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Report 02/15

Information on quality and standards in higher education

Final report of the Task Group

To: Heads of HEFCE-funded higher education institutions
Heads of HEFCE-funded further education colleges
Of interest to those responsible for: Quality assurance, Information management
Reference: 02/15
Publication date: March 2002
Enquiries to: At the HEFCE
Emma Creasey
tel 0117 931 7225
e-mail e.creasey@hefce.ac.uk

At QAA
Mandy Nelson
tel 01452 557182
e-mail m.nelson@qaa.ac.uk

At SCOP
Greg Wade
tel 0207 387 7711
e-mail greg.wade@scop.ac.uk

At Universities UK
David Young
tel 0207 419 5484
e-mail david.young@UniversitiesUK.ac.uk

Contents and executive summary (read on-line)

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Report
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Annexes
[ MS Word 178K | Zipped Word 59K | Adobe PDF 92K | Zipped PDF 80K ]

Contents

Executive summary

Introduction and background

Summary of final recommendations

Information which should be available in all HEIs
Information for publication

Analysis of responses, and changes recommended by the Task Group

Other issues, formats for publication and next steps

Annex A    Membership of the Task Group

Annex B    Analysis of responses to HEFCE 01/66

Annex C    Proposed template for publishing summaries of external examiners' reports

Annex D    Proposed template for publishing results of student feedback from HEIs' own institutional surveys

Annex E    Proposed template for publishing summaries of periodic programme/department reviews

Executive summary

Purpose

1.    As part of the revised method for quality assurance in higher education in England, a Task Group was set up to identify the categories of data, information and judgements about quality and standards of teaching and learning that should be available within higher education institutions (HEIs), and those which should be published. The Task Group, chaired by Professor Sir Ron Cooke, Vice-Chancellor of the University of York, published a document in November 2001, 'Information on quality and standards of teaching and learning: proposals for consultation' (HEFCE 01/66), setting out interim proposals and inviting responses. This report gives the Task Group's final recommendations in the light of the consultation responses and wider discussions.

Key points

2.    The Task Group's recommendations cover:

  1. The main headings for collecting information about quality and standards of learning and teaching.
  2. The quantitative data to be assembled and published by HEIs.
  3. The qualitative information which should be published, including summaries of external examiner reports, outcomes of student satisfaction surveys, summaries of learning and teaching strategies, and outcomes of major programme reviews.

3.    This report also includes:

  1. An analysis of the responses to the interim proposals made by the Task Group in HEFCE 01/66, contained in Annex B.
  2. Discussion of the changes to the interim recommendations which the group has made in the light of responses received.
  3. The Task Group's conclusions on a number of outstanding issues which were not covered in HEFCE 01/66.
  4. Recommendations on the format and method of publication of qualitative information.
  5. Details of further work that will need to be undertaken before implementing the revised method for quality assurance in England.