Information on the Pathway to Fellowship for probationary lecturers

The Pathway to Fellowship for probationary lecturers is a work-based curriculum of core and choice activities aimed at developing your understanding of academic practice within your individual, departmental and disciplinary context. Successful completion will lead to Fellowship.

Who should follow this programme?

Under the University’s minimum requirements for new teaching staff, lecturers on probation (permanent and fixed term contracts), are required to complete Probationary Pathway to Fellowship programme as part of their probation requirements.

In certain circumstances, probationers can make a claim to APEL from engaging with the mandatory PHEAF Scheme, based on prior experience and submission of relevant documentation. The probationer would typically have fellowship of Advance HEA or make an APEL claim against accepted and documented prior experience.  To apply for APEL, the probationer must submit an AP(E)L form with any associated evidence to the Curriculum and Academic Development team for consideration.

If you can provide documentary evidence of either the successful completion of probation of a similar nature at a comparable institution or of having gained equivalent experience, you may – at the University’s discretion – be granted exemption from probation.  All claims for exemption from probation should be discussed with your Head of Department/ Division, before completing the form. The form includes instructions on how it should be completed and who needs to sign off the various stages.

Benefits of following the probationary Pathway to Fellowship

By following the Pathway to Fellowship for probationary lecturers, you will have an opportunity to:

  • develop the initial understanding, skills, knowledge and confidence to prepare you to become a competent and effective teacher and research manager
  • question, evaluate and develop your practice using regular critical reflection in order to improve the quality of the student learning and/or your research achievements and supervision
  • critique current scholarship in academic practice, develop critical analyses of teaching approaches and research management and develop your own practice in light of these analyses
  • develop appropriate strategies to become effective and efficient members of the academic community
  • meet your personal and professional development needs in a systematic, effective and efficient way

How will the programme be delivered?

In 2023-24, the majority of sessions in the probationary Pathway will be delivered in person but there will be options to attend some sessions remotely using Teams or Zoom.

All core sessions and most choice sessions of the programme will run twice a year (some 3 times). The schedule will be published in advance to help you plan.

Next steps

For those new to the University and on probation, the Curriculum and Academic Development team (CAD) will normally make contact to invite you to attend, but you are quite welcome to contact us at any time.

We have developed some videos to talk you through the basics of the UKPSF and HEA Fellowship and recommend you watch them before attending the Induction to PHEAF.

Grids of Requirements and Session Planners

Please find below the Grid of Requirements detailing the mandatory core and choice sessions to be attended, depending on the fellowship to be applied for. To work alongside the Grid; Planners have bookable live dates for all sessions to be delivered in the current academic year. It is recommended that you keep a record of the sessions you have booked and attended, to track your progress.

Key Information