OfS consults on revised teaching framework

The Office for Students (OfS) has launched a consultation on plans to overhaul the way teaching quality is assessed across English universities and colleges.

Under the proposals, the OfS said it intends to combine its current quality monitoring work with the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) into a single system. The revised TEF would evaluate how well institutions meet – and in some cases exceed – minimum quality standards in teaching and learning.

The regulator said the new approach would “embed equality of opportunity”, ensuring students from all backgrounds have access to high-quality education and achieve positive outcomes.

Universities and colleges would receive public ratings reflecting their level of quality. These would be tied to incentives designed to encourage improvement, with stronger oversight for institutions that fall short of expectations. The OfS said it would also intervene where standards drop below minimum requirements.

Ongoing monitoring between TEF assessments would allow the OfS to identify emerging risks more quickly. Institutions delivering consistently high-quality provision could face less frequent assessments, while those needing improvement would come under closer scrutiny.

The first assessment cycle would focus on undergraduate provision, with postgraduate taught courses included from the second round.

The OfS said it would continue to evaluate the student experience using institutional submissions, National Student Survey data, and direct input from students. It is also exploring more streamlined ways of assessing student outcomes, using data to track academic and post-study success.

OfS deputy director of quality Jean Arnold said: “Students have told us that they want high quality teaching, strong academic support, access to the resources they need, and qualifications that are credible and career enhancing. They also expect their university or college to listen to them and respond to their needs.

“With our proposed new quality assessment system, we aim to make sure every institution registered with the OfS lives up to these expectations, is incentivised to push for the highest level of quality and can quickly take action to address issues.”

Arnold added that the regulator wanted to reduce administrative burden for institutions already providing strong outcomes while acting faster where standards fall short.

She added: “We’re now inviting institutions of all types and sizes, students, awarding bodies, and others to tell us what they think of our proposals to drive up quality in higher education and maintain public confidence in the English higher education sector.”