Support for Fellowship applications

This support session is aimed at colleagues who are starting the process of completing their Principal Fellow direct application (Descriptor 4 of the PSF 2023). A strong RSEI is the foundation of a successful application. This session supports participants to identify their strongest examples of strategic leadership and and use these to structure an effective application

Principal Fellowship is for individuals who can demonstrate a sustained record of effectiveness in strategic leadership of high-quality learning. They should be able to show that this leadership has had an extensive impact within or beyond an institution or across a discipline or profession.

Participants will be asked to complete a template in order to collate their most significant strategic leadership activities drawn from recent practice (normally within the last five to seven years). Participants will receive constructive feedback in a virtual one-to-one, one-hour session with an experienced Advance HE PSF Consultant / Reviewer to help them progress their Principal Fellow application. 

Interested participants can register their interest to receive a directed template to complete and will be contacted directly to arrange a convenient time for a virtual one-to-one session with the reviewer. 

We have a number of services available to support you if you are thinking of applying for one of our categories of Fellowship, from our category tool to help you find out which category is most closely aligned to your practice, to online courses and writing retreats designed to help you create an application that fully reflects your practice.

Fellowship demonstrates a personal and institutional commitment to professionalism in higher education and provides individuals with recognition of their practice, impact and leadership of teaching and learning. We award four different categories of Fellowship: Associate Fellowship, Fellowship, Senior Fellowship and Principal Fellowship.

These four categories reflect the wide range of professional practice carried out by individuals who teach and/or support learning in higher education; from those who have a partial role in teaching/supporting learning through to senior professionals with strategic impact on teaching and learning in an organisational, national and/or international setting.

Next steps

After you have prepared your application by utilising either the Fellowship Application Builder or a Writing Retreat, you can find out more about how to apply for each category of Fellowship in our dedicated Fellowship section.

Fellowship Category Tool

Not sure which category to apply for? Our Fellowship Category Tool has been designed to help you to reflect on your practice.

After answering multiple-choice questions, which will take around 10-20 minutes, you will be sent a PDF report summarising your responses. The results will help you understand which category of Fellowship most closely reflects your current practice and to reflect on your ongoing professional development and career aspirations.

Support for direct Fellowship applications

Advance HE is delighted to offer the Fellowship Application Builder: a six-week online, self-directed course designed to enable individuals to use their experience of their teaching and supporting learning practice in higher education to develop a direct application for Fellowship (Descriptor 2 of the PSF).

This fully online course has been developed to provide an accessible and convenient format for you, with a time commitment of 2-3 hours per week. It provides the support and guidance to develop your application for Fellowship (FHEA), to help you as you prepare for submission. Access to the course materials will also be available for a further two weeks to allow you some time to revisit any of the units and activities so that you can finalise your application ready for submission. 

There are six units of study (over six consecutive weeks):

Each unit is self-directed to be undertaken at your own pace, with a synchronous one-hour session taking place between units 3 and 4, this session will be scheduled after enrolment to ensure a convenient time for all participants, including those from different time zones.

• Unit 1: Welcome to the course, Orientation and Introduction
• Unit 2: Working with the Professional Standards Framework (PSF 2023)
• Unit 3: Writing for success
• Unit 4: Building your application
• Unit 5: Supporting Statement and essential components of the application
• Unit 6: Submitting your application

Senior Fellow Writing Retreats

The online Advance HE Senior Fellow Writing Retreat is an invaluable opportunity to take some time and space to progress your application to become a Senior Fellow, receiving expert analysis and feedback in the process. Held over one day, the retreat offers you the chance to transform your notes and thoughts into an application aligned with the criteria for Senior Fellowship of the Professional Standards Framework for Teaching and Supporting Learning in Higher Education (PSF 2023). 

Senior Fellowship is suitable for individuals whose comprehensive understanding and effective practice provide a basis from which they lead or influence those who teach and/or support high-quality learning.