Educational provision at Kent has been rated of ‘very high quality’ with ‘outstanding quality features’ in the UK Government’s new iteration of its Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF).
The TEF is a national scheme run by the Office for Students (OfS) that aims to recognise, reward and improve excellent learning and teaching at higher education providers across the UK. It 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 the TEF receive an overall rating as well as two underpinning ratings – one for the student experience and one for student outcomes. These 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.
For TEF23, we are delighted to report that Kent has been awarded an overall silver rating. We have also been awarded silver for both the student experience and student outcomes aspects of the exercise.
Of particular note is that our academic practice and learning resources were judged to be ‘outstanding’, as were our approaches to supporting student success and intended educational gains. For student outcomes, the overwhelming majority of our provision was judged as ‘very high quality’.
Commenting on the result, Professor Richard Reece, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Experience, said: ‘I would like to thank everyone who contributed to this latest exercise, and for them to know that their hard work – in what has been a very challenging climate for higher education over the past three years – has paid off.
‘Our educational provision has long been regarded as one of our greatest strengths and an internationally recognised asset made possible by teams and individuals across the University and Kent Union. Of course, we are continually striving to improve and innovate, and I look forward to working with colleagues to ensure that we continue to deliver what our students expect from us.’
Dr Louise Naylor, the University’s Director of Education and the institutional lead for TEF23, added: ‘I would like to offer my congratulations to colleagues across the University who helped us achieve this excellent result. I would also like to thank our students, who were an integral part of this success, having produced a separate student submission that highlighted how Kent Union works collaboratively with the University on various projects with shared ambitions, including Black Student Voices and Diversity Mark. Their input has led to many improvements in the experiences and outcomes for students that were rated very high quality by the TEF’.
