Liverpool Hope University is celebrating after achieving Gold status in the government’s Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF).
The Teaching Excellence Framework is based on data and evidence gathered over three years.
It measures excellence in teaching quality, learning environment, and student outcomes - the extent to which all students achieve their educational and professional goals. The TEF ratings were decided by an independent panel of experts including academics, students and employer representatives.
Each higher education provider was rated Gold, Silver or Bronze, or received a Provisional award where there was not enough data for a full assessment.
Around 1 in 5 of UK higher education providers achieved Gold - Liverpool Hope University was one of them.
Liverpool Hope is one of only three universities in the North West, and the only one in Liverpool, to gain the Gold rating.
Liverpool Hope’s Gold rating places it alongside Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College London, five other Russell Group Universities, Bath and Lancaster for teaching excellence. It is the only university in Liverpool to have achieved this rating.
According to the government’s Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the Gold award signals that teaching at Liverpool Hope is “of the highest quality found in the UK" and that the university is "delivering consistently outstanding teaching, learning and outcomes for its students.”
The TEF panel drew particular attention to Liverpool Hope University’s:
• Outstanding levels of stretch provided through judicious partnerships, good curriculum design and extracurricular activities.
• Strategic approach to ensuring outstanding outcomes for all students, and recognition of the value of an inclusive community of diverse learners.
• Effective initiatives in support of employability, which are impacting on progression into highly skilled employment
• An embedded culture of valuing excellence in learning and teaching
• A clear and effective focus on student retention, with efficient tracking and personal support offered to all students.
Vice-Chancellor of Liverpool Hope University, Professor Gerald Pillay, said, “There is a prevailing view that older, bigger or so-called ‘elite’ institutions are the best universities. This view has distorted student perception about what constitutes a good university and an excellent education.
"It is very gratifying for all our staff that there is public recognition of Liverpool Hope’s quality. For what these assessments are worth, a real commitment to serious research and teaching will be vindicated. Universities worth their salt must be committed to both research and teaching. They have a responsibility to induct their students from the very beginning into a culture of enquiry and creativity.
"A good degree is for life. It should give a graduate the skills for lifelong learning and achievement. I am so pleased that the hard work of our academics and those dedicated to student success have received this prestigious public affirmation.”
Universities Minister, Jo Johnson, said: “These results, highlighting the extraordinary strengths of our higher education system, will help students choose which university or college to study at. The Teaching Excellence Framework is refocusing the sector’s attention on teaching – putting in place incentives that will raise standards across the sector and giving teaching the same status as research. Students, parents, employers and taxpayers all have a shared interest in ensuring that higher education equips the next generation of graduates for success.”
The Teaching Excellence Framework complements the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, which saw more than a third of research at Liverpool Hope classed as world leading or internationally excellent.
The TEF awards will also be published on Unistats and the UCAS website, alongside other information, to help inform prospective students’ choices.