TEF ratings

[NeedingCoffee]

Can anyone give any insight into these? I've seen them on universities' ucas pages, and wondered whether they are considered objective and reliable. Rather like the student satisfaction survey, there are a whole range of universities ranked gold, from those with very high entry requirements down to those with much lower tariffs. And there are remarkably few "requires improvement" gradings.

If your child was choosing between two offers, should one being "gold" and one being "silver" have any part to play in the decision?

No - like any other rankings, they can be gamed. I work at an institution who did less well in the first round of awards. An entire team was dedicated to improving our tef before the next round and we got gold that time. Nothing had fundamentally changed for the students

I mostly agree with @AelinAG , OP. If an institution has Bronze at this point I think it is worth investigating other sources, such as the NSS and the online forum The Student Room, for information in Teaching and Learning.

Also, remember that the TEF is a university-wide award. Your DC will receive most of their teaching in one or two Schools or Departments. The other sources I mentioned can tell you what is happening at School level.

Ha, thank you both; the universities must despair at all the surveys and rankings which mean so little.

You can say that again!