The Office for Students has proposed a new way to assess student outcomes in future Teaching Excellence Framework checks, tying ratings to continuation, completion and post-study performance. The plan would place more weight on both absolute results and benchmarked comparisons, and it could affect how providers are rated across England.
Key facts
- The proposal was published on 22 October 2026 by the Office for Students.
- Student outcomes would be assessed through three criteria: continuation, completion and post-study outcomes.
- Bronze would mean outcomes meet minimum requirements, while Silver and Gold would mean outcomes exceed them.
- Providers could receive Requires improvement if continuation or completion outcomes fall below minimum requirements.
- The OfS says providers may submit contextual information to explain historical performance or improvement actions.
What does this mean for students and universities?
The proposal matters most to higher education providers in England that would be judged in future TEF assessments. For students, it is intended to make ratings reflect both success during study and outcomes after graduation, rather than allowing strong performance in one area to offset weakness in another. The OfS says higher ratings would require consistently strong performance across a provider’s provision and student population.
For universities and colleges, the practical effect is that continuation and completion would be judged against both benchmarks and absolute thresholds. The OfS says rates at least five percentage points above the minimum threshold would normally indicate high performance, while rates of at least 95 per cent would normally indicate outstanding performance. Providers would also be able to supply contextual evidence about historical performance or the impact of actions taken to improve outcomes.
- Who is affected: providers assessed under future TEF student outcomes rules.
- What is assessed: continuation, completion and positive post-study outcomes.
- How ratings work: Bronze for minimum requirements, Silver and Gold for stronger performance, and Requires improvement where outcomes are below minimum requirements.
- What providers can do: submit contextual information to explain performance or improvement work.
How would the new rating system work?
Under the proposal, student outcomes would be judged against three criteria: continuation, completion and post-study outcomes. The OfS says higher ratings would require strong performance both during study and beyond it, and that strength in one area would not fully compensate for weakness in another. It also says weaker outcomes in significant parts of a provider’s provision could limit the overall rating.
The draft definitions align Bronze with satisfactory outcomes, Silver with high rates of student success and Gold with consistently outstanding outcomes. Requires improvement would apply when outcomes are unsatisfactory during or beyond study in one or more significant areas. In some cases, if data are too limited or not statistically reliable, student outcomes would not be assessed.
Why is the OfS changing the approach?
The regulator says the revised definitions are designed to reflect what matters to students: succeeding while studying and gaining value after graduation. It also wants the TEF to integrate condition B3 assessments more coherently, using a mix of benchmarked indicators and context rather than relying on a single measure.
For continuation and completion, the OfS proposes considering both benchmarked performance and absolute performance. For post-study outcomes, it proposes using a basket of benchmarked measures, with no single metric determining the judgement alone. Progression would normally need to be among the indicators if an unsatisfactory post-study judgement is made.
What counts as high or outstanding performance?
For continuation and completion, the OfS says performance can be judged high either by meeting the provider’s benchmark or by exceeding minimum thresholds by at least five percentage points with strong statistical certainty. Outstanding performance would mean either being materially above benchmark or reaching at least 95 per cent in absolute terms.
For post-study outcomes, the OfS would not use absolute thresholds. Instead, it would look at the overall pattern across progression, use of skills and earnings, giving greater weight to the strongest measures while checking that weaker measures do not undermine the overall picture.
