Teaching excellence

Here at ARU, we're proud of our teaching quality, which has been recognised by external commendations and awards – and by our students through national surveys.

Staff teaching qualifications and recognition

Our academic teaching staff are among the most qualified and recognised in the country.

  • According to figures provided by the Higher Education Academy (HEA), in 2017-2018 the percentage of our teaching staff who were recognised by the HEA was over 78%, against a sector average of 42%.
  • The most recent figures (2015-16) from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) put us in the top 16 institutions in England for the percentage of staff holding a teaching qualification: 76% against a sector average of 51%.
  • In April 2019, Sian Shaw and Louise Jenkins of FHEMS won the Best Transformational Project at the eAssessment Awards for their work with MyKnowledgeMap on the digital transformation of practice assessment.
  • In September 2018, Senior Learning Technologist Paul Driver won the prestigious Association for Learning Technology Learning Technologist of the Year award for his innovative work with virtual reality here at ARU.
  • In June 2017 Dr Zoë Bennett was presented with the Lanfranc Award for Education and Scholarship for her 'outstanding contribution to theological education in East Anglia and beyond'.
  • A number of our academic teachers/supporters of learning have been successful in achieving University Teaching Fellowships for the excellence of their teaching.
  • In December 2017, Dr Mat Timmis was accredited by the British Association for Sport and Exercise Science (BASES) for applied sport/exercise science pedagogy and is one of a handful people in the country who have achieved this award.

We support the development of teaching excellence by annually offering any colleagues who are involved in teaching or supporting learning, the chance to be awarded a grant which they may use to develop their teaching practice. Many of these projects result in enhancements to the student learning experience, and are saved in our Pedagogic Resource Directory (under construction in new location), which you are free to access.

We have a thriving community of academics who are committed to improving learning and teaching practice. They're supported by Anglia Learning & Teaching.

Awards and recognition

We're proud to have received a number of awards for the quality of our teaching, learning facilities and courses. Read about some of our recent successes.