Advance HE (formerly the Higher Education Academy) is a British charity and professional membership scheme promoting excellence in higher education. It advocates evidence-based teaching methods and awards fellowships as professional recognition for university teachers.[1] Founded in 2003, the Higher Education Academy was responsible for the UK Professional Standards Framework for higher education practitioners and merged (with the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education and Equality Challenge Unit) to form Advance HE on 21 March 2018.[4]
The history of teacher training in the United Kingdom is a complex subject. Faced with chronic personnel shortages after the Second World War, the government invested in training programmes and required all teachers (in the state sector) to acquire qualified teacher status (from 1946).[5]
For the next half century, universities supported this policy by providing both graduate entry into teaching and teacher training programmes. In more recent decades, however, there had been a shift towards school-based training for teaching and also a change in terminology as "teacher education" displaced "teacher training".[5][6]
Despite Higher Education involvement in teacher training, University Lecturers have not required any formal qualifications beyond demonstrating (usually through publications and a higher degree, such as a doctorate), expert subject knowledge. The merits of professional teaching qualifications for University Lecturers became an issue for debate during the later twentieth century.[7]
Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (2000–2004)
The Dearing Report (1997) recommended the establishment of a professional body for Lecturers that would define standards and accredit training for university teaching and that, during their probationary periods, all new Lecturers should be required to achieve 'at least associate membership' of the new Institute. The Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education was founded in 2000.[8]
The Bell ReviewArchived 20 August 2020 at the Wayback Machine recommended a single sector agency for equality and diversity, learning and teaching, and leadership and governance in higher education.[13] Consequently, the Academy merged with the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education and the Equality Challenge Unit to form Advance HE on 21 March 2018.[4]
Aims and purpose
Advance HE has stated its overall aim:
Our mission, as stated in our Strategic Plan 2012-2016, is to use our expertise and resources to support the higher education community in order to enhance the quality and impact of learning and teaching. We do this by recognising and rewarding excellent teaching, bringing together people and resources to research and share best practice, and by helping to influence, shape and implement policy.[14]
Advance HE devised a particular set of standards for university teaching (the 'UK Professional Standards Framework'), conferring professional recognition on academics who have met these standards, and runs the UK's annual National Teaching Fellowship awards. It also provides many online resources, some discipline-specific and some more generic, and organises workshops, seminars and journals on matters of interest. The HEA has a 'policy think-tank' and is engaged in research into teaching and learning, e.g. exploring the applicability of 'grade point average' schemes to the UK.
UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF)
The UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) for teaching and supporting learning in higher education is a voluntary scheme for describing the competences and values expected of university teaching staff in the UK.[15] The scheme consists of four "descriptors" corresponding to different roles in higher education, and defines the areas of activity, core knowledge and professional values expected at each level. The UKPSF was developed by AdvanceHE and the descriptors correspond to the levels in HEA's professional recognition scheme.[16][17]
The introduction of national professional standards for university teachers was one of the higher education reforms proposed in the DfESwhite paper "The Future of Higher Education" (2003) which outlined plans to introduce new standards and ensure that all new university teaching staff achieved a qualification that met them. These would be the responsibility of a new "centre of excellence" in the form of a "teaching quality academy".[18] The Higher Education Academy was formed and commissioned by the UK's education funding councils and Universities UK to develop new standards which became known as the "UK Professional Standards Framework" or "UKPSF".[17]
The framework has two elements: the "descriptors" (describing higher education roles and associated competences), and the "dimensions of practice" (describing the activities, core knowledge and professional values expected of practitioners). There are four descriptors corresponding to support staff with minor teaching duties, full academics (e.g. lecturers), senior academics with teaching specialisms, and senior management with strategic responsibility for teaching. The descriptors correspond to the four grades within the HEA's professional recognition scheme and academic staff are usually expected to demonstrate that they meet the second descriptor during their probationary period.[19] The framework is used to accredit training schemes for university teachers such as the Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCHE) and the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP).
Gender Equality and Athena SWAN (2005)
Advance HE manage the Athena Swan Charter framework (established in 2005) which is used to support gender equality within higher education and research.[20]
In June 2022, Advance HE announced it would change its guidelines that ask universities to commit to "collective understanding that individuals have the right to determine their own gender identity and tackling the specific issues faced by trans and non-binary people".[21] Academics at the University of Cambridge had refused to comply; Arif Ahmed, reader in philosophy said: "A university should absolutely not be ‘fostering collective understanding’ on controversial issues but encouraging open debate."[21]
Membership
Fellowships of the HEA and professional recognition
Advance HE operates a professional recognition scheme for university teachers who have demonstrated that their teaching practices are well-aligned with the UKPSF. This is intended both to encourage excellence in teaching and provide academics with a portable qualification transferable between institutions. There are four grades:
AFHEA – Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (previously Associate (AHEA) of the Academy)
FHEA – Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
SFHEA – Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
PFHEA – Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Associate Fellow represents the minimum level of competence expected of any university teacher. Fellow represents the level normally required in an established academic post.[22] These grades can be awarded on the basis of an assessed portfolio (containing a candidate's statement and supporting references) or on completion of an accredited course such as a PGCHE or PGCAP. Senior Fellow and Principal Fellow represent significant leadership in the promotion of teaching excellence, and are only awarded on the basis of an assessed portfolio.[22]
The Academy was funded by grants from four higher education funding bodies in the UK (HEFCE, SFC, HEFCW and DELNI), subscriptions from higher education institutions, and grant/contract income for organised initiatives. It is owned by the representative bodies of the higher education sector – Universities UK and GuildHE (formerly known as the Standing Conference of Principals).
