University teaching excellence recognised nationally

Northumbria University’s teaching excellence has been recognised in a Silver Award in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). The new national scheme is aimed at assessing the quality of undergraduate teaching in universities, colleges and other higher education providers.

The award recognises that Northumbria delivers high-quality teaching, learning and results for its students, and consistently exceeds rigorous national quality requirements for UK Higher Education.

In making the award, the TEF panel noted that Northumbria University students ‘achieve excellent outcomes’. The panel also stated that ‘its judgement reflects, in particular, evidence of:

• commitment to providing effective support to help keep students on track, enjoy their studies, and achieve high attainment through a range of academic and personal support services, graduate start-up and careers assistance
• high quality physical and digital resources which are used effectively by staff in teaching, and by students to enhance their learning
• well-developed student engagement activity including opportunities for students to be involved in structured enquiry and research for the purpose of enhancing the learning experiences of the wider student body.’ 

Commenting on the award, Professor Andrew Wathey CBE, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Northumbria University, Newcastle said: “This award clearly demonstrates the quality and high standard of our undergraduate teaching, and I congratulate our staff on the hard work that has led to this significant and encouraging achievement.

“The Silver Award reinforces Northumbria’s growing reputation for academic excellence. We are already one of the most successful universities in the UK in terms of student progress, ranked 7th nationally, and for employability, where we are ranked 9th in the UK for the number of graduates in professional or managerial roles.”

As part of the assessment, the University had strong performances in the quality of its assessment and feedback to students, and academic support. It also performed above average in the proportion of students who successfully completed their studies and graduated.

Northumbria University has recently achieved its highest ever position in the 2018 Guardian University League Table, 48th, a rise of 20 places in the last two years alone. The University is also in the top 50 in the UK for research power and had the fourth largest increase in quality research funding (REF 2014) and is ranked as the top university in the UK for graduate start-up businesses based on turnover. More than half of the University’s courses achieved satisfaction rates of 90% or above in the 2016 National Student Survey.