The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), introduced by the Government in England in 2016, is now a permanent feature of the Office for Students (OfS)'s regulatory framework. From 2020, participation in the TEF became an ongoing condition of OfS registration for English providers with more than 500 undergraduate students.

TEF aims to inform student choice and drive education excellence through assessment of excellence in teaching at higher education providers, as well as how providers ensure excellent outcomes for their students in terms of graduate-level employment or progression to further study. As a public recognition of quality, qualifying institutions are presented with a Bronze, Silver or Gold award.

The University was assessed twice in initial iterations of TEF, and we were awarded Silver ratings in both June 2017 and June 2018. The next TEF will be carried out during 2022-23, with results published in September 2023.

So, how are we preparing for our next TEF submission?

We're building narrative themes that respond to the TEF criteria around the four pillars of our Education Strategy - Disciplinary Excellence, Interdisciplinarity, Internationalisation, and Student Research. Inclusive Education will be a fifth theme embedded throughout our submission.

In addition to the overall provider rating, TEF will assess and produce separate ratings for 'student experience' and 'student outcomes', focusing on the overall student experience, not just what happens in the curriculum or in academic departments. Our provider submission must also articulate the 'educational gains' that we provide for our students, and will focus on the added value of a Warwick education. We are working with colleagues across the University to capture and articulate the myriad ways in which we deliver excellence for our students.

New to TEF this time is the inclusion of an independent student submission, providing an opportunity for students to set out their own views on the quality of their experiences and outcomes, based on evidence and feedback gathered directly from students. The Students' Union is leading on development of the student submission, and we are working with the SU to ensure it has support in place to deliver this. We're also thinking about how we ensure our provider submission embeds student voice and builds a narrative that is authentic to our students' experiences.

We will be focusing on developing our TEF submission throughout Term 1, and we'll provide an update on progress in the next Education Digest. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please contact us at quality@warwick.ac.uk.