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Staff 2020/21 - Academic teaching qualification

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Staff 2020/21

Fields required from institutions in All fields

Academic teaching qualification


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valid entries
Typefield
Short nameACTCHQUAL
Description

This field records whether or not academic staff hold a higher education teaching qualification, another relevant teaching qualification, or have been recognised in other ways for their teaching expertise.

Applicable toEngland Northern Ireland Scotland Wales
Coverage

All staff at higher education providers (HEPs) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland where any (Contract.ACEMPFUN is coded 1 or 3 and Contract.TERMS is coded 1 or 2).
Optional for HEPs in Scotland where any (Contract.ACEMPFUN is coded 1 or 3 and Contract.TERMS is coded 1 or 2).

Valid entries and labels
CodeLabel
01Successfully completed an institutional provision in teaching in the higher education sector accredited against the UK Professional Standards Framework
06Holder of a National Teaching Fellowship Scheme Individual Award
07Holder of a PGCE in higher education, secondary education, further education, life long learning or any other equivalent UK qualification
08Accredited as a teacher of their subject by a professional UK body
09Other UK accreditation or qualification in teaching in the higher education sector
10Overseas accreditation or qualification for any level of teaching
11Recognised by Advance HE as an Associate Fellow against Descriptor 1 of the UKPSF
12Recognised by Advance HE as a Fellow against Descriptor 2 of the UKPSF
13Recognised by Advance HE as a Senior Fellow against Descriptor 3 of the UKPSF
14Recognised by Advance HE as a Principal Fellow against Descriptor 4 of the UKPSF
15Recognised by SEDA against Descriptor 1 of the UKPSF
16Recognised by SEDA against Descriptor 2 of the UKPSF
90Not known
99No academic teaching qualification held
Notes

There is no implied hierarchy in the valid entries, neither is there any implied equivalence. Only qualifications for teaching in higher education should be returned in this field, other qualifications are not considered to be a teaching qualification. For new members of staff in the 2020/21 collection code 01 should not be returned.

Code 01

Courses recognised by SEDA against its Named Awards that are accredited against the UKPSF (Supporting Learning; Learning Teaching and Assessing) can be coded as 01 'Successfully completed an institutional provision in teaching in the higher education sector accredited against the UK Professional Standards Framework' as in previous years for continuity or can be mapped to the new codes 15 and 16.

Qualifications that predate the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) should also be coded 01 'Successfully completed an institutional provision in teaching in the higher education sector accredited against the UK Professional Standards Framework'.

The code 01 has been included this year for continuity. However, we will look to discontinue code 01 in future years, therefore any staff previously returned under the 2018-19 valid entry '01 Successfully completed an institutional provision in teaching in the higher education sector accredited against the UK Professional Standards Framework', who do not fall into the new codes for 2019-20 of 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 or 16, or where a staff member attends an accredited course that leads to an award, but has not gone forward for the accreditation, should be returned under valid entry '09 - Other UK accreditation or qualification in teaching in the higher education sector'.

Code 06

Higher education providers (HEPs) should return code 06 'Holder of a National Teaching Fellowship Scheme Individual Award' for staff who have been recognised by Advance HE (or previously the Higher Education Academy) at any time.

Code 07

The following items should be coded 07 'Holder of a PGCE in higher education, secondary education, further education, life long learning or any other equivalent UK qualification':

  • Qualifications that lead to QTS that are not PGCE.
  • Diploma in Teaching in the Lifelong Learning Sector (DTLLS).
  • Diploma in Education and Training.

Code 09

HEPs considering the return of valid entry 09 'Other UK accreditation or qualification in teaching in the higher education sector' because it is believed the current list does not incorporate a UK accreditation or qualification held by a member of staff, please contact Liaison in the first instance.

Code 10

Where overseas accreditation and qualifications are achieved at any level code as 10 'Overseas accreditation or qualification for any level of teaching'.

Codes 11-14

Examples of Advance HE awards include:

  • Associate Fellow - code 11
  • Fellow - code 12
  • Senior Fellow - code 13
  • Principal Fellow - code 14
An individual can only hold one of the awards accredited against codes 11, 12, 13, and 14 at a given point in time.

Higher education providers (HEPs) should return code 06 'Holder of a National Teaching Fellowship Scheme Individual Award' for staff who have been recognised by Advance HE (or previously the Higher Education Academy) at any time.

Please contact Advance HE via [email protected] to obtain data on individuals recognised as Fellows (codes 11, 12, 13 and 14), or a National Teaching Fellow (code 06), that are currently recorded as employed at your organisation.

Codes 15 and 16

Examples of SEDA awards:

  • Supporting Learning has been mapped to Descriptor 1, therefore return code 15
  • Learning, Teaching, and Assessing to Descriptor 2, therefore return code 16

Please note that this alignment and its recording are quite separate from the use of the UKPSF made by Advance HE to accredit programmes to award Advance HE fellowships.

City and Guilds teaching qualifications should be coded either to 09 'Other UK accreditation or qualification in teaching in the higher education sector' or to 07 'Holder of a PGCE in higher education, secondary education, further education, life long learning or any other equivalent UK qualification', where the qualification is equivalent and leads to Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).

It is important that what is returned in this field is up to date, to reflect any qualification changes while a member of staff is in their current post, and that the HEP does not rely on the information provided upon appointment.

For the purposes of this field, any Teaching English as a foreign language qualification should be returned as code 99 'No academic teaching qualification held'.

Quality rules
Quality rules relating to this entity are displayed here.
Part of
Field length2
Minimum occurrences0
Maximum occurrences6
Schema components
Element: ACTCHQUAL
OwnerHESA
Version1.0
Change management notesValid entries 02, 03, 04 and 04 have been removed. Guidance has been updated for valid entry 01.

Contact Liaison by email or on +44 (0)1242 388 531.