By applying for fellowship through LEAP you’ll have access to the online resources and support mechanisms that have been developed to support you with your application. LEAP is also free to staff and students registered at the University (and to practice educators employed by our partner organisations) whereas there is an application fee for each application submitted directly to Advance HE (see Advance HE direct application costs for further information). The application format is also slightly different, although the fellowship criteria is the same.

Please note Advance HE launched the new Professional Standards Framework (PSF) 2023 in January 2023. We will be continuing to use the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) 2011 until 1st September 2024. If you apply directly to Advance HE you now have to map your experience to the new PSF 2023.

Once registered on the LEAP you will retain your place for two years or until the current accreditation runs out. After two years on the programme or after the current accreditation with AdvanceHE expires (whichever comes first) your registration on the programme will expire and you will need to re-register on the programme at the next available date. Please note that our current accreditation expires on 31st August 2024.

If you are completing LEAP through a bespoke cohort (e.g. LEAP for the NHS or LEAP for PASS Leaders and Peer Mentors) please contact your cohort lead for further advice. 

No. We recommend that you identify and apply for the level of fellowship that is most appropriate for your current practice and experience. You also don't need to work through the categories sequentially for example, if you have Associate Fellowship you can jump straight to applying for Senior Fellowship as long as you can evidence against the Descriptor.

If you already have a teaching qualification (e.g. a PG certificate) you can still apply for LEAP and Advance HE fellowship to support your professional development activity and development as an educator. Your previous qualifications and experience can be useful tools in helping you to produce your fellowship application.

LEAP has been designed to support you in evidencing your existing experience in teaching and/or supporting learning against the descriptors of the UKPSF. You should discuss your options with your line manager/supervisor to determine which type of development programme best suits your professional development goals and teaching and learning needs. Depending on your experience completion of the New Academics Programme, the PGCert in Higher Education or the PGCert in Medical and Healthcare Education may be more suitable.

The time it takes for an individual to complete their application varies depending on where you are in your teaching and learning journey. We recommend setting some time aside where possible so that you can work on your fellowship application but also appreciate that this can be difficult particularly during busy times. To help you block out some time, you may want to consider booking on to one of the Institute of Teaching and Learning's Pomodoro sessions.

The fellowship category you choose to apply for will depend on how much of the Professional Standards Framework (PSF) that you can evidence against. If you are unsure which category of fellowship to apply for, we recommend that you complete the Advance HE fellowship category tool. If you're still unsure you can also talk to LEAP alumni within your local area, your line manager/supervisor or the LEAP team.

If you are interested in applying for Principal Fellowship, please watch the 'What is Principal Fellowship?' video from Prof Judy Williams.

You can evidence your fellowship award in your promotion application as this forms part of a national teaching recognition framework and enables external benchmarking of your activities. In recent reviews of the University promotions criteria for example, there has been careful consideration of the UKPSF when considering teaching and so it may help you when drawing evidence together.

Using the same people as referees is fine, but they will need to write a new reference that is relevant to the level of fellowship and the experience detailed in your application. You can help your referees by talking them through the points that you’d like them to cover and by providing some pointers but you should take care to ensure that your references are different from one another and any submitted previously to avoid any risk of academic malpractice. Similarly, you can use the same teaching experience in your case studies but should take care to write/present this in the lens of the descriptor for which you are now applying, avoiding any direct duplication from a previous application.

The teaching and learning practice that you evidence in your application should be current (i.e. from the last five years) and linked to your activities teaching and/or supporting learners registered on University of Manchester higher education programmes. However, you can use teaching experience that is older than five years or from another institution as long as you can clearly demonstrate how you are using that experience to inform your practice now at the University.

If you are only using experience that does not directly influence or support learners registered on University of Manchester programmes as evidence in your application, you will need to apply directly to Advance HE. Please note that applications made directly to Advance HE incur a cost (see AdvanceHE direct application costs for further information).

Advance HE fellowships are eligible to those who are teaching and/or supporting learning in higher education. From February 2018, this has also included teaching and/or supporting learning on:

• Foundation Year programmes;
• Pre-sessional English courses for international degree students designed to develop academic skills;
• Professional CPD programmes that are designed to develop and extend existing graduate/postgraduate level skills, knowledge and understanding, e.g. GP training, etc.

If your experience in teaching and/or supporting learning is from a different context, e.g. widening participation activity at a further  education (FE) level or through access to higher education initiatives such as The Brilliant Club or the Manchester Access Programme (MAP), then you can reference this experience in your application however, you must be able to demonstrate how this experience has influenced teaching practice in a higher education setting e.g. how this has shaped your own teaching practice in higher education and/or how you have supported peers and colleagues by cascading your learning to others.

Further detail about levels of teaching and eligibility for Advance HE fellowship is available from the Advance HE website – eligibility.

You can use evidence from team teaching in your personal application however, do take care to clearly present your role and input throughout your application whilst also clearly highlighting the role of others.

Yes, it is absolutely fine for you to change the category of fellowship that you wish to apply for. You can do this at any time during your registration on the programme and you don't need to tell us until you submit your LEAP application. We know that individuals often change their fellowship category once they start working on their applications. When you register on the programme you'll be given access to resources for all fellowship categories. When you submit your LEAP application please make sure you tick the category of fellowship that you are applying for on the cover sheet and we’ll update your LEAP record. 

Advance HE launched the new Professional Standards Framework (PSF) 2023 in January 2023. However we will be continuing to use the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) 2011 until 1st September 2024.

Applications for Associate Fellow, Fellow and Senior Fellow must include two supporting statements. We recommend that at least one supporting statement is from someone internal to the University. They do not need to hold an Advance HE fellowship. Supporting statements can be provided as a reference letter or referees can complete the LEAP referee report form.

Applications for Principal Fellow must include three supporting statements. At least one of the supporting statements must be from a colleague external to the University and at least one referee must hold an Advance HE fellowship or National Teaching Fellowship.

All text is included in the word count except a reference list/biblography at the end of the portfolio.

Yes, you can use the same experience to evidence more than one criteria.

No. The support available through LEAP is entirely optional however, our research shows that those who do access at least one form of support are significantly more likely to pass and achieve their fellowship first time so we do strongly encourage you to access at least one form of support.

It can take approximately 12 to 14 weeks from the submission deadline for you to receive the outcome of your application. All applications are either double or triple marked (depending on the level of fellowship applied for) by trained LEAP assessors. Once all applications have been reviewed, the LEAP recognitiona panel reviews all assessor recommendations before ratifying the outcome of your applications. After the panel meeting, the LEAP administrator will be in touch via email to inform you of the outcome of your application and any next steps.