Foreword As this edition of Arches went to press, we learned that the University had received a Gold Award in the UK government’s Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). The news is the best possible outcome for the University and is a ringing endorsement of our long tradition of excellence in teaching. Newcastle University was founded in 1834 to educate the pioneers of the industrial revolution – individuals who would go on to make advances in engineering, mining, shipbuilding, agriculture and public health that would resonate around the world. Teaching was then, and is still, at the heart of our University: at Newcastle we educate for life, developing and nurturing successive generations of creative practitioners, clinicians, scientists, engineers, social scientists and educationalists and setting them on the path to success. Today, we remain fully committed to delivering the best possible educational experience for our students and we are rewarded by consistently good results in the National Student Survey, the International Student Barometer and the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) review. These are fantastic achievements and they owe a great deal to the passion, dedication and energy of our students and our academic staff. Achieving a TEF Gold Award is an affirmation of our commitment to providing our students with excellent opportunities and investing in the highquality facilities they need and expect. While we can in no way rest on our laurels, we can be confident that we have firm foundations on which we will continue to build in order to ensure that a Newcastle University degree – your degree – is recognised worldwide as a hallmark of excellence. Professor Chris Day Vice-Chancellor and President
Read our TEF submission at bit.ly/TEFnewcastle
Arches | The Newcastle University Alumni Magazine
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