The Experiential Pathway is open to all staff (not on probation) wishing to develop an application for Advance HE Fellowship. The pathway provides support and guidance from beginning your application through to submission.
Which category of fellowship should I apply for?
Through the Pathways to Fellowship schemes, Bath is accredited by Advance HE to make awards in the following categories:
The most appropriate category for you will depend on your experience and the context of your current role. Fellowship categories do not necessarily correspond to the seniority of your role, and we recommend using the Advance HE Category Tool to help you consider which may be most relevant to you.
Follow the Grid of Requirements to understand what is needed to apply for fellowship.
You can also review these pen portraits, to give you an idea of the experience and development that is required.
What are the benefits?
Fellowship demonstrates a personal and institutional commitment to professionalism in learning and teaching in higher education. Achieving Fellowship gives you:
- recognition of your professional practice in learning and teaching
- evidence you can use for promotion
- an opportunity to benchmark your professional practice against the Professional Standards Framework 2023 (PSF)
Working towards SFHEA status was a rewarding and insightful opportunity to take stock on what I have achieved over the past years and take an active approach to reflecting and thinking about how to evolve my practice moving into the next stages of my career.
Experiential Pathway participant – SFHEA
The Pathway to Fellowship was an intensive yet rewarding experience…Most importantly it plants a seed for my personal teaching development, and I am excited to see how it grows over the next years.
Experiential Pathway participant – FHEA
What does the application involve?
Applications take the form of a written submission in which you reflect on how your experience and practice aligns to the Professional Standards Framework 2023 (PSF 2023). In addition, you will be asked for supporting statements from colleagues who are able to verify the content of your application. The submission length and expectations of evidence vary depending on the category being applied for. The submission requirements can be found in the Pathways to Fellowship Handbook (Pg 12)
Applications are reviewed by our reviewer team, comprised of staff across the University who have achieved fellowship themselves, and awards are formally approved by the Fellowship Panel. There are three opportunities in each academic year to submit your application.
What support is available to me?
Your Fellowship Champion is your primary source of information and support about applying for fellowship. They will be happy to help you explore the fellowship process and guide you as you develop your application.
The CLT Pathways team also offer regular, monthly one-to-one sessions where you can book a time to speak to one of the team.
How do I join the Experiential Pathway?
To formally join the Experiential Pathway, you are required to attend two introductory sessions:
- Introduction to AFHEA/FHEA/SFHEA: this session provides a short overview of the fellowship application process and helps ensure you have the relevant information to make an informed decision about whether to apply and to which category of fellowship. Once you have attended this session, you will be given access to the course page in Moodle, which has numerous resources.
- Reflective writing support – AFHEA/FHEA/SFHEA: if you are ready to commence your application, or have made a start already, this session will help you to reflect on your experience and practice and make links to the Professional Standards Framework 2023 as a basis for your written application.
Details of upcoming Introduction and Reflective writing sessions are available from the CLT events, where you can also sign-up.
Principal Fellowship support for 2025: The University has joined forces with some neighbouring universities to support prospective applicants wishing to apply for Principal Fellowship. A pilot programme of events have been organised and are available to book.
Additionally, those applying for Senior Fellow are welcome to join the writing retreats if interested, but must attend the University’s Introduction to Fellowship, to ensure the application process is fully understood. Attending a writing retreat will count as attending our own Reflective Writing Support session.
Who do I contact for more information?
Contact your Fellowship Champion in the first instance.
If you aren’t sure who your Champion is, or have a more general query, please feel free to contact the CLT Pathways team using acdev@bath.ac.uk.