OfS releases TEF consultation results

The OfS has confirmed the TEF Exercise will proceed broadly as set out in the consultation and members of the TEF Strategy Group have been reviewing the OfS analysis of this and parallel consultations on Student Outcomes and the Student Outcomes and Experience Data Indicators to consider any implications for our TEF submission.

Some of the key updates include:

• Confirmation of the change in time frame – the TEF data, guidance and submission window will open ‘by end of September’ and the submission window will close in ‘mid-January’
• Clarification on some elements of ‘Educational Gains’ and what providers might want to include and consider in this section
• Optional inclusion of Apprenticeship data/information
• An increase in the provider submission length (now 25 pages)
• Clarity over what is expected in the Student Submission
• Updates to the indicators to be used as TEF Measures, including using the ‘cohort-tracking’ method for Completion data (this is the method we stated a preference for in our consultation response)

Over the past two months, meetings have been held with SDTLs to get a fuller picture of the academic excellence and student support and experience delivered locally, and we will incorporate elements of this through our TEF submission. We would like to thank colleagues for engaging positively with this process.

Following the release of the OfS TEF Guidance and our full TEF data set at the end of September, we will be working with the TEF Narrative Group and Expert Reading Panel to pull together our provider submission over the autumn term.