OfS announces revised Teaching Excellence Framework to drive up education quality for students and reward excellence

The OfS will use the revised Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) to celebrate the efforts of institutions striving for excellence above its minimum quality requirements, as well as identifying where improvements need to be made.

Each institution will be assessed on the extent to which it exceeds the minimum expectations to deliver the highest quality of teaching and learning for students.

To provide clear information for students about the level of quality delivered by different institutions, the OfS will publish ratings on ‘student experience’ and ‘student outcomes’ for each university and college, where sufficient data allows. Institutions that meet the OfS’s minimum requirements will be awarded Bronze, while institutions working to deliver high levels of quality above this baseline will see their work recognised with Gold and Silver ratings. Where quality falls short of the minimum requirements, the OfS will intervene as appropriate to ensure improvements are made.

To drive improvements in quality across the sector, the OfS will introduce a strengthened set of incentives linked to these ratings, as well as imposing student recruitment limits on those rated Bronze or Requires improvement. It will consult further on the detail of the incentives and interventions in the autumn.

The revised TEF will operate on a cyclical basis, with institutions with lower ratings being assessed more frequently. The OfS will carry out additional assessments of individual universities and colleges, should new concerns emerge through its regular monitoring of institutions’ compliance with its quality requirements. This will allow the OfS to focus scrutiny on institutions that need to improve, instead of those that are already delivering the highest quality teaching and supporting students to succeed in and beyond their studies.

The Interim Director of Quality and Access at the OfS, Jean Arnold, said:

‘Our revised Teaching Excellence Framework puts students first. They have told us that they expect a high quality higher education experience that supports them to succeed and leads to credible qualifications they can be proud of for the rest of their lives. The changes we’ve announced today will help us ensure universities and colleges are delivering on those expectations.

‘Many institutions are already striving for excellence, and the new system is designed to show how higher education is a force for good. Our updated approach will better surface and celebrate the brilliant teaching that can be found at universities, colleges, specialist institutions, and other higher education providers across the country. It will also help us to focus our efforts on holding institutions that aren’t meeting our minimum requirements to account. For the first time, current and prospective students will be able to see this information for all registered institutions – where their data allows us to assess them – at a glance.  

‘I’d like to thank everyone who shared their feedback on the consultation. I look forward to continuing these discussions as we develop our proposals for how data and submissions from institutions and students and their representatives will inform TEF ratings and how we can drive continuous improvement through stronger incentives.’

Notes

1. The Office for Students is the independent regulator for higher education in England. Our strategy for 2025 to 2030 seeks to ensure that students from all backgrounds benefit from high quality higher education, delivered by a diverse, sustainable sector that continues to improve.