Principal Fellowship

Principal Fellowship (D4)is awarded to professionals who demonstrate they meet the criteria of Descriptor 4 of the Professional Standards Framework (PSF) for teaching and supporting learning in higher education.

Principal Fellowship is relevant for experienced staff with strategic leadership responsibilities for learning and teaching. This encompasses both academic leadership and related activities for learning and teaching. Principal Fellow is relevant if you have experience of developing and implementing strategies, policy making and informing approaches to enhancing student education within the University.  You will also be able to demonstrate wider influence and impact in learning and teaching, for example leading developments nationally or internationally in the context of your discipline, profession or topics of expertise.

Principal Fellowship brings you a range of benefits:

• Consolidate your personal development and evidence of your strategic influence.
• Demonstrate your commitment to teaching, learning and the student experience.
• Engage with a practical process that encourages research, reflection and development.
• Principal Fellowship is increasingly sought by employers across the education sector and it’s recognised and valued by a growing number of international institutions.
• Identify your expertise with the entitlement to use post-nominal letters – PFHEA.

Principal Fellowship is not dependent on holding a specific role. Principal Fellows are a diverse community representing the full range of strategic leadership in higher education. To become a Principal Fellow, you will need to be able to demonstrate a sustained record of effectiveness in strategic leadership of high-quality learning and show that your leadership has had extensive impact. The following section provides further guidance on assessing your suitability.

Applications for Principal Fellow are by direct submission to Advance HE (AHE). This is different to the process for staff applying for any other category of Fellowship - Senior, Fellow or Associate - these can be applied for using the University’s PRiSE scheme, accredited by AHE.

Getting started

1. To assess your suitability for principal fellow, we recommend you complete the AHE Fellowship Category Tool (link takes you to AHE website)– this provides immediate feedback on your current strengths and weaknesses in relation to the Fellowship criteria.
2. Download the Principal Fellow applicant pack from the AHE website
3. Contact us at academicdev@leeds.ac.uk to arrange an initial conversation about your potential application and the support we can offer

Support for your application

• You will have access to an online Principal Fellow community to provide peer support as you work on your application.
• The fee for your Principal Fellow application (currently £550) will be covered if you sign up for our support provision
• Supported writing retreats to help you make time to write your application
• Access to sessions to support you understanding the Professional Standards Framework (PSF)
• Coaching and feedback with direct application