Broadcast: News items

The Vice-Chancellor emailed all staff earlier today, Monday 18 December. You can read the full text of her email below. 

In this update the Vice-Chancellor will cover:

• our Teaching Excellence Framework result
• the next VC Open Forum in January
• a message for the coming holidays.

Dear Colleague,

As we reach the end of the autumn term, I am delighted to tell you that that the University has been awarded Silver in the 2023 Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF).

A Silver rating means that, according to the Office for Students, the student experience and student outcomes at Sussex are typically very high quality.

The TEF is a UK-wide scheme run by the Office for Students that aims to encourage universities and colleges to improve and deliver excellence in teaching, learning, and achieving positive outcomes from their studies. The TEF does this by assessing and rating higher education institutions for excellence above a set of minimum requirements for quality and standards and focuses on how far each institution delivers an excellent student experience and outcomes for its particular mix of undergraduate students and courses. TEF assessments are based on data and expert panel assessment, and ratings can be Gold, Silver, Bronze, or Requires Improvement.

Some universities received their TEF rating in September but as we, like another 50 or so universities, queried one part of our rating, we have only now learned our final outcome. Unchanged by the representations that we made, we have Silver overall, with Bronze for Student Experience and Silver for Student Outcomes.

It is testament to the dedication and hard work of all our teaching and support staff, right through the difficult years of the pandemic, that we have maintained our Silver award. I would like to thank you all for everything that you have collectively delivered for our students that is reflected in this rating.

As we develop our new Sussex 2035 strategy, making undergraduate education at Sussex a truly transformative experience for every one of our students, whatever their background, and across every degree programme, must be front and centre in our thinking. I look forward to working with you all to enhance the educational experience at Sussex, setting our students up for rich and fulfilling lives and careers, as we aim for a Gold when the next TEF awards take place in 2027. In the meantime, we must ensure that this official recognition that education at Sussex is ‘typically very high quality’ is widely known by applicants and prospective applicants, and all who influence students’ choice of university. Please do let everyone know the good news!

VC Open Forum – save the date

The next VC Open Forum will take place at Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts (ACCA) on Monday 22 January from 12.30pm-2pm. More detail will be provided in the new year, but please do save the date.

The coming holidays

And finally, I would like to take this opportunity once again to thank you all for everything you have done for this great University community over the past year. I hope that you are able to switch off and relax over the coming holidays, and that the additional minimum service days will extend this period of rest and recuperation in an enjoyable way.

To those of you who are personally impacted by war, conflict, or any form of illness or loss, or who have friends and loved ones who are suffering, close by or at a distance, I wish you whatever comfort you can find over the break.

May 2024 bring peace to the world, and the prospect of a better, more sustainable future for all a little closer.

With my warmest wishes,

Sasha

Professor Sasha Roseneil
Vice-Chancellor and President