Edinburgh Teaching Award (EdTA)

The EdTA is the University of Edinburgh’s route to the four fellowship categories of the Higher Education Academy, accredited by Advance HE; Associate Fellow, Fellow, Senior Fellow and Principal Fellow.

The Fellowship scheme is a well-established and internationally respected route for recognising professionalism in academic practice administered by Advance HE. When you achieve any category of Fellowship, you gain a way to evidence your professional practice in higher education that is increasingly recognised throughout international HE sector.

Introducing the Edinburgh Teaching Award - short video

How to gain the award

To gain an Edinburgh Teaching Award at any category, you will prepare a submission that demonstrates your achievement against the relevant descriptor from the Professional Standards Framework 2023 (PSF2023). The PSF2023 is a framework for comprehensively recognising and benchmarking teaching and learning support roles within Higher Education.

Professional Standards Framework 2023

Edinburgh Teaching Award Category 1 = Associate Fellowship of the HEA
Edinburgh Teaching Award Category 2 = Fellowship of the HEA
Edinburgh Teaching Award Category 3 = Senior Fellowship of the HEA
Edinburgh Teaching Award Category 4 = Principal Fellowship of the HEA

If you are unsure which category of the Edinburgh Teaching Award would suit you then try the Advance HE Fellowship Category Tool which might help you define your roles within a certain category:

Advance HE Fellowship Category Tool

You will prepare and submit your claim through a private WordPress site provided to you on registration to the EdTA. Guidance on what exactly is expected is provided in handbooks and other resources on the EdTA WordPress site, to which you will also be enrolled on registration.

Participation in the EdTA (Edinburgh Teaching Award) involves engaging in continuing professional development designed to give you rich opportunities to reflect on teaching and assessment practices in ways that are meaningful and relevant for your particular role and career stage.

All EdTA participants are supported by a trained EdTA Mentor and there are a series of workshops and writing retreats to support your EdTA journey throughout the year.

Who is eligible?

Anyone who is employed to teach or support learning at Edinburgh University. We welcome applicants from Professional Services. Clinical or workplace staff who provide work-based teaching are also eligible.

Unfortunately, we cannot support Masters or Undergraduate students who engage in peer teaching or mentoring.

It is also possible to apply directly to Advance HE.

Advance HE - find out more about the Fellowship levels

As the University of Edinburgh is a subscribing member of Advance HE, any member of staff or student who teaches/supports learning is eligible for 50% discount on the fee for direct application.

EdTA Mentors

EdTA Mentors are trained to support participants. EdTA Mentors can support mentees at the same category or lower than their own.

Mentoring is a rewarding collegial activity and our mentors are fully supported to remain up to date with the Professional Standards Frameworks through a series of workshops throughout the year.

We are always looking for new mentors and welcome anyone that has a category of fellowship at D1 or above to join our EdTA Mentors team. Please get in touch through the email below.

EdTA Local Mentoring Schemes: Some Schools have set up Local Mentoring Schemes to support their staff (often postgraduate tutors) to gain fellowships. You can contact the EdTA team below to find out if there is one running in your School.

If you are interested in setting up an EdTA Local Mentoring Scheme, please contact us at the email address below.

How to apply

There are two entry points for the EdTA per year, usually in November and March. If you would like to join the waiting list, please fill in the form. Please note, cohorts are currently over-subscribed and there is a waiting list for joining and this list is quite long. Once we receive your form, you will be registered on the interested parties list and notified as soon as you gain a place and start point. We are sorry if this takes some time and thank you for your patience.

To join the waiting list, please fill in the form:

Form for interested parties