Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework

Having confidence in the quality of teaching at universities or colleges is important when you are choosing where to study.

To encourage excellence in higher education and help you make more informed choices, we have introduced the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework – the TEF.

To receive a TEF award, UK universities and colleges must first meet the existing quality standards of their home nation. The TEF measures excellence in addition to these requirements.

Under the TEF, universities and colleges in the UK are rated as gold, silver or bronze (or provisional where there is not yet enough data to make a full assessment).

Checking what matters to you

The TEF provides information about the quality, environment and outcomes of teaching at a wide range of universities and colleges. 

The TEF also lets your university or college see how it compares to others. It encourages them to focus on teaching excellence and helps them identify areas for improvement.

The awards are judged by an independent panel of students, academics and other experts. They look at a range of official data as well as a submission from each university or college describing how it works to achieve excellence.

The TEF has been running for three years. Participation has been voluntary and around 300 colleges and universities currently hold a TEF award. These awards are all valid until 2021. See all participating colleges and universities and their TEF results.

Alongside each award you can find a 'statement of findings' which explains the reasons behind the result for that university or college.

The future of the TEF

There is an independent review of the TEF currently underway. We expect to publish details about the future TEF exercise following the conclusion of this review.