Please note that this event is now finished

Teaching Excellence Framework: Quality, Accessibility and Student Choice

  • Tuesday, 11 July 2017
  • The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
  • 08:30 - 16:30
130
Conference
Attendees
8
CPD
Credits
10
Expert Speakers
20
Sponsors & Supporters
  • Overview

The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) is changing the Higher Education landscape by incentivising excellence in teaching and from September 2017 helping students choose where to study. The framework announced in the government’s higher education white paper “Success as a knowledge economy: Teaching excellence, social mobility and student choice” is now entering its second year. The details of how it will operate have already been published and with it, the first controversies have arisen. Ratings of gold, silver and bronze announced in May 2017 will rank, for the first time, English universities teaching standards. Experts in teaching and learning as well as student representatives, employer representatives and widening participation experts, will be carrying out those ratings by looking at core metrics such as student satisfaction, non-continuation rates and employment data.

The aim of this assessment is to provide students applying for university in autumn 2017 with a clearer picture of where they are likely to receive the best teaching and obtain the best career outcomes. The majority of English universities have opted in to be assessed by the Department for Education’s Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). However, some of the decisions not to participate, such as Open University’s, highlight the complexity of developing a single assessment system that can fairly represent the full diversity of the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and teaching methods.

Challenges in the design of a comparative assessment framework for something as complex and diverse as the teaching and learning sector, were certain. Some institutions have argued that the core metrics can only be interpreted as vague proxies for teaching excellence and institutions should present their own evidence of their teaching and learning excellence. In addition, student representatives such as the National Union of Students are opposed to higher tuition fees in relation to assessment scores.

At Teaching Excellence Framework: Quality, Accessibility and Student Choice, you will have the opportunity to discover and debate how the year 2 reform will impact on the higher education landscape. Join us for the opportunity to hear from higher education providers, representative bodies and students; and learn from the best practices of institutions leading the rankings on student satisfaction, completion rates and employment opportunities.

  • Confirmed Speakers

  • Event Programme

08:30

Registration and Coffee in the Networking Area

Delegates and sponsors have the first opportunity to network in the Network Surgery. Hot drinks, pastries and fruit will be provided.

09:25

Chair’s Opening Address

  • Ian Welch, Assistant Director, The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (confirmed)
"Welcome and Introduction"
09:30
"Delivering Teaching Excellence"

The TEF Assessment Panel, gather a number experts in teaching and learning as well as student representatives, employer representatives and widening participation experts. They will award each higher education provider a clearly understandable rating of ‘Outstanding’, ‘Excellent’ or ‘Meets Expectations’, based on outcomes such as student satisfaction, retention rates and employment data.

09:50
"What Do We Know About and Can Learn from Students’ Learning Trajectories?"

The presentation will cover research that looks at students’ learning gains derived from assessment data and outline suitability, benefits and limitations of using this approach as a measure of HE quality within TEF.

10:10

Case Study

  • Jeff McCarthy, Senior Lecturer, Manchester Metropolitan University (confirmed)
"Responding to Disruption: Sharing Online MBA Experience at Manchester Metropolitan University"
10:30

Question and Answer Session

11:00

Coffee in the Networking Area

11:45
  • Emma Atkins, Education Officer, University of Manchester Students’ Union (confirmed)
"National Voice of Students: Opinions on the TEF"

The introduction of the TEF would allow universities that score highly to raise their tuition fees from £9,000 to over £10,000 by 2020, with fees continuing to rise each year with inflation. NUS is opposed to further fee rises and believe measuring teaching quality is an extremely complicated task. NUS and 59 students’ unions have expressed their concerns over the proposed Teaching Excellence Framework in an open letter to vice chancellors.

12:05
  • Keith Herrmann, Director of Employability and Careers, University of Surrey (confirmed)
"Student Satisfaction as a Measurement for Teaching Excellence"

According to the Complete University Guide (CUG) Buckingham University, Surrey and Keele have been named best in the UK for student satisfaction. This year the TEF will use the results of the National Student Survey (NSS) as part of an aggregate rating (gold, silver or bronze) that would allow universities that score highly to raise their tuition fees. Times Higher Education has created ranking of the TEF results based on student satisfaction where Keele University leads it.

12:25

Case Study

  • Eric Bohms, Managing Director & Student Experience Advocate, Electric Paper UK (confirmed)
"Student Feedback, Utilising Key Data Sets from Module Evaluation in TEF Submission"

During the session, Electric Paper will investigate innovative technology such as MBE Module Benchmarking and the use of NSS style questions at module level as well as discuss ways of supporting HE Institutions in fulfilling the TEF requirements.

12:45

Question and Answer Session

13:15

Lunch in the Networking Area

14:15

Chair’s Afternoon Address

14:20
"The Ethical Implications of Widening Participation"

Going to university changes your life, so we tell students, but what happens if it doesn’t work out?  Research in the UK shows that, unlike in the US, dropping out puts you in a worse position than if you had never been to university.  What does this mean for widening access and teaching quality?

