Applicant pack
Application forms for Graduate Teachers (D1)
CADENZA
Noun: “a virtuoso solo passage inserted
into a movement in a concerto”
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Recognising the talents and achievements of those teaching and
supporting learning at the University of Essex
CADENZA: Application Form
Please complete this form and submit with your application.
Title (Mr, Mrs, Dr, etc.)
Surname (family name)
Other name(s)
Please tick the UKPSF Descriptor for
which you would like to be awarded
professional recognition.
D1
D3
D2
D4
Please detail all relevant
qualifications, including awarding
institutions, dates and level, e.g. PhD,
MA or previous UKPSF descriptor,
etc.
Number of years of employment in higher education (if less than one year, give the number of terms)
Contact Number:
Email:
Department/ Section:
Staff category (GTA, GD, etc.):
Key Responsibilities (e.g. modules/sessions designed and taught, academic and pastoral support of students,
assessment and feedback of student work, etc.)
Signature of applicant:
Date:
………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………………………..
I confirm that the above person has my support to apply for recognition against the UKPSF:
Head of Department/School/Line Manager
Print Name:
……………………………………………………………
Date:
Signature:
………………………………………………………………
……………………….…………………………………
Please submit this form to CADENZA: Learning and Development (4SB.5.4)
Date of Panel:
Outcome:
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Date received:
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For Office Use Only:
CADENZA: Review of Professional Activities
The Review of Professional Activities is a core part of your application to be recognised against the UKPSF Descriptors. This is the same irrespective of the
descriptor category for which you apply. The Professional Activities for CADENZA have been adapted from the UKPSF to ensure relevance across the many
different roles undertaken by staff at Essex.
Please review the impact your professional development has had against the UKPSF Professional Activities outlined in the table below. Please map Core
Knowledge and Professional Values against your supporting narratives, dispersing them down the left-hand columns. Please consider the impact from a range
of perspectives including:
a) your own personal and professional development;
b) your colleagues /department/section;
c) the University, professional association or other organisation;
d) national and/or international strategic impact
Please do your best to apply against the areas where you have the strongest claim i.e. most GTAs are inexperienced in module design and find it
difficult to demonstrate experience and expertise in A1.
Professional Activities
Supporting Narrative
(Length guide: 600 words per section)
Knowledge Values
(K1-K6)
(V1-V4)
A1. Design and plan learning activities/
projects /consultations
A2. Deliver and/or support learning/
understanding/ implementation
A3. Assess needs/ progress and give
feedback
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A5. Engage in continuing professional
development in
subjects/disciplines/professions
incorporating research, scholarship and
the evaluation of professional practices
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A4. Develop effective environments
and approaches to guidance using a
range of available resources
CADENZA: Log of Professional Activities
The Log of Professional Activities is also a core part of your application to be recognised against the UKPSF Descriptors. This is the same irrespective of the
descriptor category for which you apply.
Please explain the extent to which the activity has impacted upon your
practice and professional development. Rate this on a scale of 1-5
(1=excellent; 5=poor). (Length guide: 100-200 words per entry)
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Please provide
the date of event
or activity
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Please list below 8-10 key professional development activities.
These can be: formal activities such as workshop or
conference attendance; work-based activities such as module
design or use of technology; and informal activities such as
discussions with colleagues or departmental meetings. Try
and achieve a range.
CADENZA: Assessment Form
Title (Mr, Mrs, Dr, etc.)
Surname (family name)
Other name(s)
Relevant UKPSF Descriptor
D1
D3
D2
D4
Review of Professional Activities
Log of Professional Activities
Case Study
Peer Dialogue
Additional comments
Outcome:
Successful
Delayed Success
CADENZA Assessor
Date:…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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Signature:………………………………………………..
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Name:…………………………………………………….
Referee guidance and pro-forma (D1)
CADENZA
Noun: “a virtuoso solo passage inserted
into a movement in a concerto”
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Recognising the talents and achievements of those teaching and supporting learning
at the University of Essex
CADENZA: Referee Guidance (D1)
D1 Applicants: please pass this guidance and the accompanying form to your chosen referee.
Thank you very much for agreeing to provide a reference in support of this application, made via the University of
Essex’s CADENZA process, for recognition at Descriptor 1 (D1) of the UK Professional Standards Framework
for teaching and supporting learning in higher education (UKPSF) and Associate Fellowship of the Higher
Education Academy (HEA).
Please do refer to this additional guidance for advice on preparing your reference (either on the attached form or
in conventional letter format). If you require further assistance, please do contact the CADENZA team in
Learning and Development (T x4584, E cadenza@essex.ac.uk).
What is CADENZA?
CADENZA is the University of Essex’s professional development framework for those teaching and supporting
learning in higher education. It has been designed to encourage all staff to recognize and record their talents,
strengths and achievements, and to apply for professional recognition. It is not a taught course or module and
does not carry credit.
CADENZA is mapped against the UKPSF and is accredited by the HEA. Professional recognition gained through
CADENZA is thus nationally recognized and portable.
What purpose will your reference serve and why is it important?
All new graduate teachers at the University are required to achieve D1 and Associate Fellowship by the end of
their first year of teaching. This achievement confirms their commitment to delivering excellence in education and
permits them to be re-employed at Essex in subsequent years. It also provides them with a valuable recognition
of their teaching experience, skills and ethos that they can carry with them right across the UK HE sector. Your
reference is an essential part of their application and will help them fulfil both their contractual obligations to the
University and establish a solid bedrock on which they can build their early-career professional development.
You are therefore asked to provide an appraisal of the applicant’s experience, and to support and endorse the
accounts of their practice given in their Review of Professional Activities and their Log of Professional Activities.
