What is the Teaching Excellence Framework?

TEF is a national scheme run by the Office for Students (OfS). It encourages universities and colleges to improve and deliver excellence in the areas that students care about the most: teaching, learning and achieving positive outcomes from their studies.

TEF's assessment looks at: 

  • Teaching on undergraduate courses
  • Learning resources
  • Approaches to supporting student success
  • Continuation and completion rates
  • Progression rates
  • Research, innovation, scholarship, professional practice and employer engagement
  • Staff professional development and academic practice.

The TEF panel then awards one rating for the student experience and one for student outcomes.

How are TEF ratings decided?

The TEF panel, which is made up of independent academics and students, conducts assessments and makes decisions on a number of criteria based on the information it is provided. It uses these insights to decide which award each university should be given.

The panel considers evidence submitted by both institutions and their students, as well as numerical indicators that are determined by using national datasets. These are benchmarked to show how well the university or college performs based on the students it teaches and the courses it offers.

A male student works in a lab with equipment. He is wearing safety goggles and a white lab coat.

What does TEF Gold mean?

TEF assesses lots of areas of a university’s offering, so it’s not easy to be awarded Gold. That’s why we’re extremely proud to have achieved this prestigious marker.

To get the Gold award, student experience and outcomes must be deemed to be typically outstanding.

TEF Gold universities, those that achieve the highest rating, are considered to be consistently performing at an exceptionally high standard in the areas that matter most to students. A TEF Gold rating could be an important factor in a student choosing where they want to study, as it is a trusted mark of quality.

Three female students sit at an outside table on campus. They are smiling and looking at a phone together.

Why is TEF Gold an important award?

TEF Gold is important because it’s all about giving confidence to the most important people in higher education - students. The Teaching Excellence Framework showcases which universities nationwide are offering excellent teaching and learning for students. It also encourages those that aren’t achieving top scores to prioritise improvement to the experience they offer students.

If you’re a current or prospective University of Liverpool undergraduate student, the TEF Gold award means you can be certain that when you study at Liverpool, you’ll get access to outstanding teaching, support, and graduate prospects.

When you see the TEF Gold badge, you can trust that we provide an engaging student experience for our students, as well as an extremely high quality of education across our undergraduate courses. Our students also feel supported throughout their time with us and are set up to succeed as graduates as they move into their career after Liverpool.

A blonde female student takes a book from a shelf in a library.

Why is Liverpool the Gold standard?

Professor Tim Jones, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Liverpool, perfectly sums up why Liverpool is the Gold standard. "Our Gold rating in TEF 2023 underlines our commitment to world-class teaching and learning, with teaching delivered by leading experts and research-connected curricula across our courses. Employability is embedded throughout our undergraduate programmes, and our graduates enjoy high employability rates”.

The TEF panel considered a number of different areas when awarding Liverpool the prestigious TEF Gold rating. Here are just a few of the key areas where they decided our offer was outstanding.

Two students sitting together at a desk, working on a laptop and with a text book.

Employable graduates

Our Careers and Employability team are always on hand to advise students on course modules, learning outcomes and assessment. We also embed employability modules into all courses. Half of our undergraduate students choose to take at least one of these.

Students also have access to employers at every stage of study. What’s more, nearly half of our undergraduate courses are accredited by one of 129 professional, statutory and regulatory bodies.  

Many of our undergraduates also have the opportunity to undertake a Year in Industry. This means they gain substantial professional experience, which prepares them for the future and entering exciting careers.

Nearly 85% of our students say that “as a result of studying at the University of Liverpool, I believe that I have improved my future prospects”. 

A student sits outside on a bench on campus using a laptop.

Support for students

We’ve increased our investment in support for students by over £4.75 million. This has allowed us to enhance our central team. They work with faculty-based Learning and Teaching Support Officers to provide invaluable help to our students in a number of vitally important areas,  including, money and finance guidance, and visa and immigration information.

A female student look to camera and smile. Her body is visible from the waist up. She is using a walker. She is smiling and wearing glasses.

Always diverse and inclusive

We successfully widen access to higher education. Nearly 20% of our student body is made up of students from the most deprived areas in the UK.

As part of our Access and Participation Plan, which supports widening access to higher education and student retention, we offer more than £10 million in scholarships and bursaries every year. This includes targeted funding for asylum seekers, care leavers, mature students, Black African and Caribbean heritage applicants.

Support doesn’t end there. For example, groups who face known barriers to education, such as commuter students, disabled students and mature students, are supported with a programme of bespoke activities prior to Welcome Week, which is designed to enable them to get the most out of university from day one.

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Global vision

We are a university community with substantial international reach. Our alumni span over 180 countries and we have established our place among the 200 leading universities globally.

Our international role is intrinsically linked to Liverpool. We harness our global reach to contribute to the city region’s international profile, boosting its economy and creating meaningful connections between the region, alumni and partners worldwide.

The University has a partnership Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) in China. Our XJTLU 2+2 programme brings around 2,500 Chinese students to Liverpool every year. It also provides an exciting opportunity for UK undergraduates to spend a year in China and our Global Opportunities programme is one of the most expansive in the UK, providing options for undergraduate students to study abroad and reap the life-changing benefits this brings in any year of their undergraduate degree.

A female student in a royal blue lab coat looks into a microscope.

Research-intensive

We aim to make a difference to the world we live in through research and innovation. Our research collaborations extend worldwide and address many of the challenges facing mankind today. The University of Liverpool is part of the internationally renowned Russell Group of 24 UK universities, recognised for their world-leading research.

Our undergraduates are encouraged to engage with this ground-breaking work. They’re expected to immerse themselves in departmental research culture throughout their studies and research informs every aspect of teaching. Further research opportunities are also provided through vacation studentships.

 

A male wears his graduation cap and gown. He stands facing his mother. She is looking at him and holding his face. She is smiling and wearing a Hijab.

What's next?

Although we’ve achieved TEF Gold, we will keep building on this success to ensure students continue to receive an outstanding education and experience.  

Vasiliki Samuels, President, Liverpool Guild of Students says: “We’re really pleased that the University of Liverpool has been awarded Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework. Working on the student submission was a great opportunity to involve student feedback directly in the process. We look forward to continuing to work closely with the University, expanding on good practice in the institution, as well as continuing to amplify the student voice and improve the educational experience”.

Tim Jones, Vice Chancellor, agrees. “We’ll be making sure we keep up the hard work to continue to give our students the best possible experience and help them to achieve their individual goals”.