Who can apply?

The STAR Framework is a flexible, achievable pathway towards Advance HE fellowship recognition using existing and past teaching experience to make your claim. It is designed to fit around your various roles and takes a broad definition of teaching; informal teaching and supervision can be used as effectively to make your claim as more formal lecturing. Given the impending introduction of the national Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), teaching and learning is becoming increasingly important even for those for whom teaching is not central to their role.

Even if you have relatively limited or narrow teaching experience, you may still be eligible to become an Associate Fellow of Advance HE and so the best place for you to start would be to attend a STAR introductory workshop. This will allow you to align your experiences with the requirements of the application and also find ways that you can improve your case for Associate Fellowship. An application at Associate Fellow level requires you to write a short account detailing your teaching experiences and reflecting on the way your teaching impacted on the learners. Even if your experience is not sufficient at the moment we will guide you as to how best to get the type of experience which will allow you to complete an application in the future.

The STAR Framework is a flexible, achievable pathway towards Advance HE fellowship recognition enabling you to use all of your existing and past teaching experience to make your claim. For more experienced teachers and teaching fellows it is likely that you will be able to achieve Fellowship or Senior Fellowship. The STAR Framework is designed to fit around busy academic schedules and enables you to get recognition for the full range of teaching, including informal teaching and supervision. For those for whom teaching is an important part of their role, professional recognition with fellowship can be important evidence in promotion and progression. Given the impending introduction of the national Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), this is becoming increasingly important across the whole UK higher education sector and beyond.

If you are a more experienced teacher with a wider range of skills related to teaching and learning you are likely to be eligible to apply for Advance HE fellowship recognition; and for those who have a leadership role within teaching you may be working towards Advance HE Senior Fellowship recognition. In order to gain Fellowship or Senior Fellowship you will need to write a reflective account of your own teaching experiences and the impact that your teaching has had on learners. This reflective account is based around key themes such as planning, teaching, assessment and feedback which form the basis of good practice in teaching. The best place to start would be to attend a STAR introductory workshop as this allows participants to begin writing their application and to find out about further professional development opportunities within teaching and learning.

Even for those who have a predominantly research role, professional recognition of teaching skills and experience can be important. Many funding providers are asking for specific evidence of public engagement and wider communication of research. Furthermore, given the impending introduction of the national Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), teaching and learning is becoming increasingly important even for those who are predominantly engaged with research.

The STAR Framework provides a flexible, achievable pathway towards Advance HE fellowship recognition using any teaching experience, including informal teaching and support, and research and student supervision. It is designed to fit around your research and other commitments and enable you to get recognition for any teaching that you do.

Obtaining Advance HE recognition demonstrates your commitment to good practice in teaching and by signing up to a STAR introductory workshop you will also find out how to further your professional development and experiences in this area. In order to gain recognition of fellowship you will be required to write a short application which will focus on your own teaching and what you have gained from these experiences. This application will allow you to outline the impact that your teaching has had on learners and the steps you have taken to improve your practice.

The STAR Framework offers a flexible, achievable pathway towards Advance HE fellowship recognition using any experience of teaching and supporting student learning to make a claim. Fellowship applications can be based on a very broad definition of teaching; anybody who supports student learning with advice, training or technical support can work towards fellowship. The Framework is designed to fit around various roles and be achievable for anybody supporting learning; it is not just for those with formal teaching responsibility.

Those in a role which involves supporting the teaching work of other colleagues or student learning may be eligible to apply for Advance HE recognition of Associate Fellowship. This is a great way to have your valuable contribution to best practice in teaching and learning formally recognised, even if you do not undertake formal lectures or tutorials. The best place to start would be to sign up to a STAR introductory workshop.