Everything you wanted to know about National Teaching Fellowships but were afraid to ask…

Do the UK’s National Teaching Fellowships (NTFs) deliver what they promise: reward for excellent higher education teachers? 

Teaching could be described as the Cinderella of higher education – often overlooked and underrated. A key reason for awarding fellowships is to elevate teaching in terms of esteem, and to redress the actuality or perception that the researchers get all the goodies. Although, if we follow the money, it is teaching (via student tuition fees), and not research, that provides the lion’s share of UK higher education institution (HEI) funding. 

Universities UK (the voice of 141 UK universities) figures back this up: “In 2021−22, the total reported income of UK higher education institutions was £44.1 billion. Just over half (£23.4 billion) of this income was sourced through tuition fees.” 

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An NTF, in the words of sponsor Advance HE, “recognises, rewards and celebrates individuals who have made an outstanding impact on student outcomes and the teaching profession”. The scheme started in 2000, and there are now well over 600 fellowship recipients across the UK.

Applications for fellowship are peer assessed by existing NTFs and judged against three criteria: 

• evidencing individual excellence in enhancing and transforming student outcomes and/or the teaching profession 
• demonstrating that applicants are raising the profile of excellence through supporting colleagues and influencing support for student learning and/or the teaching profession
• convincing how they are developing excellence through continued professional development.

But do these awards have an elevating effect?

I surveyed 608 fellows via the NTF’s online platform in spring 2024. My research focused on whether, and to what extent, gaining an NTF generated reward for the individual. The survey sought responses on whether NTFs received institutional help with their submission (for example, mentoring by an NTF at their HEI), and whether their fellowship came with any money and, if so, how much and who from. Respondents were also asked if their NTF had generated indirect benefits, such as contributing to a promotion. And finally did – or would – a personal financial award encourage them to apply for a fellowship?

I gained a response from 158 out of 608 teaching fellows (26 per cent). At just over one in four of all NTFs on the circulation list, the replies highlight patterns and trends.

A key consideration is the money – or lack of it. Over time, we can see in financial terms just how (under)valued excellent university teaching is. In years 2000 to 2005, the Higher Education Academy (the predecessor to Advance HE) awarded £50,000 to NTFs to undertake teaching-related projects. From 2006 to 2015, individuals received £10,000 to spend on their continuing professional development. I was extremely lucky to have been one of these. In 2016-17, the individual payment dropped to £5,000 per head. And since 2018, NTFs have received nothing from Advance HE or the UK government. 

This intergenerational disparity seems unfair; if I was deemed worthy of a £10,000 reward in 2007, why is an NTF in 2024 not treated in the same way?

So, have HEIs taken up the slack and rewarded their fellows? From my survey, only 12 universities (from more than 160 in the UK) offered a financial reward, which ranged from £1,000 to £5,000 per head. So, the message, in terms of immediate financial benefit, would seem to be: “We may offer you warm words of congratulation, but expect no accompanying financial gain.”

However, some NTFs did believe that their fellowship – to a greater or lesser extent – contributed to a successful bid for promotion. Of 156 respondents, 28 (18 per cent) replied that they had received no indirect benefits from their award, while 14 prefaced an indirect gain with words such as “possible”, “potentially”, “may have contributed”, “probably contributed”, “I am not sure” or “perhaps”. The exact significance of a fellowship to promotion still needs to be pinned down through further, detailed, research.

The survey also asked: “Did – or would – a personal financial award encourage you to apply for an NTF?” The result? Of 158, 84 respondents said that a personal financial award would or did encourage them to apply for an NTF. 

So, where does this leave NTFs? 

Survey responses offered me ideas for simple adjustments to recognise and celebrate individuals. 

First, as announcing successful NTFs in the middle of the summer break “is probably not great in terms of wider dissemination”, I suggest full fanfare in the dark days of January, as a new year boost. 

Second, new NTFs could be invited to give a learning and teaching public lecture, as new professors are often asked to deliver an inaugural lecture when they join an institution.

There is also a need to learn from the minority of UK HEIs that reward their new NTFs with a cash payment – who are they? How much do they offer? And how does the payment work? The Association of National Teaching Fellows could undertake such a study.

Furthermore, 37 respondents (23 per cent) reported that, in their experience, the NTF was misunderstood, disparaged, invisible or treated with indifference by colleagues and managers. This needs to change. Survey respondents urged Advance HE and NTF host institutions to make a greater “song and dance” about the awards; and HEIs should use their NTFs as a resource to contribute to changes that improve teaching and learning for students and staff.

Returning to the focus of this article and whether NTFs deliver direct gain to excellent HE teachers, the answer would seem to be “somewhat” – but not immediately. The NTF accords with the Collins Dictionary definition of a “reward” (“something that you are given, for example because you have behaved well, worked hard, or provided a service to the community”) rather than an “award” (“money or a prize following an official decision”).

James Derounian lectures on community governance. He is a National Teaching Fellow and a visiting professor at the University of Bolton, UK.