Teaching excellence will be judged by employment outcomes

Student success looks likely to trump student satisfaction in future years of the teaching excellence framework.

Despite headlines hostile to members of the Russell Group of 24 research-led universities, the results of the teaching excellence framework do not demonstrate the inverted league table some were predicting after the most recent national student survey results.

First a greater proportion than expected of the group of higher education institutions that make up the league tables have been awarded gold or silver. The published statistics—26 per cent gold, 50 per cent silver and 24 per cent bronze—are in line with forecasts. However the list of institutions includes those providing higher education in further education colleges, and a host of smaller private providers, so there were relatively few come-uppances for the elite institutions.