Growing focus on teaching and learning in higher education worldwide as number of fellowships awarded by Advance HE tops 170,000

The number of teaching and learning professionals recognised as fellows by Advance HE has topped 170,000 – signalling the growing impact the globally-recognised professional recognition scheme is having on institutions worldwide.

Fellowship recognises professional best practice in the field of teaching and learning in higher education.

Individuals achieving one of Advance HE’s four categories of fellowship demonstrate the effectiveness of their practice and their impact on high quality student learning, either as someone working directly with students (Associate Fellows and Fellows) or as a leader of the educational practices of their colleagues (Senior and Principal Fellows).

Fellowship worldwide

The 170,000th higher education professional to be awarded Fellowship was Judy Clayton, Associate Lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Monash University, Melbourne, who was awarded Senior Fellowship. She is one of more than 15,000 individuals who have achieved fellowship outside the UK.

Advance HE Executive Director of Delivery, Knowledge and Quality, Tracy Bell-Reeves, said:

“Surpassing 170,000 fellows is a huge tribute to the sector globally.

“We know from independent research carried out by the University of Plymouth the impact that fellowship has on both individuals and institutions who embrace it.

“Not only does it improve the profile of teaching and learning across institutions, it stimulates the focus on professional development, encourages collaboration within and between institutions and increases research into teaching and learning.

Supporting teaching and learning excellence

“Our most recent research shows 92 per cent of accredited institutions use fellowship to support their own strategies for developing teaching and learning excellence. They increasingly see fellowship as crucial evidence of effective practice and figures suggest nearly 90 per cent are embedding fellowship within education-track career frameworks, such as probation and promotion pathways.

“We are delighted so many higher education institutions are embracing fellowship so wholeheartedly because it shows the value they themselves have chosen to place on it.

“We look forward to welcoming even more fellows from across the globe as we move towards accreditation under the revised Professional Standards Framework 2023 (PSF 2023). The revised framework was developed by the sector itself after extensive consultation and was launched in January 2023. It is more inclusive to a wider range of staff that teach and support learning. It places a greater emphasis on effective and inclusive practice within the many contexts in which higher education learning and teaching takes place globally.”

Advance HE Fellows typically say they value the validation fellowship gives them on a personal and professional level for their work in teaching and learning. They also say they appreciate fellowship for its power in raising the profile of teaching and learning within their institutions and across the higher education sector more widely.

Principal Fellows

Principal Fellowship recognises the importance of strategic leadership of learning and teaching on the student learning experience. . In Exploring the impact of Principal Fellowship on individuals and institutions (2022), Plymouth University found the main reasons that individuals with a sustained record of strategic leadership of  higher education applied for Principal Fellowship were:

• to benefit from the opportunity it gave them to critically reflect on their own practice
• to raise their profile as a leader of teaching and learning within their institution;
• to enhance their profile beyond their institution; and
• to encourage the recording of successes.

Dr Gwen Moore, Director of Teaching and Learning and Associate Professor at Mary Immaculate College (MIC), Limerick, said:

“The Principal Fellowship process was incredibly empowering. It pushed me to reframe my achievements, to put myself at the centre of my own career story and claim, in the first-person, the most impactful changes I had led and shaped.”

Associate Professor of Heriot-Watt University Dubai, Dr Rabee Rustrum, said

“The application was not easy. However, it was definitely worth it, and it makes me proud of my work. The whole process caused me to reflect on my academic practice in Syria, the UK, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. It also allowed me to understand the PSF in terms of its dimensions and how I apply these in my working environment. Added to that, Senior Fellowship has enhanced my confidence and motivated me to take other academic leadership roles.”

University Centre South Devon’s Head of Higher Education and Academic Registrar Higher Education, Alastair Wilson,  said:

 “Fellowship requires a process of reflection which is the real positive for staff, who don't really get the chance to look back at all the work that they do. They really appreciate the final outcome which is a full summary of their career in higher education. The response we get from staff is always excellent and they really appreciate the opportunity to develop themselves.”

There are two ways higher education professionals can apply for fellowship - directly to Advance HE or via their own institution if it has been accredited by Advance HE.

Fellowship worldwide

Globally, 178 institutions (145 UK and 33 outside the UK) are accredited by Advance HE to award fellowships via their own in-house programmes and schemes. Advance HE-accredited institutions include all types of higher education providers that have developed their own bespoke fellowship pathways – accredited and quality-assured by Advance HE -  designed to meet their own specific needs and aspirations to ensure high quality learning within their context.