Higher Education Academy

The Higher Education Academy (HEA) is a British professional institution promoting excellence in higher education. It is jointly owned by Universities UK and GuildHE and publicly funded. The HEA advocates evidence-based teaching methods and awards fellowships as a method of professional recognition for university teachers. The HEA is responsible for the UK Professional Standards Framework for higher education practitioners.

The HEA has premises in York Science Park, Heslington. As of April 2014, the chief executive is Professor Stephanie Marshall.

The history of teacher training in the United Kingdom is a complex subject. In 1946, faced with chronic personnel shortages after the 2nd World War, the government invested in training programmes and required all teachers in the state sector to acquire qualified teacher status. For the next half century, Universities responded to this policy by providing both graduate entrants into teaching and teacher training programmes. In recent decades however, there has been a shift towards school-based training for teaching and also a change in terminology as teacher education has displaced teacher training Despite Higher Education's involvement in teacher training, University Lecturers have not needed any formal qualifications beyond demonstrating, usually through publications and a higher degree (such as a doctorate), expert subject knowledge. The merits of professional teaching qualifications for University Lecturers became an issue for debate during the later twentieth century. In 1997, the Dearing Report recommended the establishment of a professional body for Lecturers, the Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, that would define standards and accredit training for university teaching. In a further recommendation, the Dearing Report suggested that during their probationary periods, all new Lecturers should be required to achieve 'at least associate membership' of the new Institute. In response, the Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education was founded in 2000.

In January 2003, a committee established by HEFCE, Universities UK and the Standing Conference of Principals recommended the establishment of a single central body responsible for standards of teaching in higher education. In response, the Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education was merged with the Learning and Teaching Support Network and the National Coordination Team for the Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund, becoming the Higher Education Academy.