Please do take some time to read the applicant’s account before composing your reference. It might also be
useful for you to set aside a few minutes to talk -- face-to-face or over the phone -- with the applicant about their
application and their reflections on teaching at Essex.
What is the UKPSF D1?
The UKPSF identifies three, interrelated dimensions of academic practice: Professional Activities, Core
Knowledge and Professional Values. In order for the framework to take account of different roles, responsibilities
and career stages, participants apply for recognition at one of four ‘descriptor levels’ – Associate Fellow (D1),
Fellow (D2), Senior Fellow (D3) and Principal Fellow (D4). Most graduate teachers will be applying for
recognition as Associate Fellows but, if an individual’s level of experience suggests they should be applying for
Fellowship (D2), we encourage them to do this.
An individual working at D1 level is expected to demonstrate an understanding of a number of specific aspects of
effective teaching, learning support methods and student learning. Applicants should be able to provide evidence
of:
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What information do you need to provide?
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 successful engagement with at least two of the five Areas of Activity;
 successful engagement in related teaching and practices underpinned by appropriate Core Knowledge and
research and/or scholarship (subject specific and pedagogic),
 a commitment to appropriate Professional Values;
 engagement in professional development activity related to their teaching, learning and assessment
responsibilities.
You may provide your reference either as a conventional letter of support or on the pro forma provided. We
would encourage you to adopt a tone that is appropriate to the affirmative and developmental character of the
CADENZA process.
When framing your reference, please use any knowledge that you have of the applicant’s professional practice in
teaching and supporting learning, and the context within which the applicant works, to build on and endorse the
material the applicant has provided in their account. Please provide practical examples to support your
comments wherever possible. If you have been involved in the observation of the applicant’s teaching or support
of learners, please draw on this. Please note, however, that it is not necessary for you to have directly observed
the applicant teaching in order to supply a CADENZA reference for them; it can be equally helpful for us to read
about applicants’ ways of working in other related activities, for example in their doctoral work or on frontrunner
placements, etc. If, however, you are asked to provide a reference by someone you do not feel qualified to
support, please ask them to re-consider their choice. Direct anyone finding it difficult to choose an appropriate
referee to their GTA Co-ordinator or to Learning and Development.
How should you submit your reference and who will see it?
Applicants are requested to collect their reference directly from you and to submit it to Learning and
Development together with their final applications. If this is not possible, for whatever reason, we are more than
happy to receive your reference directly. As noted above, you are welcome to contact the CADENZA team whilst
you are in the process of preparing your reference; likewise we may contact you for clarification on particular
points in your endorsement. Please do make sure that you supply a current email address to enable us to do
this.
As this is a different kind of reference to the sort normally required for any kind of competitive process, it is
deemed appropriate and, indeed, desirable for applicants to see their references before submission. They will
see them afterwards as their whole applications, plus assessor feedback, are provided to them following each
panel meeting. In addition to the applicants themselves, references are seen by the two assessors of the
applicant’s form and the entire CADENZA panel (chaired by the PVC Education) to which the application has
been submitted.
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Thank you once again for participating in this process and supporting your graduate teacher/student’s continuing
professional development.
CADENZA: Reference Form (D1)
Applicant Details
Title (Mr, Mrs, Dr, etc.)
Surname (family name)
Other Name(s)
Title (Mr, Mrs, Dr, etc.)
Surname (family name)
Other Name
Department/School/Section
Staff category (ASER, etc.)
Email
Referee Details
Referee’s Signature:
Date:
……………………………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………………….
Feedback on Applicant’s Professional Activities
(If you prefer to provide your reference in letter format, please feel free to do so.)
1. In what capacity have you known the applicant and for how long?
2. Drawing on your knowledge of the applicant, and the evidence given in his/her Review and Log, how does
s/he meet the dimensions of the UKPSF in at least two of the following Areas of Activity (A1-5)?
(Please note, D1 applicants are only required to demonstrate the alignment of their practice with two out of the five Areas of Activity so
you should focus on the two that they have chosen. If you feel they also meet other dimensions in their work, do feel free to include this
information below. When composing your responses, please try to comment on how far the applicant’s engagement with their chosen
Areas of Activity is underpinned by the Core Knowledge and Professional Values of the UKPSF.)
A1. Design and plan learning activities/projects/consultations
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(This refers to all the things applicants do when preparing for engagement with learners. We tend to discourage GTAs for making a
claim against A1 unless they can demonstrate involvement in module design in some form.)
A2. Deliver and/or support learning/ understanding / implementation
(This area of activity is concerned with applicants’ direct engagement with learners whether in groups or individually.)
A3. Assess needs/progress and give feedback
(This area of activity is concerned with how applicants use assessment and feedback (formative/summative, formal/informal,
individual/group) to foster and encourage learning, assess progress and make judgements about their students’ learning during, and on
completion of, their period of study.)
A4. Develop effective environments and approaches to guidance using a range of available resources
(This area of activity is about how applicants make effective use of formal and informal, real and virtual learning environments to facilitate
learning, and how they seek to meet the needs of their learners for educational support and guidance.)
A5. Engage in continuing professional development in subjects/disciplines/professions incorporating research,
scholarship and the evaluation of professional practice
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(This area of activity is about how applicants maintain and develop their capacity to perform their teaching and learning support roles.)
3. Please describe the applicant’s engagement in professional development activity related to their teaching,
learning and assessment responsibilities.
(Applicants are encouraged to describe in their application how they gather and utilize information – from peers, students, and their own
observations and research (both subject specific and pedagogic) – in order to enhance their practice.)
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4. Other comments