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Some of the top universities in the country have the worst teaching standards

Some of the UK’s universities have received less than satisfactory ratings (Picture: REX)
Some of the UK’s universities have received less than satisfactory ratings (Picture: REX)

Several of the UK’s leading universities have received low ratings in a new ranking of degree teaching standards.

The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) ranked 295 institutions with Gold, Silver and Bronze ratings – with 59 receiving Gold and a further 116 receiving Silver ratings.

But thebronze rating, which is the lowest on offer, was awarded to several historically well-regarded institutions, including Liverpool University, The University of Southampton, Goldsmiths, The London School of Economics, and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).

The TEF, which is provided to help students make an informed choice about degree courses, has since been criticised by ‘unreliable’ by some of the institutions who received a bronze ranking.

Sir Christopher Snowden, The Vice President of Southampton University, confirmed that they intend to appeal the rating.

The University of Southampton was among those to receive unsatisfactory ratings (Picture: REX)
The University of Southampton was among those to receive unsatisfactory ratings (Picture: REX)

He said: ‘I know I am not alone in having deep concerns about its subjective assessment, its lack of transparency, and with different benchmarks for each institution removing any sense of equity and equality of assessment.

‘Our own student satisfaction metrics, including satisfaction with teaching, are better than some of those universities who have been awarded silver and gold today.’

Nick Hillman, the director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, however, suggested that the surprise rankings were proof that the TEF was an effective way to rank universities.

He said: ‘The TEF would have comprehensively failed if it had simply replicated existing hierarchies.

‘It was always designed to do something different to other league tables and rankings – namely, to show where there are pockets of excellence that have been ignored and to encourage improvements elsewhere.’

The full rankings can be found here.