14:40
"Graduate Employability as a Measurement for Teaching Excellence"

Graduate employment is another characteristic or what universities will be assessed. In absolute terms, the prestigious Russell Group universities, are some of the best universities for graduate employment. But when the data are benchmarked for contextual factors such as student demographics, entry qualifications and degree subjects studied at the university, it turns out that a very different group of universities is actually exceeding expectations when it comes to graduate employability.

15:00

Question and Answer Session

15:15

Afternoon Refreshment Break

15:30

Panel Debate

Ian Welch, Assistant Director, The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (confirmed)
Professor Andy Collop, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, De Montfort University (confirmed)
Professor Helen Higson, Provost and Deputy Vice Chancellor, Aston University (confirmed)
Dr Jekaterina Rogaten , Research Associate in Learning Analytics, Institute of Educational Technology, Open University (confirmed)
Meena Mehta Kotecha, IMA Academic Representative & Fellow of The HEA, Departments of Statistics & Management, London School of Economics (confirmed)

In total 134 higher education institutions have applicated for the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), plus 94 FE colleges and 6 alternative providers, with a further 65 FE and alternative providers opting in for provisional awards on the basis of having a shorter data history. Although participation among English universities was nearly 100%, some of the decisions not to participate ,such as The Open University, highlight the complexity of developing a single assessment system that can fairly represent the full diversity of the UK sector.

16:15

Chair’s Closing Remarks and Event Close

  • Register for event

You can no longer register for this event
  • News
  • Sponsors
  • Venue
  • Featured Events
  • Downloads
  • Who will attend

News

  • REF: Strengthening the Excellence Framework

    • Posted on 18 April 2017
  • Beyond Teaching Excellence

    • Posted on 23 June 2017
    • by Meena Mehta Kotecha
  • Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF): Informing Student Choice?

    • Posted on 26 June 2017

Sponsors

Venue

The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester

The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester

Construction of The Bridgewater Hall commenced on 22 March 1993, but the idea of a new concert hall for Manchester dates back to the reconstruction of the Free Trade Hall in the 1950s after wartime bomb damage. The Free Trade Hall was home to the city’s famous Hallé orchestra and also hosted rock and pop concerts. However, despite holding great public affection, the 1850s Free Trade Hall was ill-equipped to respond to the rising standards of service and acoustic excellence demanded by performers and audiences.

Featured Events

  • Teaching Excellence Framework: Raising Quality Standards

    • 14 July 2016
    • 08:30 - 16:00
    • Pendulum Hotel & Manchester Conference Centre
  • Research Impact: Strengthening the Excellence Framework

    • 14 September 2017
    • 08:30 - 16:30
    • Pendulum Hotel & Manchester Conference Centre
  • Technology in Learning: Reshaping the Educational Landscape

    • 04 July 2017
    • 08:30 - 16:30
    • The Studio, Manchester

Downloads & Resources

  • Open Forum Events Sponsorship Brochure
    Open Forum Events offer a number of partnership, sponsorship and exhibition opportunities that can meet your marketing and business development needs.
  • TEF-Infomation.pdf
    TEF-Infomation.pdf
  • Presentation Slides Teaching Excellence Framework Quality Accessibility and Student Choice.zip
    Presentation Slides Teaching Excellence Framework Quality Accessibility and Student Choice.zip
    Presentation Slides from the "Teaching Excellence Framework Quality Accessibility and Student Choice" conference. This document includes the presentations from Professor Janice Kay CBE, Deputy Chair, Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) panel; Dr Jekaterina Rogaten, Research Associate in Learning Analytics, Open University; Jeff McCarthy, Senior Lecturer, Manchester Metropolitan University; Emma Atkins, Education Officer, University of Manchester Students’ Union; Keith Herrmann, Director of Employability and Careers, University of Surrey; Eric Bohms, Managing Director & Student Experience Advocate, Electric Paper UK; Professor Andy Collop, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, De Montfort University (DMU).

who will attend

  • Academics
  • Assistant professors
  • Associate professors
  • Business development managers
  • Chair professor
  • Chief Executives/Chief Operating Officers
  • Collaboration managers
  • Consultants
  • Councillors
  • Directors of enterprise and innovation
  • Directors of research and enterprise
  • Directors/Heads of enterprise and innovation
  • Directors/Heads of learning and teaching
  • Directors/Heads of quality and learning
  • Directors/Heads of student experience
  • Directors/Heads of teachers
  • Emeritus professors
  • HE Agencies
  • Heads of commercialisation
  • Heads of knowledge transfer programmes
  • Heads of research and development
  • Heads of schools and Faculties
  • Heads of technology
  • Higher education and further education delegates
  • Honorary professor
  • Lecturers
  • Local authorities
  • Members of executive boards and governing bodies
  • Professors
  • Project Director/Board Members
  • Project Director/Programme/Portfolio Managers
  • Research assistant professors
  • Research co-ordinators
  • Research development managers
  • Student Bodies
  • Students