Chester Law academic awarded National Teaching Fellowship 

An inspirational lecturer at the University of Chester has been recognised nationally for her commitment to making higher education accessible to all. 

Associate Professor Andy Todd, Director of Pro Bono and Community Engagement at the University of Chester’s School of Law and Social Justice, has been named as a National Teaching Fellow by Advance HE.  

The National Teaching Fellowship (NTF) Scheme celebrates and recognises individuals who have made an outstanding impact on student outcomes and the teaching profession in higher education.   

Committed to upending the power balance traditionally encountered at university, Andrea (Andy) Todd has pioneered ways of working and instigated interventions that empower all students, regardless of background, to take control of their journey through, and beyond, university. 

Many Chester Law School students are from backgrounds that do not provide the social and cultural advantages typically associated with those who study Law. Through employability initiatives, student voice strategies, co-creation projects and widening participation interventions, Andy has sought to redress the balance to give opportunities to students to make the most of their university experience. 

Andy uses her knowledge as a solicitor to create active authentic learning experiences both in the classroom and via the University’s multi-award-winning pro bono centre, founded by Andy in 2018. Working on live client matters under the supervision of local solicitors, students who may not otherwise benefit from legal work experience or networking opportunities can experience both in a safe setting.    

A strong advocate for empowering students to effect change, Andy is the author of the Student Voice Toolkit, a step-by-step research-informed framework encouraging the co-creation of meaningful actions for change and enabling the flattening of the power dynamic between students and staff. Andy also works with students as collaborative partners, most recently in facilitating students to build a new module from the ground up.  Students devised and delivered every aspect of the module and introduced innovative assessment methods including an interview for a legal role, reversing traditional student-staff roles in module creation.    

Andy has focused her research in recent years on exploring the lived experiences of students with parental responsibility and her research findings have prompted policy change at national level, influencing the Office for Students’ decision to include student-parents on their Equality of Opportunity Risk Register, meaning that all English providers are now obliged to consider student-parents in their Access and Participation planning.  

Andy is also the co-chair of the Clinical Legal Education Organisation and sits on the Pro Bono Committee of England and Wales and the editorial board of the International Journal of Clinical Legal Education. She is twice winner of the Universities Association for Lifelong Learning research prize for the impactful contribution her work with student-parents has made to the Lifelong Learning agenda. 

Andy said:

“I’m very grateful to the students at Chester and beyond who have put their trust in me over the years and I’m also indebted to the School of Law and Social Justice and the University more widely for trusting me to bring to life a range of student-centred projects which, thanks to the creativity, commitment and tenacity of our students, have allowed our students to shine inside and outside of the classroom and have led to real change.  

“To be acknowledged by Advance HE is very humbling and is testament to the brilliance of the students alongside whom I’ve had the joy of working on the projects recognised by the award.” 

Professor Jackie Potter, Dean of Academic Innovation at the University of Chester, added:

“Andy personifies active caring for our students by building strong partnerships with students and organisations that positively impact on her students in the Law School. She continuously finds and documents ways to improve students’ learning experiences, on campus and beyond. From building highly valued skills into the curriculum to championing the needs and ambitions of student parents across the university and nationally, Andy’s influence now has global reach and has been a force for good, with extensive positive impacts for educators and their students.”