Morning, Thursday, 28th January 2021
THIS EVENT IS CPD CERTIFIED
***Full-scale policy conference taking place online***
This conference will examine the future of the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF) - and for measurement of teaching excellence in higher education.
It is bringing together stakeholders with key policy officials who are due to attend from the DfE; the Office for Statistics Regulation; and the Welsh Government.
The background and discussion at a glance:
The discussion comes with uncertainty surrounding the future of the TEF and how teaching excellence will be measured in the UK universities following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The conference is also timed to follow the expected publication of Dame Shirley Pearce's Independent review of TEF. Amatey Doku, a member of the Advisory Panel, is a speaker.
It will be an opportunity to:
- take stock of the development of the Framework and likely future revisions to its metrics and methodology
- consider the independent review’s key findings
- discuss what has been learned from the second-year subject pilots
The agenda:
- Updates to the Teaching Excellence Framework - an overview of the changes
- Reflecting on the development of the Framework - responding to the recommendations of the Independent Review, assessing the effect of remote teaching on TEF, and the future of measuring teaching excellence
- The second-year subject pilots - what has been learnt?
- The experience of a pilot participant - engaging departmental staff, integrating the TEF into internal quality assurance reviews, and managing resources
- The future of subject-level TEF - benchmarking, narrative statements and the effect of the pandemic on data and evidence gathering across subjects
The context for discussion:
- the Independent Review of TEF - which is looking at:
- the efficacy of the process and data sets used to determine TEF scores
- the appropriateness of the ratings system
- the impact of the Framework on the ability of providers to carry out teaching and research activities
- whether the TEF is in the public interest
- extension - until 2021 of TEF awards currently given to providers, as well as the OfS decision to not conduct a TEF year 5 exercise in 2020
- this follows the OfS expectation that the future TEF exercise will be completed in 2022, rather than 2021
- subject-level TEF - concern from some universities and mission groups surrounding its potential effects, in terms of cost and statistical shortcomings
- COVID-19 - challenges exposed by the pandemic, including:
- delivery of remote teaching
- disruptions to data and student satisfaction measures
- squaring the effect of institutions’ currently limited resources on appetite for the Framework with the expectation laid out in the Higher Education Act of 2017 of a quality rating scheme for teaching excellence to be developed
The discussion in detail:
- the COVID-19 crisis - its impact on:
- funding decisions - the future influence of TEF, in light of the economic impact of the pandemic on priorities for the higher education sector
- comparability of data - the most recent information versus that from previous years, and the effect of this on the Framework
- measurement of subject-level teaching excellence - across varying disciplines, each with their own individual challenges for adapting to remote teaching
- the Framework’s metrics - looking at proposed refinements:
- balance - of core and supplementary metrics
- changes - aimed at boosting the reliability and suitability of the data sets used in the TEF
- National Student Survey (NSS) scores and Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) data - discussing their use, with discussion expected on:
- OfS announces next steps for the National Student Survey - a review into the future for the NSS following concerns surrounding its bureaucratic burden and impact on standards, with the first stage report expected to be published later this year
- sector concerns - how far have they been addressed by the independent review’s findings
- the alternative graduate outcomes measure - put forward by UUK
- Subject-level TEF - looking at the future, including:
- sharing of insights from subject-level pilot participants around writing submissions
- minimising the burden for teaching academics
- making genuine improvements to teaching practices, and how concerns and issues are dealt with in the independent review
- The second-year subject pilots, whereby 45 higher education providers trialled a refined version of the TEF - with changes from the 2017-18 pilot - looking at what has been learnt in areas including:
- the revised assessment model being tested
- alterations to metrics
Policy officials attending:
Our forums are known for attracting strong interest from policymakers and stakeholders. Places have been reserved by officials from the Department for Education; the Office for Statistics Regulation; and the Welsh Government.
Overall, we expect speakers and attendees to be a senior and informed group including Members of both Houses of Parliament, senior government and regulatory officials involved in this area of policy, university and college leaders; academics and other higher education professionals; representatives from students' unions; businesses and their advisors; interest groups and the voluntary sector; along with commentators and reporters from the national and specialist media.
This is a full-scale conference taking place online***
- full, four-hour programme including comfort breaks - you’ll also get a full recording to refer back to
- information-rich discussion involving key policymakers and stakeholders
- conference materials provided in advance, including speaker biographies
- speakers presenting via webcam, accompanied by slides if they wish, using the Cisco WebEx professional online conference platform (easy for delegates - we’ll provide full details)
- opportunities for live delegate questions and comments with all speakers
- a recording of the addresses, all slides cleared by speakers, and further materials, is made available to all delegates afterwards as a permanent record of the proceedings
- delegates are able to add their own written comments and articles following the conference, to be distributed to all attendees and more widely
- networking too - there will be opportunities for delegates to e-meet and interact - we’ll tell you how!
Full information and guidance on how to take part will be sent to delegates before the conference
