Essex delivers a “very high quality education” according to Teaching Excellence Framework 2023

The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2023 results have been revealed. Our Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Education, Professor Madeline Eacott, talks us through our result and explains some of the changes to this year’s exercise. 

I am very pleased to announce that we achieved an overall award of Silver in this year’s TEF, also achieving Silver in both of the new aspect ratings, student experience and student outcomes.  

What does the award of Silver mean? 

An award of Silver indicates “very high quality provision” and so is an award we can rightly be pleased about Given that the period being judged was 2018-2022, including the pandemic when we had to pivot to online teaching to maintain learning outcomes while at the same time observing lock downs, self-isolation and social distancing rules, this is a good achievement. But of course, we always aspire to enhance what we offer and to be outstanding next time. 

Student feedback

The panel of judges also considered a submission provided by our Students’ Union. The SU conducted several surveys throughout the academic year and included student feedback as part of their submission. In total the results of 11 surveys, each completed by between 800 and 1,500 students were included in the submission. The SU gave feedback on a range of areas, from how the pandemic affected students and how they thought the university handled the move to online learning to course content and delivery, teaching quality and our physical and virtual learning resources.  

Our students wrote: 

“We are proud of the excellent working relationship that we have with the University and that there is a clear, shared commitment to listening and working with students to continually improve all aspects of the Essex experience.” 

What did the judges say? 

The judges made some very positive comments about what we offer here at Essex, including that there were “...numerous examples of very high-quality practices related to teaching, learning and assessment…” and that we “…clearly effectively support (our) students to succeed in and progress beyond their studies”  

Overall, the panel concluded that “there was strong evidence of typically very high-quality features overall… The panel judged very high quality to apply to all the provider’s groups of students, including students from underrepresented groups.”  

I think this is something we can all be very proud of. 

Thank you 

I would like to say a huge thank you to our SU for all the hard work they put into their submission, and I’d also like to say a big thank you to each and every one of our students. Your feedback is vital to helping us improve, so look out for opportunities to use your student voice, wherever you can. Working together is the best way to create an excellent living and learning environment, so keep speaking out, keep making a difference and keep being so brilliantly Essex.