[Annual Review of Courses home page]
An annual review for each course is carried out to:
ARC reports are required for all undergraduate and taught postgraduate
awards.
ARC reports should cover undergraduate single honours, joint honours and
postgraduate courses, unless this conflicts with the requirements of a
professional, statutory or regulatory body.
All reports should be signed by the appropriate Head of Department, collected together and submitted to the Executive Dean of the Faculty, via the Academic Standards and Partnerships Office (e-mail: acstand (non-essex users should add @essex.ac.uk)) by the relevant deadline. The report should be sent electronically. If electronic signatures have not been attached a hard copy should also be supplied.
The timeframe for the preparation and submission of the ARC has been designed to align with the University's Annual Strategic Planning process, and to enable reports to be considered by the autumn meeting of the Faculty Education Committee.
In autumn 2013 the deadline for Undergraduate submission will be midday on Monday 25
November 2013.
In spring 2014 the deadline for Postgraduate submission will be midday on Monday 10 February 2014.
Please refer to the guidance notes for information on how the University considers the reports and on follow-up activity.
Yes. The guidance notes on preparation for the report for both single honours and joint honours reports detail the level of student involvement in the annual review of courses.
A course’s failure to recruit should be considered under section 2 of the ARC. You should include a few paragraphs about the course under ‘what issues have arisen this year’ and in the action plan. You may, for example, wish to change the course’s title, modify its content or withdraw the course from the department’s portfolio.
If you are discontinuing a course, but there are still students on it, then you will need to include consideration of it within the ARC. Consideration is likely to concentrate on issues in relation to the student experience.
No. All undergraduate courses should normally be considered in one report. All postgraduate courses should normally be considered in one report. Exceptions to this rule may apply where it conflicts with the requirements of a professional, statutory or regulatory body.
The guidance notes include information on what to include in the report and action plans.
Authors of ARC reports should have access to SAMT result summaries, and should use these to inform their report in section 2 and the action plan; these should be discussed at the departmental meeting. The SAMT results should be triangulated with other pieces of data, e.g. satisfaction surveys, to draw out what the themes are. In some cases individual issues arising from the SAMT may need to be commented on separately.
Authors of ARC should have access to SSS/NSS/PTES result summaries, and should use these to inform their report in section 2 and the action plan; the results should also be discussed at the departmental meeting. The SSS/NSS/PTES results should be triangulated with other pieces of data, e.g. external examiner reports, to draw out what the themes are. In some cases individual issues arising from the SSS/NSS/PTES may need to be commented on separately.
Departments integrate reasonable adjustments in line with the Equality Act 2010, including areas as set out below. Where appropriate good practice and areas to improve should be commented on throughout the report.
Do you make supporting materials e.g. handouts, lecture notes, visual display materials available to students? Is this in electronic format (students can use electronic materials with software to read text to them)? Is this in advance (this can aid note taking)?
Are a variety of teaching and learning methods to be used, supported by accessible written and visual material? For example:
positive communication e.g., by facing the student group when speaking
whiteboards
electronic presentation packages
audio-visuals
invitations for student input
Is the material displayed on electronic presentation packages, and whiteboards, including graphs and charts, explained orally? Are they available in written form for transcribing purposes?
Is complex information summarised through bullet-pointed summaries?
Will plain language be used when speaking and to explain specialist terminology, thus avoiding jargon and colloquialisms?
Have you made any adjustments for individuals or changes to the way field work or labs are conducted? For example, will students have access to assistive technology or human support if required?
Are varied forms of assessment used?
Are students given as many opportunities to declare a disability as possible whilst ensuring an individual's confidentiality is maintained?
If you are uncertain about how issues of disability may affect your students, you should contact the Disability Team in the Student Support Office to discuss the issues further.
Page last updated: 20 September 2013