Tab Content: How to Apply

Eligibility:

ATLAS is open to academic staff and those in professional services with HE teaching and/or learning support roles and responsibilities. Participants must be teaching or supporting learning on Lancaster University validated provision, at Lancaster University and its International Teaching Partners and have the following experience:

• For Associate Fellow of Advance HE: 18 months and involved in a limited range of teaching and/or supporting learning.
• For Fellow of Advance HE: 3 years of teaching and/or supporting learning in an HE context.
• For Senior Fellow of Advance HE: 3-5 years of leading or influencing the practice of those who teach and or support high quality learning in HE.

When you complete an application form you must already have sufficient depth of experience to make a successful claim for your target category of Fellowship. It is assumed that, as someone with existing experience, you have plenty of relevant HE teaching or supporting learning experience to draw on and reflect upon in your claim.

Before applying:

• Complete the Advance HE Fellowship Category Tool. This tool provides some indication of the category of Fellowship most appropriate to your role and experience. Note that the results from the category tool are only an approximate indication of the Descriptor you are eligible to apply for. You may need to discuss the results with the ATLAS Lead in CEDA.
• Gain approval from your Head of Department or Line Manager. This ensures you are given the time and support to engage with ATLAS and although not compulsory, be allocated an ATLAS teaching mentor to support your journey through the ATLAS process.
• If you already hold a category of Fellowship gained while employed at another institution, you must update your Advance HE profile to show your email address as your Lancaster University email. This then updates our records. This is a prerequisite of joining ATLAS.

Making an application to join

To apply for ATLAS starting in 2026/27 please complete the online application form in full.

In your application form you are asked to outline your current and past roles and experience so that the ATLAS Programme Director can confirm eligibility and identify the appropriate development pathway for you.

The ATLAS Lead may contact you for further information or to discuss your application and may offer you a place on another pathway of development, as appropriate to your prior experience.

Please read our information on access statement and cancellation charges for this programme.

The Advancing Teaching: Lancaster Accreditation Scheme (ATLAS) is part of the provision offered by CEDA.

Tab Content: Requirements

Orientation Workshops

All participants are required to:

• Complete a participation agreement
• Attend a 3 hour Orientation Workshop.
• After attending the Orientation Workshop, submit a short piece of reflective writing for feedback from the Programme Director.

If you don’t submit this short piece of reflective writing, or return the participation agreement, you will not be able to proceed with your claim. Instructions will be sent out when your place on ATLAS is confirmed. The Orientation workshop is either in person on Bailrigg campus or online. The workshop is designed to provide insight and clarity about the expectations for the programme, setting you on your journey towards professional recognition. It offers an important space for discussion of the ATLAS requirements, involves activities that will help you begin to surface your existing experience, enable you to gain familiarity with the PSF 2023, and formulate personalised development aims and plans.

The Orientation Workshop and the short piece of formative writing are the only compulsory elements of the ATLAS programme for all participants. Applications for joining the Orientation Workshop will close 20 working days before the workshop date.

For D3 ATLAS participants there is an additional requirement to have a one-to-one tutorial with the Programme Director ahead of final claim submission. The Programme Director will contact you to arrange this.

Because ATLAS is a rolling programme, places for the workshop are ordinarily allocated to participants on a first-come, first-served basis. We will try to accommodate individual preferences where capacity permits. Priority will be given to staff for whom gaining Fellowship of Advance HE is a requirement of their probationary agreement.

How much work is involved?

All ATLAS claims consist of three components.

• A Development Index Planner,
• A Reflective Account of Practice,
• Supporting Statements written by your colleagues.

The specific requirements for your submission are determined by the Descriptor you are applying against and will be explained in the Orientation Workshop

• Associate Fellowship (Descriptor 1): Development Index Planner + Reflective Account of Practice (1200 words) + 1 Supporting statement
• Fellowship (Descriptor 2): Development Index Planner + Reflective Account of Practice (2500 words) + 2 Supporting statements
• Senior Fellowship (Descriptor 3): Development Index Planner + Reflective Account of Practice (5000 words) + 2 Supporting statements

For Fellow and Senior Fellow pathways there are written and oral modes of submission available, with the overall workload for each being broadly the same. Full details are provided to participants in the ATLAS handbook and explored at the Orientation Workshop.

Optional support

A range of associated writing spaces, workshops and events will be available to ATLAS participants, . All ATLAS participants, on completing the Orientation Workshop, are enrolled on the ATLAS Moodle site which contains a recommended reading list and resources to support you assemble your claim.

What is the period for completion?

ATLAS participants have 12 months to complete their claim. ATLAS is a rolling programme with multiple start points. Participants can submit at any time within a 12-month period, so long as it is not less than 3 months after attending an Orientation Workshop. Typically, there are at least two Orientation Workshops offered per term. There are two submission points (February and September) plus a May submission date for resubmissions.

Past experiences of participants suggest that a period of 6 months to assemble a claim is realistic, providing time to gather, frame and reflect on a body of evidence without losing momentum. 3 months is an expected minimum, and 12 months a maximum. Participants are strongly advised to plan carefully and identify a target submission deadline as soon as possible. It is often helpful to also agree this timeframe in discussion with your Head of Department or line manager.

Please read our information on access statement and cancellation charges for this programme.

The Advancing Teaching: Lancaster Accreditation Scheme (ATLAS) is part of the provision offered by CEDA.

Tab Content: Key Dates

Orientation Workshops

Please refer to the Requirements tab for the content on these workshops.

Summer 2026

Backup date only

Michaelmas/Autumn 2026

Monday 21^st September 2026, 9.30 am – 12.30 pm - Online

The application deadline for this Orientation Workshop is Monday 7^th September 2026, 12 Noon

Monday 28^th September 2026, 9.30 am – 12.30 pm – Online - D3 ONLY

The application deadline for this Orientation Workshop is Monday 7^th September 2026, 12 Noon

Wednesday 21^st October 2026, 1.30 – 4.30 pm - In Person

The application deadline for this Orientation Workshop is Wednesday 7^th October 2026, 12 Noon

Lent/Spring 2027

Thursday 28^th January 2027, 9.30 am 12.30 pm - Online – D3 ONLY

The application deadline for this Orientation Workshop is Thursday 14^th January 2027, 12 Noon

Tuesday 9^th February 2027, 9.30 am – 12.30 pm - Online

The application deadline for this Orientation Workshop is Tuesday 26^th January 2027, 12 Noon

Wednesday 21^st April 2027, 1.30 – 4.30 pm - In Person

The application deadline for this Orientation Workshop is Wednesday 7^th April 2027, 12 Noon

Submission deadlines

The deadline for all ATLAS submissions is 12 noon UK time. Late, ,incomplete, or unprofessional submissions will not be considered and will need to be resubmitted for the following panel. These submissions are still counted as one attempt. It is up ATLAS participant to ensure their claim contains all the required documentation and adheres to the guidelines. All claims, including supporting statements are run through Turnitin, and the reports made available to the ATLAS Programme Director. Results will be made available within 8 weeks of the deadline.

Tab Content: Frequently Asked Questions