Guided by feedback from current and former Royal Holloway students, find out more about how we ensured student voices were heard as we wrote this year's Student Submission for the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF).
This year the Students’ Union was asked by the University to write the Student Submission for the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). We want to explain our process behind what went into writing the Royal Holloway Student Submission and where you can read the report.
TEF 2023: Student Submission
What is TEF?
TEF is a national scheme run by the Office for Students that rates universities and colleges for excellence above a minimum set of requirements for quality and standards. The TEF panel is made up of academics and students who are experts in learning and teaching. The panel reviews evidence submitted by participating universities, evidence submitted by students (the Student Submission), and reviews numerical indicators from national datasets that look at student outcomes and experience measures. Universities that participate in TEF are given an award of Gold, Silver, Bronze, or Requires Improvement. The TEF rating will last four years. Below we have explained the breakdown of each award.
Gold: The student experience and outcomes are typically outstanding.
Silver: The student experience and outcomes are typically very high quality, and there may be some outstanding features.
Bronze: The student experience and outcomes are typically high quality, and there are some very high-quality features.
Requires Improvement: The provider was assessed in TEF and no rating was awarded. Improvement is required for a TEF rating.
Royal Holloway was awarded Silver in 2017. If you want to read more about that award you can find information on the Office for Students website.
The Student Submission
During the awarding process, students at participating universities have the option to submit a piece of work which presents their views on the quality of their overall educational experience and outcomes. This is done through the TEF Student Submission. When the University asked the Students’ Union to undertake this hugely important piece of work, we wanted to make sure that your voice was heard! Our submission was guided by student feedback and reflects the views of current and former Royal Holloway students who studied between 2018 and 2022.
Read the report
For our submission, we looked at annual national student surveys as well as previous research carried out over the last few years by the Students’ Union to improve the student experience at Royal Holloway. Below we have listed more information on what we used in our report.
National Student Survey: Annual survey completed by final year undergraduate students invited to give honest feedback about their experience at Royal Holloway.
Student Voice Reports: In-depth research reports conducted by the Students’ Union on specific areas of the Royal Holloway student experience. We looked at reports on the BAME student experience, the Careers Service and Student Housing. Data from these reports was driven by student feedback from surveys and in-person interviews.
Digital Education Reports: In-depth research reports by the Students’ Union on the impact of the pandemic on their student experience. Data from these reports was driven by student feedback from surveys.
Rate Your Union: Annual survey looking at students’ satisfaction with RHSU.
Insight Reports: Data-driven work conducted by the Students’ Union which takes a snapshot of experience on specific topics impacting student life like the Joint Honours experience and Personal Tutors. Data from these reports was led by student feedback from surveys.
Alterline communities: Alterline is a third-party research group who were hired by the Students’ Union that completed a pulse survey on the student experience at the end of 2021-22 academic year.
What happens next?
The Royal Holloway Student Submission has been included with evidence provided by the University and sent to the Office for Students. The outcomes will be published in September and will be publicly available. Until then, you can read the Royal Holloway Student Submission here.