Historical Activities: Subject Centres
The Academy incorporated "Subject Centres" to share best practices in specific disciplines (2003-12). These were based around the UK at relevant university faculties (until they closed on 1 January 2012).[23] Archived resources are still available in the discipline pages of the HEA website:
Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct research.
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom, which was responsible for the distribution of funding for higher education to universities and further education colleges in England since 1992. It ceased to exist as of 1 April 2018, when its duties were divided between the newly created Office for Students and Research England.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, usually referred to simply as the Quality Assurance Agency or QAA, is the UK higher education sector's independent expert quality body, with a remit to maintain and enhance the quality of teaching and learning in tertiary education in the UK and beyond. It conducts quality assessment reviews, develops reference points and guidance for providers, and conducts or commissions research on relevant issues.
The Geographical Association (GA) is an association in the United Kingdom. The organisation has a stated aim of improving geographical knowledge of the public through promoting geographical education.
A national qualifications framework (NQF) is a formal system describing qualifications. 47 countries participating in the Bologna Process are committed to producing a national qualifications framework. Other countries not part of this process also have national qualifications frameworks.
Teacher education or teacher training refers to programs, policies, procedures, and provision designed to equip (prospective) teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, approaches, methodologies and skills they require to perform their tasks effectively in the classroom, school, and wider community. The professionals who engage in training the prospective teachers are called teacher educators.
The National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS) is an award for excellence in teaching in higher education for teaching fellows in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales. The scheme was first administered by the Higher Education Academy, which subsequently became Advance HE in 2018. The scheme was started in 2000 and there are now more than 900 national teaching fellows (NTFs) across the UK. In 2016 an additional team award, the Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE) was launched. This award recognises teams for their collaborative work and excellent practice in teaching and learning.
A teaching fellow is an individual at a higher education institution, including universities, whose role involves teaching and potentially pedagogic research. The work done by teaching fellows can vary enormously from institution to institution, depending on the requirements and position of individual institutions.
The UK Centre for Materials Education (UKCME) is one of 24 subject centres within the Higher Education Academy (HEA). It supports teaching and learning in Materials Science and related disciplines. The Centre was established in 2000 as part of the Learning and Teaching Support Network (LTSN), later subsumed within the HEA. It has been directed from its inception by Professor Peter Goodhew.
The National Student Survey is an annual survey, launched in 2005, of all final year undergraduate degree students at institutions in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom. The survey is designed to assess undergraduate students' opinions of the quality of their degree programmes, with seven different scores published including an "overall satisfaction" mark.
Academic probation in the United Kingdom is a period served by a new academic staff member at a university or college when they are first given their job. It is specified in the conditions of employment of the staff member, and may vary from person to person and from institution to institution. In universities founded prior to the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, it is usually three years for academic staff and six months to a year for other staff. In the universities created by that Act, and in colleges of higher education, the period is generally just a year across the board, for both academic and other staff.
The Association of Higher Education Professionals (AHEP), formerly known as the Association of University Administrators (AUA), is the professional body for higher education administrators and managers in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. As of 2023, its membership comprised several thousand individuals, representing 300 institutions from the UK and 21 countries worldwide.
Andrew Pollard is an emeritus professor at the Institute of Education, University College London. Formerly, he was Professor of Education at the universities of Cambridge, Bristol and the West of England, Bristol. He chaired the Education Sub-panel for the 2014 Research Excellence Framework on behalf of UK Higher Education Funding Councils, which involves assessing the quality of research undertaken in UK universities. He was Director of the ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme from 2002 to 2009, of the UK Strategic Forum for Research in Education from 2008 to 2011 and of ESCalate, the Education Subject Centre of the UK's Higher Education Academy. He is a non-executive director of William Pollard & Co. Ltd. a print and communications company, founded in 1781 and based in Exeter.
LLAS was a staff development centre based at the University of Southampton which provided services to academic staff across the UK teaching Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies in higher education. Its first incarnation was as a subject centre of the Learning and Teaching Support Network (2000-2004), then a subject centre of the Higher Education Academy (2004-2011). Its second incarnation was as an enterprise unit of the University of Southampton.
A graduate certificate is an educational credential representing completion of specialized training at the college or university level. A graduate certificate can be awarded by universities upon completion of certain coursework indicating mastering of a specific subject area. Graduate certificates represent training at different levels in different countries, for example a graduate certificate is at master's degree level in Ireland, but is at a bachelor's degree level in the United Kingdom. In both cases, the graduate certificate represents less work than a degree at the same level.
The Institute for Learning (IfL) was a voluntary membership, UK professional body. It ceased operating on 31 October 2014. Although precise membership figures and statistical details had been removed from IfL's webpage prior to its closure, at the end of financial year 2013-2014 IfL were reported as having only 33,500 of their 200,000 members remaining.
The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a research impact evaluation of British Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). It is the successor to the Research Assessment Exercise and it was first used in 2014 to assess the period 2008–2013. REF is undertaken by the four UK higher education funding bodies: Research England, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW), and the Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland (DfE).
The Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCHE), alternatively called the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP), is a British teaching qualification for university lecturers and similar professionals. The PGCHE is designed to equip holders with the skills needed to provide high-quality teaching and learning. PGCHE courses are usually closely aligned with the Higher Education Academy's Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF), with successful completion of an HEA-accredited postgraduate certificate leading to formal professional recognition as an HEA fellow (FHEA).
Professor Sir Chris Husbands is a British academic, educationist, university leader and public servant, who has been Vice-Chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University since January 2016.
Hannah C. Cobb is an archaeologist at the University of Manchester, noted for her work on pedagogy, post-humanist theory, and diversity and equality in archaeology.
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