Newcastle University has been awarded a ‘gold star’ from the government for the quality of its teaching.
The government’s Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) award measures teaching quality, the learning environment and student outcomes and learning gain.
Newcastle has been given a gold version of this award, which is the highest level that can be awarded.
Newcastle University scored brownie points with the TEF panel for a number of reasons. The panel noted that “students from all backgrounds achieve consistently outstanding outcomes, especially with regard to mature, disadvantaged and disabled students.”
The university was praised for its commitment to research-led teaching, which means that students benefit from learning about developments from the cutting edge of research.
The TEF panel was also impressed by Newcastle University’s institutional culture of monitoring, promoting and rewarding excellent teaching.
The panel applauded Newcastle’s commitment to improving the employability of its graduates, praising the university’s practice of embedding the types of skills employers are seeking into each module of its courses.
In addition, Newcastle University was commended for investing in top quality facilities.
Congratulations to everyone at Newcastle – We are officially TEF GOLD! @highered #tef https://t.co/jIGxw8UdEv
— Newcastle University (@UniofNewcastle) June 22, 2017
The university has one of the highest levels of student satisfaction in the UK, with 90% of students saying they are happy with their experiences at Newcastle.
Professor Chris Day, Newcastle University’s vice-chancellor and president, said, “Achieving a TEF Gold Award is an affirmation to our commitment to delivering the best possible educational experience for our students, providing them with excellent opportunities and investing in the high-quality facilities they need and expect.”
“The news that we have attained a Gold Award in the Teaching Excellence Framework is the best possible outcome for the university.”
“It is a ringing endorsement of the university’s long tradition of excellence in teaching – one which is already recognised in many different surveys and assessments and, most importantly, by our own students.”
(Featured image courtesy of Patana Rattananavathong, from Flickr Creative Commons)
