UAL is committed to helping those involved in education receive recognition for their practice. One way to gain recognition is through an award of Advance HE accredited fellowship. Gaining fellowship shows a personal commitment to teaching, learning and the student experience. Fellowship provides formal recognition of your work. It is a useful way to reflect on your practice and invaluable for career planning and progression.
You can gain fellowship through two internal routes at UAL: the Professional Recognition Programme or the PgCert in Academic Practice.
Fellowship via the Professional Recognition Programme
UAL’s Professional Recognition Programme, run by the Reward and Recognition team, provides an accredited route to apply for fellowship. Anyone at UAL can apply for the appropriate descriptor (category) of fellowship without charge. You do not apply directly to Advance HE, but through an internal UAL submission process. There are three internal deadlines every year, typically in September, January and April.
The Professional Recognition Programme will help you determine the right fellowship descriptor, and give you structured guidance on how to prepare an application for Associate Fellowship (AFHEA), Fellowship (FHEA) or Senior Fellowship (SFHEA) of Advance HE. Apart from attending our guidance workshops, you don't have to undertake any formal structured academic study. You will need an independent and self-managed approach but will receive lots of help along the way.
If you are not sure if fellowship is for you, remember that the descriptors of fellowship don’t necessarily match with specific job titles, roles or seniority. A range of experience and contexts will allow you to gain fellowship.
How to apply for fellowship through the Professional Recognition Programme
- Consider which descriptor of fellowship is right for you. If you are not sure of the appropriate fellowship descriptor to apply for, you can use the Advance HE Fellowship decision tool. Advance HE also gives a useful summary of each descriptor. If you are still not sure, don’t worry: we can help you.
- Sign up for the next series of Professional Recognition Programme (PRP) workshops. Don’t worry if you can’t make all the dates. We record all sessions. By signing up we know you have an intention to submit and we can help you achieve your goals.
- We will register you on the Professional Recognition Programme Teams site which holds all guidance materials, templates and submission information.
- At an appropriate stage of the Programme, we can allocate you a mentor who can help review your submission draft on request.
- You submit your application to us and it will be reviewed by at least two reviewers from UAL. It will also be overseen by an exam board and external reviewer.
- We will inform you if you have gained fellowship. If you need to resubmit, we will help you reformulate your application for a future resubmission.
Contact recognition@arts.ac.uk for further guidance and details on how to apply to the UAL Professional Recognition Programme.
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Maria Ardila, around the college and studio, MA Fashion Entrepreneurship and Innovation, London College of Fashion,
Support workshops
(Online, monthly, 1 hour)
Fellowship via the PgCert Academic Practice
Another route to fellowship is through the PgCert in Academic Practice run by the Academic Practice Team. UAL’s Academic Practice qualifications are recognised and accredited by Advance HE and are part of the accredited University continuing professional development (CPD) framework.
You will gain Associate Fellow (AFHEA) if you do at least 35 hours a year of Higher Education teaching or learning support and you pass the PgCert Academic Practice. Eligible PgCert participants are then able to prepare a portfolio of evidence to apply for Fellowship (FHEA).
Principal Fellowship
Principal Fellowship (PFHEA) is awarded to a few individuals within Higher Education who are working at an institutional and/or national strategic level. Although we are not accredited for internal submissions for PFHEA, we can support a small number of strategic leaders each year to develop a direct application to Advance HE.
Please contact recognition@arts.ac.uk with the subject line ‘Principal Fellowship’ if you would like more information.
Case studies
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Image courtesy of Emily Lazerwitz
Emily Lazerwitz, AFHEA
Emily is Student Engagement Administrator, Study Abroad team, with Academic Enterprise
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Image courtesy of Allison Barclay
Allison Barclay, FHEA
Allison is a UAL Short Courses tutor in jewellery design
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Image courtesy of Craig Burston
Craig Burston, SFHEA
Craig is Year 1 Coordinator, BA (Hons) Graphic and Media Design, London College of Communication
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Image courtesy of Carys Kennedy
Carys Kennedy, SFHEA
Carys is Deputy Head of the Disability Service
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Image courtesy of Victoria Salmon
Victoria Salmon, SFHEA
Victoria is a Researcher/Practitioner for Academic Support and an Academic Support Lecturer
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Image courtesy of Puiyin Wong
Puiyin Wong, SFHEA
Puiyin is a Digital Learning Producer at Central Saint Martins