TEF: Everything you need to know

The TEF has been introduced by the government to encourage excellence in teaching and to seek to measure the teaching quality of Higher Education providers. The TEF looks at metrics including information on the learning environment, student outcomes and teaching quality. These metrics are benchmarked and institutions performance against each of these are measured.

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The TEF is just one of a number of tools -including league tables- for you to use to help shape your university choices. It is intended to help you decide the right university for you by providing information about teaching quality and student outcomes.

Being taught by academic staff who are also world-leading researchers is a huge advantage for students at Birmingham. Here, you will find out about our latest research breakthroughs as they happen and be taught by the researchers themselves- long before you’ll find the research in textbooks.

Having an exceptional learning environment is critical during your studies. At Birmingham we are continually investing in our students and in 2016 we opened our brand new academic library, designed to be an inspirational place for you to study, with an array of facilities to suit different working styles, from group study spaces to silent work rooms.

To enable you to develop your knowledge and skills, we put you at the heart of your learning, and here at Birmingham, you can shape your own intellectual development. Lectures and seminars provide opportunities for you to develop your ideas through dialogue and debate with fellow students and your tutors. You also have access to a comprehensive support system to assist, encourage and inspire, including a personal tutor and welfare tutors in our schools and colleges. Birmingham students receive individual feedback on assignments so you can understand how you are doing and what you could do to further improve. The University’s Academic Skills Centre is open to all, providing the academic writing, mathematical and general academic skills support that is needed to support success, including workshops, online tutorials and appointments with specialist advisors.