Teaching Excellence Awards (NTFS and CATE)

The National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS) and Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE) are prestigious awards granted by Advance HE to identify, recognise and celebrate the UK’s most outstanding individuals and teams having an impact on student outcomes, student experience and the Higher Education sector.

National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS) 

National Teaching Fellowship celebrates outstanding individual impact. It celebrates and recognises individuals who have made an outstanding impact on student outcomes and the teaching profession in higher education.

The award has been running since 2000 and there are now nearly 900 National Teaching Fellows, with up to 55 individuals receiving the award each year. On gaining the award, Fellows play an ongoing role in enhancing teaching and learning within their institution, the HE sector, and further afield. A Higher Education Institution can nominate up to three individuals each year. Scotland joined the scheme in 2018, enabling colleagues in Scottish institutions to be eligible to apply for recognition as an NTF.

University of Edinburgh National Teaching Fellows:

2022: Catherine Bovill (Academic Development)  

2020: Michael Seery (Chemistry) (left UoE) 

2019: Heather McQueen (Biosciences)  

2018: Catriona Bell (Veterinary Medicine) (left UoE)  

Other colleagues joined The University of Edinburgh already having been awarded a National Teaching Fellowship:

2022: Leah Macaden (Nursing)

2006: Chris Sangwin (Mathematics)

Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE) 

Celebrates outstanding collaborative impact. It recognises and rewards collaborative work that has had a demonstrable impact on teaching and learning and where meaningful collaboration has been embedded into a project from its instigation. Introduced in 2016, the scheme highlights the key role of teamwork in higher education. The scheme has been running in Scotland since 2018 and each institution can nominate one team per year.

Find more information about the NTFS and CATE awards from Advance HE.

NTFS and CATE criteria

If you are interested in applying for a National Teaching Fellowship or CATE, or nominating a colleague or team for an award, please check the criteria carefully for each award first. 

NTFS Criteria

1: Individual excellence (Evidence of enhancing and transforming student outcomes and/or the teaching profession; demonstrating impact commensurate with the individual’s context and the opportunities afforded by it.) 

2: Raising the profile of excellence (Evidence of supporting colleagues and influencing support for student learning and/or the teaching profession; including demonstrating impact and engagement beyond the nominee’s immediate academic or professional role). 

3: Developing excellence (Show the nominee’s commitment to and impact of ongoing professional development with regard to teaching and learning and/or learning support.) 

Each of the three award criteria above is given equal consideration in the assessment process and weighted equally in the overall score. NTFS reviewers will be looking for evidence of value, reach, and impact to be demonstrated in the nomination. 

*Please note the NTFS does not have the same criteria as either Senior Fellowship of the HEA or Principal Fellowship of the HEA. NTFS places emphasis on an individual being able to evidence that they have demonstrated excellence in a coherent area of teaching and learning both within and outside their institution. This means NTFS candidates need to have had at least 3-5 years of experience of implementing and leading teaching enhancements in a particular area to be able to provide sufficient evidence of impact. It is also a UoE requirement that nominees for NTF from the University of Edinburgh already hold either Fellowship, Senior Fellowship or Principal Fellowship of the HEA. 

CATE Criteria

1: Excellence in the team’s collaborative approach (Evidence of excellence in the team’s approach to working collaboratively, commensurate with their context and the opportunities afforded by it.) 

2: Excellence in the impact of collaborative working (Evidence of the team having a demonstrable impact on teaching and learning, including beyond their immediate academic or professional area). 

Each of the two award criteria above is given equal consideration in the assessment process and weighted equally in the overall score. CATE reviewers will be looking for evidence of value, reach, and impact to be demonstrated in the nomination. FHEA/SFHEA/PFHEA is not required for CATE nominees.

About the nomination process

Anyone from within the University can nominate themselves or colleagues to be considered for selection as one of up to three University of Edinburgh NTFS applicants each year, or as the one CATE applicant the University can submit each year. To nominate yourself or a colleague, you need to submit a short nomination form (link at bottom of page). Completed nomination forms will be reviewed by a representative University Panel, who will decide the top three NTFS applicants and top CATE applicant. This decision will be based on nominees with the strongest match to criteria and therefore the best chance of winning an award. These three individuals and one team will be invited to develop their applications in the current academic year to submit to Advance HE for the early March deadline. Mentorship and support resources will be made available to the selected applicants.

Timeline

Deadline for submission of nomination forms:        Thursday 17 September 2026

Individuals / teams informed of Panel outcomes:          Monday 5 October 2026

Colleagues work on applications with mentorship:        October 2026-January 2027

Colleagues finalise application, and gather statements of support               January-February 2027

Applications submitted by the UoE Teaching Excellence Awards Lead for the University         Late February/Early March 2027

Please note that both NTFS and CATE are highly competitive and although the Advance HE reviewing process is robust, sometimes excellent applications are not successful. If you complete the application to AdvanceHE, but are unsuccessful, you are eligible to reapply by re-nominating yourself through the UoE selection panel the following year. You can nominate yourself or be nominated as many times as you wish, but you can only be selected by the Panel to submit an application to AdvanceHE up to a maximum of three times. 

Nominate yourself or a colleague

If you wish to nominate yourself or a colleague for NTF/CATE, please complete the short online nomination form. This form requires you to give some details of how you/the nominee meets the criteria for NTF/CATE. The panel will use this form to decide who to invite to submit a full application to AdvanceHE for the current academic year. 

Enquiries

To enquire about CATE and NTFS at the University of Edinburgh, please contact Professor Catherine Bovill or Dr Jenny Scoles. All enquiries will be treated confidentially.

Email: catherine.bovill@ed.ac.uk

Email: jenny.scoles@ed.ac.uk