Northampton College has been praised for delivering high-quality teaching which “exceeds national standards”.
The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) has named the College as a recipient of its prestigious Silver Award after its expert panel judged the College’s student experience and student outcomes are ‘typically very high-quality’.
The TEF judging panel found the very high-quality features apply to all of the College’s groups of students, including students from a widening participation background and those from areas of multiple deprivation.
The panel noted how the College, by providing quality, choice and opportunity, tailored to its locality and to the characteristics of its students, helps to ensure its higher education provision is of the best quality, resulting in improved student experiences and outcomes.
The panel also judged that the College strives to deliver high-quality higher education for the benefit of the students and employers.
Principal Pat Brennan-Barrett said: “This is an excellent result for us and shows both current and prospective students that whatever their background they can be confident they will benefit from high-quality teaching at Northampton College to help them achieve their goals.
“Our teaching and support staff are continuously looking for ways to give our students learning opportunities above and beyond curriculum requirements which puts them in a strong position to secure their chosen careers.
“This award is testament to how successful our staff are when it comes to delivering high-quality teaching.”
The panel found that the College’s approach to supporting students is robust, it fosters a supportive learning environment and students have access to a range of very high-quality academic support.
It noted that the College’s extensive links with external bodies, such as local councils and business support organisations, were helping to inform its course content and delivery.
It also revealed that students’ comments to external examiners showed they were positive about the teaching and assessment that they experience at the College.
Students reported that their assignment briefs are clear, they receive timely formative feedback and insights into professional practice, have opportunities to engage with external practitioners and felt they were fully supported with their progression aspirations.
They also appreciated that many teaching staff have industrial experience which contributes to the education on offer.
The TEF is a national scheme run by the Office for Students (OfS), the independent regulator of higher education in England. It 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 for their studies.
