RGU joins the teaching elite

Robert Gordon University (RGU) has been awarded a Gold rating in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), placing it in the top 20% of the best universities in the UK for the quality of its undergraduate teaching and learning.

The prestigious TEF Gold rating has been awarded to RGU for its consistent delivery of outstanding teaching, learning and outcomes for its students, confirming it is of the highest quality found in the UK.

RGU’s Principal, Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, said: “Our Gold rating places RGU among the UK elite for quality teaching and learning.

“It demonstrates that our staff show an exceptional dedication to a high quality educational agenda and to an excellent student experience, alongside our commitment to widening access to the university.

“We place students and their graduate prospects at the top of our priorities, ensuring they achieve an industry-recognised qualification as well as a highly-valued skill set, and we warmly welcome being acknowledged for employability.

“We value student feedback and work closely with the student body to ensure that the university experience meets their expectations. It is gratifying that this important partnership has been recognised by the TEF panel.”

Introduced by the UK Government, TEF is one of the methods used to assure a world-class higher education sector in the UK. It assesses, recognises and rewards the quality of undergraduate teaching across the country, using metrics including continuation rates, student satisfaction and employment outcomes. A total of 299 universities, colleges and alternative providers of higher education across the UK participated in TEF.

The TEF panel praised RGU for supporting students from all backgrounds to achieve outstanding outcomes, as well as high levels of continuation rates and exceptional professional practice.

The Gold rating was also awarded in recognition of RGU’s employability levels, with very high proportions of graduates progressing to skilled employment or further study, and a comprehensive range of opportunities for students to develop knowledge and skills that are most highly valued by employers.

The top accolade also reflects RGU’s systematic approach to engaging students as partners in the development of the learning experience, its strategic investment in outstanding physical resources which are used by students to enhance learning and progression, as well as exceptional levels of satisfaction with academic support.

Edward Pollock, RGU’s Student President for Communication and Democracy, also welcomed the university’s Gold rating.

He said: “The way that the university approaches embedding a culture of student partnership to enhance teaching quality, the way it places an emphasis and design around employability, the way it secures the quality of teaching and supportive staff make RGU an exceptional university. I am proud to be one of its students.

“The Gold rating is a fantastic achievement for RGU and I’m thrilled that the university’s approach to engaging students as partners in the development of the learning experience has been recognised.”

It is the first time Scottish universities have taken part in TEF, which assesses undergraduate teaching against ten criteria based on areas of teaching quality, learning environment and student outcomes.

The university will hold its Gold status for the next three years.