Learning and Teaching Committee

Curriculum Sub-Committee

Subject: Programme Specifications

Origin: Note of Programme Development and Quality Team meeting on 25 September 2006

Considered the University’s position on programme specifications following the publication by the QAA of revised guidelines.

Noted

(i) the revised QAA guidelines published in July 2006;

(ii) the University’s current programme specification template and guidance notes;

(iii) that a comparison of the headings listed in the QAA guidelines and the LU template revealed a generally good match;

(iv) that the QAA had also published further examples of specifications from across the sector (November 2005); the agenda paper drew attention to a number of features that might merit adoption at LU;

(v) that CSC had sought guidance from PDQ on the way in which section 7 of the University template (‘indicators of quality’) should be completed;

(vi) that the future specification of the TQI web-site was under discussion as part of the second phase of the Burslem QAF review. It was a possibility that HEIs would be expected to provide a ‘front-page’ for their programme specifications on their own web-sites, which could be accessed via a link from the TQI site;

(vii) that the QAA regarded programme specifications as ‘the definitive publicly available information on the aims, intended learning outcomes and expected learner achievements of programmes of study’;

(viii) that arrangements for providing formative feedback were a major issue for many students at LU.

Agreed

(i) that Annex 1 to the QAA guidelines should be incorporated in the guidance notes attached to the LU programme specification template for proposers of new programmes and others working on programme specifications at Loughborough;

(ii) that the current section 7 of the LU programme specification template (‘indicators of quality’) be replaced by a section on ‘what makes the programme distinctive’: the guidance notes should prompt departments to use this section, inter alia, to expand on any accreditation received, on the opportunities for industrial/professional training and employer contributions to the design/delivery of the programme, and links between teaching and research in the department;

(iii) that CSC be invited to comment on these proposals in view of its vested interest in the documentation;

(iv) that any more changes to the LU programme specification await further clarification on the future use and accessibility of programme specifications nationally, eg on their place within the TQI site, or through an institutional link, as a source of information for prospective students;

(v) that information about formative feedback to students (which appeared in programme specifications in some other HEIs) would more appropriately be included in module specifications;

(vi) that the next meeting of the group considering the outcomes of the 2006 National Student Survey be asked to consider (v) above, revisit other actions discussed in relation to assessment and feedback after the 2005 survey, and bring forward recommendations for changes in QA procedures as appropriate.

Author – Robert Bowyer

Date – September 2006