̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge awarded a Gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework 2023

ps748 — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 13:04:57 +0000

̽��ֱ��Office for Students (OfS) has published the results of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2023. ̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge has received a Gold award, the highest available to participating higher education providers.

TEF awards are based on universities’ performances across two aspects: the student experience and student outcomes. ̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge received a Gold rating in these aspects and an overall rating of Gold.

Student experience and outcomes are measured using datasets including Student Barometer Surveys and the Longitudinal Education Outcomes data collected by the UK Government. Qualitative sources such as universities' own narrative submissions of their educational offer and student support are also taken into account. In addition, this TEF round marks the first use of formal submissions from students to inform universities’ individual TEF ratings.

Professor Bhaskar Vira, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education, said:

“I am delighted that the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge has been awarded a Gold rating – the highest TEF rating available to participating universities. A Gold rating means that the student experience and student outcomes are typically outstanding for all our groups of students, including students from underrepresented groups, and across our range of courses and subjects.

“Excellent teaching that is based on our outstanding research, exceptional learning opportunities and individualised student support are at the heart of the Collegiate ̽��ֱ��’s educational mission, and we are glad that this has been recognised by the OfS’s TEF panel in its latest round of assessments.

“ ̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ��’s Gold TEF rating is testimony to the exceptional work of our dedicated teaching, support and technical staff, and I would like to thank them for their continued commitment to ensuring that our students thrive, both academically and personally.

“I would also like to thank our students for their role as active learners, and for their engagement and feedback, which is invaluable to our ability to continually improve our educational practice and facilities. Finally, I am grateful to the Student Union team who provided a detailed student submission to the TEF panel.”

TEF 2023 awards of Gold, Silver and Bronze are based on universities’ performance across two key aspects: ‘student experience’ and ‘student outcomes’

"Excellent teaching that is based on our outstanding research, exceptional learning opportunities and individualised student support are at the heart of the Collegiate ̽��ֱ��’s educational mission"

Professor Bhaskar Vira, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education

̽��ֱ��Senate House and Old Schools, Cambridge

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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Cambridge to tackle barriers to postgraduate education

ps748 — Wed, 24 Nov 2021 10:15:21 +0000

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� is delighted to have been awarded two significant grants by the Office for Students (OfS) and Research England (RE) to deliver innovative and ambitious programmes designed to improve the admission of students from under-represented minority ethnic backgrounds into the highest level of postgraduate education (notably postgraduate research or doctoral study undertaken as PhDs or DPhils).

Across the Higher Education sector the proportion of students from minority ethnic cohorts who continue into initial postgraduate study is lower than for White students, and the gap is even greater in doctoral study. ̽��ֱ��difference is particularly marked for Black British, British Pakistani and British Bangladeshi students. These gaps ultimately mean fewer people from minority ethnic backgrounds progress into academia as a career, resulting in fewer professors with these heritages.

A grant of £800,000 will be shared between the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford enabling the two institutions to work together in a groundbreaking collaboration to develop and test a range of new admissions practices and systems designed to transform selection processes for postgraduate research. A set of new selection model prototypes that build on world-leading inclusive recruitment practices will be tested in a total of 16 volunteer departments, eight in each ̽��ֱ��, and will range from simple and efficient solutions like contextual flags to models that could revolutionise pathways into academic research. Among areas to be considered will be the extent to which systems need to adapt better to take account of different student pathways and trajectories, how, and when to apply, and the availability of support through the transition from undergraduate to postgraduate study.

Professor Graham Virgo, Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, said:

“We are really pleased to be partnering with the ̽��ֱ�� of Oxford, and delighted that this OfS/RE funding competition has brought about the opportunity to share data and current practice so openly. We feel this is indicative of a wider desire across the sector to collaborate to bring about transformational change in representation in postgraduate study.”

̽��ֱ��aim is to halve the current ‘offer gap’ in pilot sites by the end of 2025, with an aspiration to eliminate the gap altogether within one school generation (by 2035). To drive the initial four year project, the two Universities will create four new posts. A range of stakeholders will be consulted at every stage. Included in the programme is a combined Cambridge-Oxford Student Panel. It is intended that the programme will develop a range of new, fair postgraduate admissions processes and tools for use throughout the Higher Education sector.

Dr Katherine Powlesland, Postgraduate Widening Participation Manager at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, said:

“By the time many students from under-represented ethnic groups come to apply for postgraduate research study, they have often chosen pathways that inadvertently may have made it harder for them to access postgraduate research and funding, because of certain established selection practices. We want to find ways to make admissions systems flex better – thinking imaginatively about pre-requisites, really interrogating the inclusivity of our systems, asking the right questions so we can spot and support the best talent – and also to think radically about innovative inclusive recruitment. From the postgraduate communities of Britain’s leading research universities come the experts of tomorrow: the decision-makers and advisors on climate change, on educational policy, on social justice. We need these researchers to represent the widest range of lived experience possible, so that, ultimately, all voices can be heard and no perspective goes unseen.”

Martin Williams, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education at the ̽��ֱ�� of Oxford, said:

“We’re delighted that our joint bid with the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge to the OfS/Research England competition to improve access to postgraduate research study for under-represented students has been successful. ̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� [of Oxford] has taken significant steps in recognising the issue of graduate access in recent years, and this has become a strategic priority building on the work that been done at undergraduate level for years.”

Cambridge’s second successful bid to the same funding competition is a collaboration with ̽��ֱ�� College London and City ̽��ֱ�� and will offer paid summer research internships for students from under-represented ethnic groups.

Dr Powlesland added: “We also know there is a lot we could do further upstream to support ethnic minority students to make successful applications for postgraduate research study. We are delighted that, with the support of the Office for Students and Research England, we are also able to partner with UCL and City on a really exciting project to deliver undergraduate summer research internships. Cambridge will be offering at least 72 paid internships over three years to Black British, British Bangladeshi, and British Pakistani undergraduates as part of the collaboration. We are excited to be pushing for real change in minority ethnic representation in academic research.’

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge has made significant improvements over the last five years in diversifying its undergraduate population so that it is more reflective of UK society as a whole. ̽��ֱ��work in this area has not just been focused on numbers but on improving student experience too. That’s why the Black Advisory Hub was established. As part of this project, new ways of assessing applicants for postgraduate study will be examined, and the ̽��ֱ�� will seek to overturn any systemic barriers that may exist. Today’s postgraduates are, after all, tomorrow’s experts in their respective fields.

̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, which has a long-established widening participation programme for undergraduate students, is now turning its attention to addressing inequalities that exist across the postgraduate higher education sector.

We want to find ways to make admissions systems flex better

Dr Katherine Powlesland

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

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̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Office for Students

̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge awarded a Gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework 2023

Cambridge to tackle barriers to postgraduate education