[Monitoring and Review home page]
Quality assurance and enhancement processes and procedures are designed to ensure there is a cycle of feedback(pdf), sharing of best practice and enhancement which involves students, departmental and faculty staff, Faculty Education Committees and university committees. The annual review of courses (ARCs), in particular, are a central element, and are reported to relevant university committees and used as a key tool to demonstrate that courses are achieving appropriate levels of academic standards and quality. Student and external feedback, outcomes of course approvals, updates and periodic reviews are among the areas which are channelled into ARCs as well as being reported to relevant committees, all of which provides an overview of activity and enhancements, and provides opportunities for sharing best practice.
The purpose of annual review of courses is to draw together in one place a concise summary of all the developmental activity undertaken by a department in relation to a course/group of courses. This includes feedback from external examiners, student feedback from staff/student liaison meetings and survey results.
There are various surveys undertaken throughout a student's time at the University of Essex. There are internal surveys, for example the Student Satisfaction Survey (SSS), and external surveys, including the National Student Survey (NSS), the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) and Postgraduate Research Experience Survey (PRES). Feedback from these surveys is included in ARCs and used to enhance the student experience.
SSLCs are a forum for staff and students to discuss issues relating to a course, scheme, department or centre. They are student-led committees that form the basis for the representation of students’ views within the department/school/centre.
SAMT is carried out every three years as a minimum for existing modules, and within the first two years for new or significantly revised modules, although departments can seek feedback more frequently if they wish. All students registered for a module should have the opportunity to respond anonymously to the module survey. The findings of SAMT are reported to SSLCs, and are considered as part of the annual review of courses process.
Student Representatives and Faculty Convenors are students who are elected from Undergraduate and Postgraduate students. They represent the voice of their fellow students in staff/student liaison meetings by feeding back what is going well and what could be improved, therefore giving the department the opportunity to enhance the student experience. Faculty Convenors also represent students on different University committees.
The Students' Union website includes a Course Representative Hub, which provides information on the course representative role and links to Students Representative contact details.
The approval process for new courses and modules, and revisions to existing courses and modules, ensures that academic standards and quality are equivalent to other similar provision at the University and across the HE sector, and align with relevant external reference points, such as the QAA Quality Code.
Programme specifications are a means of providing transparent information about programmes of study in higher education, in a consistent, accessible format, to potential and current students, their parents, University staff and employers. The programme specification is the principal document used by academic departments during the annual review of courses, and by periodic review panels at university level. It also forms the core of the new degree course proposal form.
External examiners are experts in their field who work in higher education, industry, and professional sectors. The University appoints external examiners to all courses and modules, and they carry out a key role in providing independent oversight and in ensuring courses align with threshold academic standards. Students can find out who their external examiners are from the module directory.
Every five years a course/department/school has a periodic review. External experts (academics, industry and professional body representatives) and internal members of staff and students have the opportunity to review the continuing validity and relevance of the stated aims and the intended learning outcomes of the course, in accordance with relevant external reference points (in particular the QAA Quality Code) and to ensure that students continue to be provided with learning opportunities of an appropriate quality.
The University's committee structure is designed to ensure that the information provided by the quality assurance and enhancement processes are scrutinised, that best practice is shared, and areas for enhancement are addressed. In this way, academic standards and quality at the University are protected.
The QAA
publish guidance on the expectations all providers of UK higher education are
required to meet, with the aim of ensuring students are provided with the best
possible learning experience. The
QAA carry out reviews of institutions and publish reports which highlight areas
of good practice, make recommendations for how to improve academic standards and
quality, and comment on how well an institution meets its responsibilities.
The UK Quality Code for Higher Education (the Quality Code) is a key element of the guidance produced by the QAA.
Awards that lead to a professional qualification are regulated by PSRBs. They play a key role in ensuring that courses meet the benchmarks required for a particular profession, and that students are given the opportunity to gain the skills and knowledge needed for their future career. The QAA defines PSRBs as 'organisations that set the benchmark standards for, and regulate the standards of entry into, particular profession(s) and are authorised to accredit, approve or recognise specific programmes leading to the relevant professional qualification(s) - for which they may have a statutory or regulatory responsibility'.
Page last updated: 30 September 2013