Sheffield Education Officer ‘thrilled’ at vote to end TEF’s tuition fee tie

House of Lords has rejected plans to link the two together


It has been announced that tuition fees must not be linked to the Teaching Education Framework (TEF), under a House of Lords amendment to the government’s Higher Education Bill.

The bill would have allowed universities to increase their fees on account of a high TEF rating.

However, proposing the amendment, Labour peer Lord Kerslake said that the scheme is ‘not ready’ to assess the quality of teaching.

He said the TEF rating ‘will relate to the university, not the subject or course’, meaning it is ‘perfectly possible’ for a bad course at a good university to be subject to the same fee rises.

Under last night’s amendment, backed 263 votes to 211, TEF ‘must not be used to rank English higher education providers’ with regard to fees charged to home or international students.

Ali Day led the 'Shef Better Than TEF' campaign.

Ali Day led the ‘Shef Better Than TEF’ campaign.

Ali Day, the Students’ Union education officer who led the ‘Shef Better Than TEF’ campaign, said that the officer team was “absolutely thrilled” at the vote.

“One of the main reasons I decided to run to be Education Officer was to fight the TEF, so I can’t quite explain how happy I am.

“It shows the real power students have in influencing decision-makers when we come together, and I’m so proud of everyone who has been involved both nationally and at the University of Sheffield.”

Ali Day is still campaigning to boycott the National Student Survey (NSS) as "the fight is not over yet".

Ali Day is still campaigning to boycott the National Student Survey (NSS).

Yet she added that ‘the fight is not over yet’, as the legislation will now return to the House of Commons. The amendment must be approved by both chambers to become law.

“It’s now more important than ever to build on this momentum and continue to push back against the government, through boycotting the National Student Survey (NSS) and lobbying MPs.”

“This is the closest we’ve come to stopping the TEF and preventing fees from rising and we can’t hold back now.”