Assuring academic quality
The University has well-established processes for assuring and enhancing the quality of teaching and learning, and involves students in these processes wherever possible. They include:
- Appropriate use of nationally agreed guidelines and reference points for academic quality and standards, including the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications, Subject Benchmark Statements, Programme Specifications and the ‘Code of practice for the assurance of academic quality and standards, in higher education' published by the Quality Assurance Agency
- Alignment of the University's use of academic credit with the Higher Education Credit Framework for England.
- The use of external examiners to help monitor the academic standards of our awards.
- Annual monitoring of all taught undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.
- Independent periodic programme review for all departments on a five-year cycle, with external and student participation in review panels
- Student feedback through questionnaires at module level
- Active staff-student committees in all departments
- Structured professional development for new lecturers accredited by the Higher Education Academy
- Assessment of the teaching of all academic staff promotion candidates
- Specific provision for the promotion of staff substantially on the grounds of teaching excellence
- Input from employers to the content and design of our programmes
The University’s comprehensive quality assurance procedures are closely monitored and regularly updated through the University’s Learning and Teaching Committee and its Academic Standards and Procedures Sub-Committee, each chaired by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching). There are student representatives on both the Committee and Sub-Committee.
For further information please visit the Academic Quality Procedures Handbook http://www.lboro.ac.uk/registry/policy/aqp/
External assessment
All universities in England are subject to audit by the Quality Assurance Agency. The most recent Institutional Audit of Loughborough University was carried out in 2008 and the report can be found on the QAA web-site at http://www.qaa.ac.uk. This commends good practice in many different aspects of learning and teaching across the University, including the prioritisation of students in the institutional culture.
National Student Survey
The results of the National Student Survey(NSS) confirm the University's exceptional record for quality in learning and teaching. These can be found on the Unistats website: http://unistats.direct.gov.uk/
The NSS involves all final year undergraduate students and has taken place each year since 2005. NSS and other statistical data is presented on the Unistats website in such a way to allow users to make comparisons between institutions and subjects.
