One in eight colleges achieved the “gold” status for higher education teaching in the first set of Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) ratings published today.
Of the 106 further education colleges in the TEF, 14 achieved gold status, 46 were rated silver and 31 bronze, while 15 received a “provisional” rating.
A gold award means that an institution is of the highest quality found in the UK, providing “consistently outstanding teaching, learning and outcomes for its students”, while the silver award was given for consistently exceeding “rigorous national quality requirements for UK higher education” and bronze was given to those that met these national requirements.
And the best-performing colleges fared better than some of the country’s top universities. Of the 21 elite universities in the Russell Group, eight were given a gold rating, 10 were awarded silver and three got a bronze.
‘Great innovative work’
John Widdowson, chair of the Mixed Economy Group of colleges offering HE, told Tes: “As a college sector, we tend to have a higher proportion of part-time students in our work, so we’ve got to make sure that greater diversity of students get taken into account in the metric. But it was a good first run-through, and it is great to see so many colleges in the gold category. There’s some really great innovative work going on in colleges to get those hard-to-get-at students into education.”
David Hughes, chief executive of the Associaiton of Colleges, said: “I’m delighted that the TEF has confirmed what we already knew - that colleges up and down the country are delivering high quality higher education which matches the best. The results, including 14 gold awards, shows that HE students in colleges have great teaching, facilities and outcomes.
“This is the first set of full results for the TEF and I am sure that colleges and HEFCE will have learned a lot from the experience. We will start now to see how far the TEF influences student choices and it is likely that more colleges will want to enter to be graded in the future. We will work closely with the TEF team to ensure that the metrics and the assessment work well for colleges which tend to have more part-time and older students who are working whilst learning.”
This was the first set of ratings announced in what is to be a trial year for the new scheme. The TEF, applications for which closed in January, assesses universities and colleges offering higher education based on metrics of graduate employment, student retention and student satisfaction. It also takes into consideration any additional evidence submitted. In future years, their rating could impact the fee level universities can charge. Staff and student unions have been critical of the scheme.
Last September, the government announced in a consultation response that the highly skilled employment metric - reflecting the proportion of HE graduates who have gone on to work in high-skill jobs - “will need to be benchmarked to ensure it takes account of the students taught by that provider”. “This will ensure that providers are not penalised for offering certain courses, or for taking on students from disadvantaged areas or with characteristics associated with less successful outcomes,” it added.
Madeleine Atkins, chief executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England, which published the results, said: “Students currently invest significant amounts of time and, indeed, money, incurring debt in their higher education. They are quite right to expect a high-quality academic experience.”
The assessment “measures the things that students themselves say they really care about”, she added.
Full college rankings
Blackpool and the Fylde College
Gold
City College Plymouth
Gold
The City of Liverpool College
Gold
Cleveland College of Art and Design
Gold
Exeter College
Gold
Hartpury College
Gold
Hugh Baird College
Gold
Leicester College
Gold
Middlesbrough College
Gold
Solihull College and University Centre
Gold
South Devon College
Gold
Truro and Penwith College
Gold
West Herts College
Gold
Weston College of Further and Higher Education
Gold
Abingdon and Witney College
Silver
Activate Learning
Silver
Calderdale College
Silver
Canterbury College
Silver
Chichester College
Silver
City of Bristol College
Silver
Colchester Institute
Silver
Cornwall College
Silver
Darlington College
Silver
East Durham College
Silver
Furness College
Silver
Gateshead College
Silver
Greater Brighton Metropolitan College
Silver
Halesowen College
Silver
Hartlepool College of Further Education
Silver
Heart of Worcestershire College
Silver
Hereford College of Arts
Silver
Hertford Regional College
Silver
Kingston College
Silver
Kirklees College
Silver
Lincoln College
Silver
Loughborough College
Silver
LTE Group
Silver
Myerscough College
Silver
NCG
Silver
Neath Port Talbot College
Silver
New College Stamford
Silver
North Hertfordshire College
Silver
North Lindsey College
Silver
Northampton College
Silver
Oaklands College
Silver
Petroc
Silver
Redcar & Cleveland College
Silver
RNN Group
Silver
Selby College
Silver
South & City College Birmingham
Silver
South Tyneside College
Silver
Sparsholt College
Silver
Stockton Riverside College
Silver
Strode College
Silver
Sunderland College
Silver
Sussex Downs College
Silver
Wakefield College
Silver
West Kent and Ashford College
Silver
Wigan and Leigh College
Silver
York College
Silver
Accrington and Rossendale College
Bronze
Amersham & Wycombe College
Bronze
Askham Bryan College
Bronze
Aylesbury College
Bronze
Bishop Burton College
Bronze
Blackburn College
Bronze
BMC (Brooksby Melton College)
Bronze
Bradford College
Bronze
Cambridge Regional College
Bronze
Doncaster College
Bronze
East Riding College
Bronze
Farnborough College of Technology
Bronze
Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education
Bronze
Hadlow College
Bronze
Highbury College Portsmouth
Bronze
Hopwood Hall College
Bronze
Hull College
Bronze
Kingston Maurward College
Bronze
Leeds City College
Bronze
Milton Keynes College
Bronze
New College Durham
Bronze
North East Surrey College of Technology (NESCOT)
Bronze
Northumberland College
Bronze
Plumpton College
Bronze
Preston College
Bronze
Reaseheath College
Bronze
Salford City College
Bronze
Southport College
Bronze
Tyne Metropolitan College
Bronze
Warwickshire College
Bronze
Wiltshire College
Bronze
Bournville College
Provisional
Cardinal Newman College
Provisional
Cirencester College
Provisional
Croydon College
Provisional
Ealing, Hammersmith & West London College
Provisional
East Kent College
Provisional
Fareham College
Provisional
Holy Cross College
Provisional
Macclesfield College
Provisional
Newbury College
Provisional
Newham College of Further Education
Provisional
North West Regional College
Provisional
South West College
Provisional
Sussex Coast College Hastings
Provisional
Tresham College of Further and Higher Education
Provisional
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