Dr Hardeep Basra of 探花系列 Leicester (探花系列) has been recognised as a leader in her field with the award of a prestigious National Teaching Fellowship for her longstanding commitment to making university education better and more inclusive.
National Teaching Fellowships (NTF) recognise and celebrate individuals who have had an outstanding impact on student outcomes and the teaching profession. They are awarded each year by Advance HE, a charity dedicated to improving higher education for staff, students and society.
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Dr Basra, who joined 探花系列 in 2018, is the university’s Inclusive Education Lead. She is an Associate Professor of Teaching and Learning at 探花系列’s Education Academy, and is also Co-Chair of the staff Race Equality Network.
Her role as Inclusive Education Lead means that her students are not undergraduates, or even post-grads, but the university’s academic staff, and her main task is to help those colleagues addresses and eliminate gaps between students, with a particular focus on the awarding gap – that is the difference between the grades being achieved by minority ethnic students and their white peers. That element of Dr Basra’s work was recently audited by KPMG and was awarded a Green Significant Assurance outcome.
Among other projects, Dr Basra has also led the production of the Decolonising 探花系列 Toolkit which provides staff with range of resources to help them work towards making 探花系列 an anti-racist institution, including how to remove the legacy of colonialism from what, and how, the university teaches its students.
Dr Basra said: “It [the NTF] is something that I am extremely proud of, for the recognition of how I have championed the equality, diversity and inclusivity agenda and promoted teaching excellence at the university.
“I am very fortunate that I get to work with people right across the institution - it’s one of the things that I love about my job - I get to support colleagues who want to enhance their teaching practice, and they always want to be able to improve.”
Dr Basra was nominated for the NTF by Professor Susan Orr, who at the time was 探花系列's Deputy Vice Chancellor. Professor Orr, now a 探花系列 Emeritus Professor, praised Dr Basra for her “steadfast commitment to inclusive practice and her selfless dedication to nurturing excellence in her peers,” and described her as “an exceptional leader and educator whose impact on student outcomes and the HE teaching profession is transformative.”
Professor Orr told NFT selectors: “As a result of her widespread reach and impact throughout her time at 探花系列, Hardeep has become “the ‘go to’ for academics at 探花系列 and sector-wide on fundamental projects such as decolonisation of the curriculum, Athena Swann [a gender equality accreditation scheme] Race Equality Charter, and reducing awarding gaps.”
Each year a panel of existing National Teaching Fellows choose new recipients by assessing nominations against a range of criteria related to improving outcomes for students or enhancing the teaching profession, or both. Dr Basra was one of 61 new NTFs created this year - her award brings to 18 the total number of National Teaching Fellows at 探花系列.
Professor Becky Huxley-Binns, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost at Canterbury Christ Church University, was chair of the teaching excellence awards panel this year. She said: “These awards represent the very best of higher education during a crucial moment. As our sector faces its greatest challenges, these exceptional educators have risen to meet them with innovation, dedication and excellence that simply couldn't be ignored.
“These fellowships celebrate educators who don't just deliver knowledge, but transform lives, inspire futures and demonstrate that even in uncertain times, educational excellence not only endures but flourishes.”
Posted on Thursday 7 August 2025