National Teaching Fellowship

The Higher Education Academy's National Teaching Fellowship (NTF) scheme recognises and rewards individual excellence in teaching in higher education in England, Northern Ireland, and since 2011 also Wales. The scheme began in 2000, with total funding per year of £2.5 million, and to date there are around 500 NTFs across the UK and beyond.

Around 50 awards are made annually from a process that requires applicants to provide an evidenced and endorsed case of their approaches to teaching, and how their work has impacted their institutions and even the UK and internationally. The application is assessed by two independent reviewers and is matched to set criteria. The scheme supports teaching excellence in higher education and also further education, and as stated in a recent report, there are now 340 eligible institutions across the UK, Northern Ireland and Wales (Spencer 2013) .

There are NTFs representing every academic discipline, from arts to sciences, and each gets £10,000 over three years to support their professional development or to fund an educational project. Although the majority of NTF applicants are academic, many work in professional services and management, for example library services and careers staff can have a significant impact on student learning, and make excellent cases for fellowship applications.

The work of the NTFs is greatly supported by the Higher Education Academy, and additionally, there is an Association of NTFs who coordinate additional events and activities. There is an annual symposium that shares good practice and invites external topical speakers, and other activities in recent years have included a book-sprint that resulted in the publication of a book "For the Love of learning" edited by Tim Bilham (2013). Another book is in the planning stage.


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