Teaching awards are to be launched this week in response to the University of Edinburgh’s poor performance in the recent National Student Survey (NSS), the largest nationwide study of student satisfaction

The proposed awards are claimed to be the first of their kind in Scotland and aim to acknowledge the University’s top teaching staff.

The NSS survey, which takes into account the views of 220,000 final-year students, shows that general satisfaction with teaching at the university has fallen to 71.1 per cent, down from 82 per cent in 2007.           

Students will be able to nominate lecturers, tutors and dissertation supervisors in categories such as ‘outstanding communicator’ and ‘best use of innovative teaching methods.’

Robert Jenkin, the Students' Association Teaching and Learning Convener said: “One reason for the university’s poor performance is that the systems put in place by the university and the government have failed to give great teachers the recognition they deserve.”

In recent weeks, the university has been hit with criticism that teaching standards have been sacrificed for a higher quality of research.

Guy Bromley, the Vice-President Academic Affairs, told Student: “There's a 
great injustice that those academics that put in a great deal of personal effort into delivering good teaching for their students go unrewarded, and colleagues that do not expend this effort often benefit because they are able to spend more time on their research.”

He also said, “It can't be right that teaching is seen as a less important activity than research - it's time everyone in the university woke up to the idea that disseminating knowledge and understanding should be as vital as advancing it.”

It is now the University’s desire to shift focus from academic research and once again put undergraduate teaching front and centre. This view is shared by Professor Judith Green, a lecturer and Director of Studies at the university, who told Student that her, “personal view is that the primary stimulus to effective teaching is first and last students and the opportunity to share an enthusiasm for the subject with them.”  

The awards will be open throughout next semester and are being sponsored by the Spanish Banco Santander, who are eager to show “that one of Europe's largest employers puts high value on well taught undergraduates.”

The launch of the EUSA awards be held in Teviot on Tuesday 2 December and students will be able to nominate those teachers who deserve recognition online at www.eusa.ed.ac.uk/teachingawards. An award ceremony will take place later on in the spring.