I have secured over £400K in external funding to advance digital pedagogies and embed work-based learning into institutional strategy. Nationally, I have shared this expertise through keynote talks and policy contributions, including with Policy Connect.
Internationally, I have directed large-scale capacity-building initiatives across Pakistan, South Africa, Colombia, and the UAE, focusing on widening access and promoting authentic learning. I am particularly committed to equity in STEM, which underpins my leadership of initiatives such as the IAPER internship and the Youth Support Programme, both of which provide vital pathways for women and underrepresented students.
My work has been recognised through awards, including the Asian Woman of Achievement Award, the WMG Star Award, and Warwick’s Enhanced Contribution Awards. I see these as a celebration of collective impact and a reminder of the continued responsibility to challenge barriers and create inclusive educational spaces.
How does it feel to be honoured in the National Teaching Fellowships?
Freeha: I am honoured to have my work recognised through this award. It reflects not just my own journey, but the shared efforts of colleagues, collaborators, and students who have worked alongside me to make engineering education more inclusive, relevant, and transformative.
From starting out as a Merit Scholar in a male-dominated engineering environment in Pakistan, to now contributing to UK national policy and global capacity-building, this recognition is deeply meaningful. It reminds me of the responsibility we carry as educators to continue breaking down barriers and lifting others, especially women and underrepresented voices in engineering.
National Teaching Fellowship winner: Dr Jennie Mills
Dr Jennie Mills, Associate Professor and Deputy Head of Warwick’s Academic Development Centre, has also been awarded a National Teaching Fellowship for her groundbreaking work on reflective practice, pedagogic innovation, and AI in education.
Tell us about your award-winning work...
Jennie: I am passionate about challenging conventional approaches to academic development. Rather than offering 'tips and tricks', I create transformative learning experiences using creative methodologies, everything from the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY® methodology to poetry, metaphor, and creative arts-based approaches. The goal is to constructively destabilise expectations just long enough for curiosity and new ideas to take hold.
In 2016, I established the Academic and Professional Pathway for Teaching Excellence (APPTE), which has supported over 380 colleagues to gain Advance HE Fellowship. I'm proud of the way it fosters deeper conversations about pedagogy across the institution, helping educators develop their own authentic approaches to teaching excellence rather than following a one-size-fits-all model.
I am also pioneering work at the intersection of AI and higher education. In 2024/25 I co-developed a module for IATL,'The AI Revolution', which truly reimagines education with AI as a pedagogical partner. We are not just teaching about AI, we are modelling how to collaborate with it ethically and productively, and I have brought these experiences into my staff development work with educators at Warwick.
How does it feel to be honoured in the National Teaching Fellowships?
Jennie: I'm absolutely thrilled to receive this recognition. What makes it especially meaningful is that this work has never been a solo endeavour – it's been about building communities of practice and fostering collective innovation.
All my work has been made possible by the collegial environment and the genuine energy, commitment, and appetite for innovation that exists here– and by some fabulous colleagues (far too many to name check). There's something special about working in a context where people are willing to take risks, experiment with new approaches, and engage in deep conversations about what educational excellence really means. The APPTE participants and students who've embraced playful learning approaches have all been part of this journey of reimagining what educational excellence can look like.
It's wonderful to be recognised for an approach that embraces both success and failure as part of innovation. Too often in academia we only celebrate what works, but some of my most important work has emerged from experiments that didn't go as planned(like our educational escape room where participants 'escaped' the learning outcomes rather than the room!). Being recognised for honest risk-taking and boundary-pushing feels like a real shift toward valuing the messy, iterative nature of educational innovation.
The beauty of higher education is that there's no 'right answer' – it's about asking better questions and creating spaces where transformation becomes possible.
Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence winner: We are Chemistry
Established in 2022, the student-staff partnership empowers students as genuine partners in educational transformation. Together, the team create lasting change that extends far beyond the Department of Chemistry.
Tell us about your award-winning work...
Dr Tom Ritchie (Co-Lead, Department of Chemistry): What makes WaC special is that it's genuinely student-led. We learned early on that traditional engagement models weren't working - students felt disconnected and many were struggling to belong. So, we flipped the approach entirely.
We started conducting exit interviews with students who had left Chemistry, which revealed barriers we'd never considered. This led to our 'high-value, low-risk' philosophy - students can engage with projects they're passionate about without committing to rigid, long-term roles that don't fit their study pressures. The results speak for themselves. Students have co-designed curriculum modules, created a series of activities to engage students in URSS, established peer support networks, and developed the Warwick Black Chemistry Society. We've seen measurable improvements in lab skills, participation rate in extra-curricular activities, and, importantly, we've reduced the awarding gap for Black students.
What's really exciting is how this has grown. The collaborative principles we developed with our Student Interns became the foundation for Warwick's Building Belonging Framework, which now shapes strategy across the entire university and beyond.
How does it feel to be recognised with a CATE award?
Adam Alcock (Co-Lead, formerly Student Engagement and Experience Coordinator, Department of Chemistry): This recognition means everything to our Student Interns - they're the ones driving this work. When students see that their leadership and innovation is being celebrated at this level, it validates what we've always believed: that genuine partnership transforms education.
It's also wonderful that universities across the UK and internationally are now asking us to share our approach. Our students are presenting at conferences and helping other institutions develop their own partnership models. That's the real impact - seeing these ideas spread and helping students everywhere have a stronger voice in their education.
Find out more
