Teaching and learning award schemes open for applications

Expressions of interest for the National Teaching Fellowship (NTF) scheme and Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE) are now being welcomed from colleagues who wish to be considered as one of the University’s nominees in 2025.

The NTFS and CATE are prestigious national schemes run by Advance HE which recognise outstanding work that has positively impacted teaching and learning in higher education.

The University will select up to three nominees to go forward to the national NTF scheme and one team to go forward to the national CATE scheme this year. Nominees will then receive support from an appropriate mentor in preparing their submission to Advance HE.

National Teaching Fellowship (NTF)

The NTF celebrates and rewards outstanding individual impact on student outcomes and the teaching profession in higher education. 

Professor Allán Laville and Professor Cindy Becker were both awarded an NTF in 2023. 

Reflecting on his experience, Allán said: "The NTF application process is a great opportunity to reflect on your T&L practice and to identify the key principles that underpin your practice. 

"I found the process to be both empowering and rewarding, particularly due to the supportive mentoring I received. 

Receiving my NTF empowered me to establish the National Inclusive T&L Community of Practice which has representation from over 15 higher education institutions and meets three times a year to advance inclusive teaching and learning in higher education." 

On what becoming an NTF has meant to her, Cindy said: "The NTF application process is a great opportunity to reflect on who you are as an educator and what has inspired you during your career. 

"Since becoming an NTF, I have become more ambitious in my publication plans and am enjoying sharing my expertise with others. The award gives you the confidence to branch out more widely as well - I am benefitting from my membership of Advance HE as an NTF by being part of several working groups.” 

The closing date for the NTF Expression of Interest scheme is 17:00 on Monday 28 October 2024. 

Please visit the NTF Expression of Interest webpage for more information and a link to the application form.

Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE)

The CATE scheme recognises and rewards collaborative work that has had a demonstrable impact on teaching and learning. 

The University’s Climate and Sustainability Education Framework for Initial Teacher Education team won a CATE award in 2024. 

Reflecting on the experience, team leader Dr Jo Anna Reed Johnson said, “Preparing our CATE submission required bringing a small core writing team together, working with mentors from CQSD and responding to feedback from various parties. It was important to back up any statements with evidence. 

"Engaging in this process helped us as a team to really understand the sheer amount of work we had done and what it really meant to us as an Institute of Education, and to plan for our next steps.” 

The closing date for the CATE Expression of Interest scheme is 17:00 on Monday 28 October 2024. 

Please visit the CATE Expression of Interest webpage for more details and a link to the application form. You can also access a recording of a CATE information webinar hosted by CQSD in September 2023. In this session, we shared key information about the scheme and explored the criteria and how to evidence the impact of collaborative work. 

For details about other University Teaching & Learning funding and award schemes, please visit the CQSD website.