The 2023 Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) outcomes were announced on 28 September 2023, figure 1. At that time, just over 20 per cent of provider ratings were still ‘pending’ as they were being finalised by the TEF panel. The OfS website advised that these ratings will be updated when the assessments are concluded. There has been a decrease in the number of institutions awarded Gold: 22% compared to 35% in 2017.
So, what early takeaways can we glean from the 2023 process? The TEF has been criticised for its focus on short-term metrics, such as student satisfaction and graduate employment rates, which can lead institutions to prioritise these metrics in the interim, even if it means sacrificing long-term quality. However, it has also been praised for helping students make better choices of where to study.
A 2018 survey by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) found that 73% of students said that the TEF had influenced their decision of where to study. Of these students, 52% said that it had made them more likely to choose a university with a higher TEF rating.
Another study, conducted by the University of Bristol and published in the Journal of Further and Higher Education, found that the TEF had a positive impact on students’ engagement and learning outcomes. The study found that students at institutions with higher TEF ratings were more likely to be satisfied with their courses, to feel that their lecturers were supportive, and to believe that they were learning new things.
