October 2003/51
Core funding/operations
Guidance

TQI contacts sent to HERO by 1 December; mappings to JACS codes submitted by 1 March 2004; first set of information published by December 2004

Information on quality and standards in higher education

Final guidance

This document provides final guidance on the provision of information on quality and standards of teaching and learning in higher education, to be published on a national Teaching Quality Information (TQI) web-site. Institutions will be able to begin loading their reports onto the TQI site from March 2004, and are expected to provide the first complete set of annual information by December 2004.

Table of contents and executive summary (read on-line)

Download

Guidance
[ MS Word 429K | Zipped Word 104K | Adobe PDF 140K | Zipped PDF 118K ]

Contents

Executive summary
Introduction and background
Quantitative information for publication
Qualitative information for publication
Rationale for revisions to the TQI specification
Publication method
Implementation timetable
Legal issues
Monitoring, evaluation and costs
Information which should be available internally in HEIs

Annex A Templates for qualitative information
         A1 Template for summaries of the findings of external examiners
         A2 Template for summaries of institutions' learning and teaching strategies
         A3 Template for summaries of periodic programme/departmental reviews
Annex B Summary of the TQI pilot
Annex C Summary of issues raised at the TQI seminars
Annex D Explanation of revisions to the published information specification
Annex E Form to nominate institutional TQI contacts
Annex F JACS principal subjects and HESA subject areas
Annex G Summary of legal issues and advice
Annex H Information which should be available in all HEIs
List of abbreviations

Executive summary

Purpose

1.    This document provides final guidance on the information on quality and standards of teaching and learning in higher education (HE), to be published on a national Teaching Quality Information (TQI) web-site.

Key points

2.    In March 2002, 'Information on quality and standards in higher education: Final report of the task group' (HEFCE 02/15) was published. The report set out categories of information that should be available within higher education institutions (HEIs), and those that should be published, as part of the revised quality assurance framework for HE in England.

3.    During 2003, HERO was commissioned to pilot the information for publication with six HEIs, in order to test the system and recommend any improvements. This document sets out the final guidance on information for publication following the pilot, and subsequent discussions between relevant stakeholders.

4.    Several revisions have been made to the HEFCE 02/15 specification of the dataset, to improve its utility to the public and to minimise costs to institutions. Key among these are:

1. Provision of quantitative data at a finer level of granularity, and inclusion of part-time and postgraduate students.
2. More formulaic summaries of the conclusions of external examiners, and greater flexibility for institutions to provide these at programme or subject level.
3. Publication of the results of a new national student survey at subject level, and removal of the need to publish the results of internal student feedback.

5.    HERO has been commissioned to publish the information through a TQI web-site, and to provide support to HEIs. The site will be publicly accessible from summer 2004, and the first full set of information, including summaries of the findings of external examiners, should be available on the site by December 2004.

6.    The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is currently consulting on the detailed specification of the quantitative data, prior to providing these data to HERO for publication.

Actions required

7.    This document sets out a number of requirements for institutions to provide data for publication on the TQI site. In the short-term, HEIs should:

1. Use the form provided at Annex E to nominate TQI contacts to liaise with HERO, by 1 December 2003.
2. Produce a mapping of anticipated reports to JACS principal subjects, and provide this to HERO using software provided, by 1 March 2004.
3. Access the HESA consultation on the quantitative data, available at www.hesa.ac.uk/circulars/student/home.htm

8.    Institutions will be able to begin loading their reports onto the TQI site from March 2004, and are expected to provide the first complete set of annual information by December 2004. Thereafter institutions will need to maintain and update the information. Detailed guidance is set out in this document, and HERO will provide further advice, support and tools to facilitate this.