Solent University celebrates Gold awards in the Teaching Excellence Framework

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

Providers that take part in the TEF receive an overall rating as well as two underpinning ratings – one for the student experience and one for student outcomes. Solent was awarded gold for all three, with the awards lasting for four years.

Vice-Chancellor, Professor James Knowles says, “We are delighted with this recognition of our teaching excellence, student experience and student outcomes here at Solent.

“This is a high-profile endorsement of our ‘real-world’ approach, and of the work we do with each student to tailor our approach to meet their needs, and to support them to achieve their goals - so we are pleased to see these highlighted in the assessing panel's report.

“There is no doubt that the TEF has raised the bar on teaching, learning and student experience across the sector, and I am particularly proud that we now belong to a small group of universities who have gained the ‘triple Gold’.”

The ratings reflect the extent to which a provider delivers an excellent experience and outcomes for its mix of undergraduate students and across the range of its undergraduate courses and subjects.

The TEF panel also praised Solent's student submission, put together with the support of the University's Students' Union, which described our students as 'devoted, curious and aspiring individuals with the goal of changing their lives through advanced opportunities and experiences’.

The TEF panel that reviewed Solent highlighted the following achievements in the University’s provision:

• Outstanding teaching, feedback and assessment practices that are highly effective and tailored to supporting students’ learning, progression, and attainment.
• Course content and delivery that inspires students to actively engage in and commit to their learning, and stretches students to develop knowledge and skills to their fullest potential.
• Ensuring a supportive learning environment that gives students access to a wide and readily available range of outstanding quality academic support tailored to their needs.
• Physical and virtual learning resources that are tailored and used effectively to support outstanding teaching and learning.
• Student engagement, leading to continuous improvement to the experiences and outcomes of its students.
• Tailored approaches that are highly effective in ensuring students succeed in and progress beyond their studies.
• Clearly articulating the range of educational gains it intends its students to achieve, and why these are highly relevant to students and their future ambitions. Evidence based, highly effective and tailored approaches to help students achieve these gains.

Winston Alla, Solent Students' Union President, says: "On behalf of Solent Students’ Union, I want to congratulate Solent University on receiving the triple Gold Award for their Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) submission.

"As Union President, I was honoured to assist the University with their student submission, which represents the voice of all students here at Solent.

"As a Students’ Union, it is our job to be the voice for the students and ensure their views are represented at the highest possible level.

"Solent University, Solent Students’ Union and our students strive to continuously improve the student experience for current and future students, and this has been reflected in the result the university has received.

"We know there is more work to be done, both for the Students’ Union and the University. As your Students’ Union, we will continue to work together to improve the student experience for the better, which our members deserve."