[New course approval home page]
Validation
New courses which fall into approval category 3 (see new course approval)
are approved by a validation panel, usually via a validation event.
Departments produce validation
documentation in place of the Part 2: Final Approval Proforma.
On this page:
Further guidance:
Validation panels
include members who are able to judge the academic integrity of the course in
relation to the University’s regulations and the national standards expected of
the type of award, and who can evaluate the course in terms of its structure and
content. A variety of experience and views should be available among the panel
members. Members will normally be dissociated from the planning and development
of the course, but within the panel as a whole there should be sufficient
understanding of the subject matter and academic context to enable the panel to
make a sound judgement. Panel membership is approved by the Executive or Deputy
Dean.
It is normal practice to include members of staff from other departments
within the Faculty who have not been involved in the development process and one
or more external academic members. Validation Panels for vocational courses
would normally include employer representation.
It is the duty of the validation panel to:
- critically examine the documentation and undertake
discussion with the course team in order to
make a collective judgement as to the quality and standard of
the course and to ensure that the award conferred and student
experience is of an equivalent standard to other awards offered
by the University of Essex, and also to similar awards
conferred throughout Higher Education in the UK;
- recommend to the University whether the proposed course
should be validated either
conditionally or
unconditionally, or should be rejected;
- to specify
conditions and/or recommendations which are to be
met or responded to before the course may commence.
The choice between whether to validate the course conditionally or to reject
for possible re-submission is based on:
- the magnitude of change required to reach an acceptability
threshold;
- the confidence the panel has that the course team will be
able to deliver the changes to reach this threshold by a
specified date.
Areas explored during a validation event include:
Course design and curriculum
- Structure and appropriateness of the curriculum
- Overall coherence of the course
- Alignment with national benchmarks and any relevant
professional requirements
Learning, teaching and assessment
- Appropriateness of the modes of delivery
- Variety of teaching and learning methods to meet the needs
of a diverse range of students
- Coverage of learning outcomes
- Reassessment; Innovation and balance of assessment methods
Student recruitment, admissions and support
- Proposed student numbers and anticipated market
- Support for work-based learning/placement (where
appropriate)
- Student induction and ongoing support
Resources
- Course management
- Staffing and staff development
- Resource requirements, including library resources, physical
and technical requirements
Validation documentation should provide the validation panel with the
information they need to understand the course or courses being proposed,
including how they will be taught, assessed and resourced. Panel members
appreciate concise documentation, but documentation must be sufficiently
detailed to allow the panel to evaluate the proposal properly. Validation
documentation is important and it is recommended that course teams seek advice
on writing the document from the Faculty Education Manager and/or the Academic Standards
and Partnerships Office as early in the process as possible.
A briefing pack containing relevant documentation is sent to members of the
validation panel two weeks in advance of
the event.
The validation pack typically includes:
- details of panel members;
- structure of the validation event;
- explanation of validation procedures;
- guidance for validation Panel members;
- course documentation consisting of a reflective document and
supporting information
The course documentation is compiled by the departmental team, with other
validation documentation being provided by the Academic Standards and
Partnerships Office.
The course documentation should be produced in line with the
template (see below) and must include programme specifications
for all the proposed awards and new module proposals for all new modules.
Departments will need to provide sufficiently detailed information to allow the
panel to evaluate the proposal.
Where there are external requirements for validation, for example by a
professional, statutory or regulatory body, the documentation must
also meet any criteria published by the external body.
Where the proposal is for a foundation degree, detailed information will be
needed in relation to work-based learning, and the proposing department should be
in a position to demonstrate how they will meet the
University guidelines for work-based/placement learning.
The proposal will also need to be designed in line with the QAA's foundation
degree benchmark.
Departments should send the documentation to the Academic Standards and Partnerships (ASPO),
copies can be sent via email, the university's dropbox service or a data stick,
no later
than 4 weeks before the event.
Template for validation documentation
Ideally, validation documentation should be split into two parts - part one
should be an over-arching reflective document and part two should provide
supplementary documentation, including those documents needed for University
systems, such as the programme specification and new module/course proposals.
Full details of what should be included in each part are provided below.
Part 1: Reflective Document
General Course Information
- The titles of all proposed awards, including any
intermediate awards such as a Certificate or Diploma.
- Rationale for the course.
- Information on how the course was developed, including
details of any external consultation and how this impacted upon
the final proposal.
- Target students, anticipated market and growth, including
employer demand. Departments are encouraged to request a
market research report from
Communication and External Relations (CER) to assist with the departmental development
of this section of the document.
- Progression opportunities. An indication of the progression
opportunities, such as further academic study or employment, for the
students.
- Relationship with existing provision, including details of
shared modules/courses, impact on existing provision, links with
other departments, and evidence of consultation with other
departments regarding shared provision/links with the
department.
Detailed Course Information
- Overview of the Course Structure and Content, including:
- how the curriculum promotes organised
progression through the levels of the award, in
line with the QAA’s Framework for Higher
Education Qualifications (FHEQ);
- the overall balance of the award, for
example breadth and depth of subject materials,
personal development and academic outcomes;
- the link between the overarching aims of the
course(s) and the content;
- skills development and support for PDP.
- Mapping to QAA/Professional Benchmarks, including an
indication of the reasons why any elements of the benchmark(s)
have not been used.
- Learning and Teaching Strategy, including details of the
range of learning and teaching tools employed and the
departmental approach to these and how this take into account
the needs of current and potential student groups. Comment on
the appropriateness of the strategy for students with any
additional needs and what adjustments that might need to be
made.
- Assessment Strategy, including balance of assessment tools,
assessment load, development of skills/preparation of students
for assessment, formative and summative feedback, innovative
methods. Indicate the appropriateness of the strategy for
students with any additional needs.
- Details of year abroad, sandwich year, work-based learning
or placement arrangements and how this will be managed. Details
of how this arrangement adheres to the
University’s Guidelines on Work-based Learning
should be provided and a draft handbook for students should be
provided if available. If you have any questions about this
aspect of your proposal you are advised to contact the Academic
Standards and Partnerships Office in the first instance.
Proposers are advised that unless specific permission is
granted, assessment of any period of study abroad is compulsory.
Resources
- Course management and staffing, including any staff
development required
- Details of any additional resources in order for the course
to commence, where these have not previously been identified and
approved as part of Part 1 approval.
Part 2: Supplementary Documentation
- Full
Programme Specification
(word doc.) and
module map
(excel)
- New
module proposals including new
module outlines and checklists, syllabus information, teaching and assessment
details, for all new modules for approval.
- Draft Student Handbook (if available).
Page last updated:
11 September 2013
