The lead for inclusivity at University College Birmingham has been appointed to a national panel to scrutinise and improve on the quality of higher education in universities and colleges across the UK. 

Dr Devinder Rana-Rai, Director of Inclusive Curriculum and Higher Education Quality, is one of just 40 academic members to have been selected to review where higher education providers sit as part of the Teaching Excellence Framework run by the Office for Students (OfS). 

The review is part of a recent revision of the framework by the OfS to increase the level of student input into the assessment process, with both students and academics sitting on the panel. 

Dr Rana-Rai described the appointment as “an honour”.

“The Teaching Excellence Framework is an opportunity for providers of higher education to consolidate and continue their work on delivering excellence and quality in areas students care about most, learning, teaching, and their outcomes,” she said. 

“It is an honour to have been selected as an academic panel member.” 

The Teaching Excellence Framework assesses and rates universities and colleges for excellence above a set of minimum requirements for quality and standards. 

Encouraged to embrace real reflection and consideration, providers that take part can receive an overall rating, as well as two underpinning ratings – one for the student experience and one for student outcomes. 

With submissions entered in January 2023, overall ratings are classed as gold, silver, bronze or requiring improvement.

Dr Rana-Rai, who joined University College Birmingham in 2021, has been instrumental in developing strategic work on developing inclusivity and building equity that focuses on the success of all students and aims to eradicate all performance and awarding gaps. 

Raising discussion around strong leadership and the importance of conversations about race and changing cultural perceptions, the University is working closely on inclusivity with the University of Warwick as part of a wider partnership that aims to raise aspirations and elevate student outcomes.

Through a series of hybrid workshops, staff are invited to learn from each other’s approaches to inclusive learning, practical teaching and co-created curricula.

As part of her university role, Dr Rana-Rai leads on race equality training and 4by4 intervention and evaluation work in building equity into curriculum design and delivery. She is currently designing an inclusivity framework for curriculum design and delivery with staff and student co-creators.

Find out more about student life at University College Birmingham here.