Arts University Plymouth awarded Silver in the Teaching Excellence Framework

Arts University Plymouth won an overall rating of Silver, as well as gaining Silver ratings within Student Experience and Student Outcomes.

Arts University Plymouth has been awarded Silver in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) by the Office for Students (OfS). The TEF Silver award for the arts university includes Silver aspect ratings for ‘Student Experience’ and ‘Student Outcomes’, recognising that experiences and outcomes are typically of very high quality for all groups of students. Arts University Plymouth’s improved TEF Silver rating, awarded in 2023, will last for four years.

Professor Paul Fieldsend-Danks, Vice-Chancellor at Arts University Plymouth said:

“This national recognition for the outstanding quality of teaching that takes place at Arts University Plymouth and for our commitment to impactful social justice and place-making within the city, is testament to the hard work and collaboration of our talented community of artists and educators.

“Arts University Plymouth is a new kind of arts university for the 21st century. Thanks to our improved TEF Silver status, our outstanding National Student Survey results in 2023 and acclaim from students in the WhatUni Student Choice Awards, anybody choosing where to study next can be reassured by an upwards trajectory that positions our university within a regional hub for arts and culture, preparing graduates who are uniquely placed to provide creative solutions to the complex global challenges of our times.”

The Teaching Excellence Framework is a national scheme run by the OfS that aims to encourage higher education providers to improve and deliver excellence in the areas that students care about the most: teaching, learning and achieving positive outcomes from their studies. The ratings reflect the extent to which a provider delivers an excellent experience and outcomes for its mix of undergraduate students and across the range of its undergraduate courses and subjects. The TEF is assessed by a broad panel of expert academics and highly experienced university staff.

This TEF result for Arts University Plymouth builds on other recent successes, with students voting Arts University Plymouth the top arts university in the UK for overall student satisfaction in the National Student Survey (NSS) 2022, and rating the university above the national benchmark in all categories and the highest scoring arts university in the UK in five of the seven categories of the NSS 2023.

As one of the UK’s smallest specialist arts universities, Arts University Plymouth is renowned for its high student-to-staff ratios and small class sizes in a close knit, creative community where your lecturer knows your name and can support you in pursuing your specialist interests. Arts University Plymouth is also thehighest scoring specialist arts university in the UK for the NSS category of Learning Resources, recognising the ease of access for students to world-leading facilities, equipment and subject-specific specialist resources such as Fab Lab Plymouth, Plymouth Arts Cinema, the Multimedia and Photography studios, Materials Lab (including hot glass and ceramics), Drawing Lab and Fashion and Textile studios. 

Recent students said in the NSS:

• “I went to so many open days across the UK and no one’s resources compared to Arts University Plymouth.”
• “I feel like being at Arts University Plymouth has definitely been the right decision in terms of teaching time, one-to-one teaching with my tutors, and how I have improved as a creative as a whole. The teaching as a whole has been superb!”
• “There is plenty of access to an impressive amount of resources needed and I knew that when in need of support a lecturer or staff member would be there to help. To me, it felt like the perfect environment to develop myself as an artist.”

The UK’s newest arts university also achieved Silver in the Small or Specialist Institution category of the Whatuni Student Choice Awards in 2023 and Gold in the same category in 2022. The university is currently ranked as a top 10 university in the  Arts, Drama & Music League Table 2024 in the Complete University Guide, and as the sixth top university in the UK for studying Interior Design in the Guardian University Guide 2024.