51Âþ»­

The lead for education at 51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­) has been appointed to a national panel to decide on university and colleges Teaching Excellence Framework outcomes.

Professor Susan Orr, Pro Vice-Chancellor Education at 51Âþ»­, will act as one of a number of panel members for the Office for Students’ upcoming Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), which reviews the quality of institutions across the country.

The panel's job will be to decide the ratings for providers that are due to take part in the TEF by making submissions in January 2023.

The TEF is a national scheme run by the Office for Students (OfS) that aims to encourage higher education providers to improve and deliver excellence in the areas that students care about the most: teaching, learning and student outcomes.

The TEF does this by assessing and rating universities and colleges for excellence above a set of minimum requirements for quality and standards.

Providers that take part in TEF can receive an overall rating as well as two underpinning ratings – one for the student experience and one for student outcomes.

The overall ratings are classed as gold, silver, bronze or requiring improvement.

Since then, the TEF has been revised by OfS, increasing the level of student input into the assessment process. This focus is reflected in the panel of judges, which now includes a greater number of students, alongside academics like Professor Orr.

Professor Orr, who recently led a review into the use of blended learning at universities on behalf of OfS, said: “I am very pleased to have been named on the panel.

“The TEF offers many opportunities and benefits for the whole higher education sector.

“But more importantly, in the submission process itself, it encourages real reflection and consideration by the universities themselves and then, beyond the actual assessment, a strong incentive to implement actions to enhance and improve, and to deliver the best possible experiences and outcomes for their students.”