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The University of Sussex has been recognised for its excellent teaching and “outstanding” employability of its students in a new government-run evaluation exercise.

The University has today (Thursday 22 June) been given a silver award in the new UK-wide Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), which assesses the quality of the undergraduate student experience in higher education institutions.

In making the award, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) strongly praised Sussex’s “outstanding employment strategy” and the development of “transferable employment skills” in its students, as well as the very high proportion of students from all backgrounds who complete their course and progress to highly skilled employment or further study.

Sussex graduates are among the most employable in the country, official figures show. The proportion of Sussex graduates in highly-skilled jobs or further study is 12 per cent above benchmark expectations at 87 per cent.

It is the performance of under-represented groups, however, that really sets Sussex apart from the national trend: disadvantaged students outperform benchmark by 16 per cent, mature students are 15.5 per cent higher, while the gain is 14.5 per cent for Black and minority ethnic graduates.

Adam Tickell, University of Sussex Vice-Chancellor, said: “We are proud that our teaching excellence and dedication to social mobility has been recognised with this new award.

“We have proved that bold interventions can level the playing field so that people from all backgrounds and circumstances succeed with their degrees and careers.

“This focus on preparing students for exciting careers and rewarding lives after university is designed into our entire student journey and actually boosts outcomes for all our students.”

Interventions such as ‘contextualised admissions’ - where a student from a less-good school might be accepted with lower grades – have contributed to an increasingly diverse student body at Sussex. In the past five years the proportion of students from state schools has increased from 81 per cent to 88 per cent, there has been a 51 per cent rise in the number of students from the most disadvantaged areas (POLAR 3 quintiles 1 and 2) and a 74 per cent increase in Black and minority ethnic students.

Meanwhile, initiatives such as the University’s flagship First-Generation Scholars scheme and wider employability strategy mean that these students are less likely to drop out, more likely to achieve a good grade and more likely to get a high-skilled graduate job or go into further study.

The TEF panel considered these successes and others in making their judgement, which they say reflects in particular:

• An outstanding employment strategy underpinned by curricula designed to develop transferable employment skills
• a culture that values excellent teaching through career progression, professional development and teaching awards
• significant investment in the University estate and high quality physical and digital resources that aids student learning
• students’ consistent and frequent exposure to, and engagement in, cutting-edge research
• optimum levels of student engagement and commitment to learning, secured through excellent teaching and assessment practices.

One area where Sussex shined less brightly was in student satisfaction with assessment and feedback, which is a priority issue for the University. Over the next year, Clare Mackie, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning) and Chris Wellings, Head of ADQE, will be leading a major change programme with colleagues from across the University to bring assessment and feedback into line with our outstanding student outcomes, aligned to the planned reshaping of the academic year from 2018/19.

The TEF results and the evidence used in the assessment can be found at www.hefce.ac.uk. The TEF awards will also be published on Unistats and the UCAS website, alongside other information, to help inform prospective students’ choices.

The University’s TEF silver award lasts for up to three years.

What is TEF?

The Teaching Excellence Framework is a government-run exercise to evaluate the quality of the undergraduate student experience in higher education institutions. Participation – by universities, colleges and private providers – is optional, and the consequences differ by nation of the UK as the funding and regulatory systems differ.

Where did TEF come from?

While policies to promote excellence in teaching have a long history in UK higher education, TEF’s origin is in the Conservative government’s manifesto for the 2015 General Election, written by the current Universities and Science Minister Jo Johnson. Since then it has been adopted into legislation and is set out in the Higher Education and Research Act (2017).

Why does TEF exist?

HEFCE’s guidance states that the “Government has introduced the TEF as a way of:

• Better informing students’ choices about what and where to study; 
• Raising esteem for teaching; 
• Recognising and rewarding excellent teaching; 
• Better meeting the needs of employers, business, industry and the professions.”

How does TEF work?

Each institution is presented with six metrics, two in each of three categories: Teaching Quality; Learning Environment; and Student Outcomes & Learning Gain. For each of these measures, they are deemed to be performing well, or less well, against a benchmarked expectation which takes account of student characteristics. Data is available at a granular level to allow consideration of outcomes of diverse groups and reviewed according to achievement of outcomes for all.