A private, for-profit provider has become the first university to be given a new 'requires improvement' rating in the UK's Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), after months of wrangling over the results.
Coventry's Arden University, which specializes in online and blended learning, blamed its TEF performance on outdated data after receiving the lowest ratings for both student experience and outcomes.
Of the 227 providers who took part in the exercise, only three were rated as 'requires improvement'. This was introduced where the Student Affairs Office identified a “lack of excellence”.
Arden University, which enrolled 15,120 students in 2021-22, is the second university to receive this rating, following the previously announced Colchester Institute and David Game College, according to the latest figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency. This is the first university to receive this award. Goldsmiths University, University of London and BPP University were all previously rated 'requires improvement' for student experience, but were given an overall bronze rating.
Arden's assessment was quietly published on the OfS' TEF dashboard four months after the majority of institutions had received their results. The regulator declined further comment on the rating but said it would publish the committee's reasons next month.
Regulators note that a rating of “Requires Improvement'' does not automatically trigger regulatory action, but “is a complete picture of the regulatory information we use to identify cases that may require investigation.'' form a part of it.”
Carl Lygo, vice president of the university, said: times higher education The university only became authorized to award degrees in 2014 and is participating in TEF for the first time.
The data used in the exercise “covered the first four years of operation in a university capacity,” Lygo added.
“During this period, and in the years since, we have made significant investments to provide our students with an excellent career-oriented education and expand access to higher education,” he said.
Lygo said the university “highly values the TEF process and takes seriously the findings that improvements are needed.”
“We are understandably disappointed with the findings and conclusions drawn in the report, and given the historical nature of the data presented, we believe that it does not fully reflect our position and capabilities as a university today. I don't think it represents that,” he said.
The 2023 framework marks the first time the OfS has run the exercise, with initial participation being mandatory for UK providers with over 500 undergraduate students.
The initial evaluation faced several challenges from disgruntled institutions, and the publication of many results was delayed until the end of the year.
Arden is the only outstanding grade yet to be published and the university is understood to have made several representations to contest the assessment.
Lygo said Arden's “current performance trajectory shows significant improvement since the 2018 data reviewed during the exercise,” citing a 10% higher retention rate.
“Some of this ongoing development is highlighted in the report’s conclusions, which show that staff professional development is of an exceptional standard and that academic achievement is promoted and encouraged. , improvements in student engagement have been recognized as producing higher quality outcomes in some areas,” Lygo said.
“The TEF assessment is a rich learning exercise and we are incorporating all of the feedback from our panel, which will provide a useful focus as we plan for the future. We are confident that our continued efforts will provide our students with a great experience I am confident that it will continue to deliver positive results.”
tom.williams@timehighereducation.com
