HEFCE Circular 11/96
Arrangements for Quality Assessment Visits between October 1997 and June 1998
To Heads of HEFCE-funded Institutions
Heads of FEFC-funded institutions in receipt of HEFCE funds
Heads of DENI-funded Universities
Of particular interest to those responsible for Quality Assessment; Subjects due to be assessed in 1997-98
Reference 11/96
Response by 10 October 1996 (return of form)
Publication Date August 1996
General enquiries to Sheila Wolfenden
Tel 0117 931 7218
s.wolfenden@hefce.ac.uk
Subject Enquiries
| Agriculture, Forestry and Agricultural Sciences Food Science Town and Country Planning and Landscape |
David Bradbury 0117 931 7384 d.bradbury@hefce.ac.uk |
| Materials Technology Mechanical, Aeronautical and Manufacturing Engineering |
Arthur Brown 0117 931 7418 a.brown@hefce.ac.uk |
| Drama, Dance and Cinematics | Jannette Cheong 0117 931 7414 j.cheong@hefce.ac.uk |
| American Studies General Engineering |
Michael Emery 0117 931 7478 m.emery@hefce.ac.uk |
| Communication and Media Studies East and South Asian Studies History of Art, Architecture and Design Land and Property Management Middle Eastern and African Studies |
Angela Glasner 0117 931 7327 a.glasner@hefce.ac.uk |
| Electrical and Electronic Engineering | Charlotte MacKenzie 0117 931 7326 c.mackenzie@hefce.ac.uk |
| Building Civil Engineering |
Peter Milton 0117 931 7397 p.milton@hefce.ac.uk |
Executive Summary
1. In early 1996, the Council wrote to 123 institutions to confirm that they would receive quality assessment visits during 1997-98, the second year of the 1996-97 to 1997-98 assessment round. This Circular sets out the arrangements for scheduling visits to those institutions and the timetable for submitting self-assessments.
2. To enable the Council to plan the visit schedule, institutions should complete the form at Annex A and return it to the HEFCE by 10 October 1996.
3. Institutions will be asked to submit self-assessments at least six months before the assessment visit. These must contain a clear statement of the subject provider's aims and objectives.
Background
4. The arrangements for quality assessment in 1996-97 and 1997-98 were described in detail in Circular 26/95, published in October 1995. The quality assessment method and the assessment process are described in the Assessors' Handbook, October 1996 to September 1998, published in March 1996.
The Scheduling of Assessment Visits
5. To enable the Council to plan the visit schedule, institutions should complete and return the form at Annex A by 10 October 1996. They should include dates of terms and semesters; periods that are inappropriate for an assessment visit, with reasons; and inter-semester breaks, reading weeks, examinations and vacation periods. An electronic version of the form is available on request.
6. After receiving the forms, Council officers will begin to contact institutions by telephone to discuss possible dates for assessment visits. Institutional preferences for the timing of visits will be balanced against the Council's need to ensure an even workload and an appropriate distribution of subjects and size of provision across the academic year.
The Submission of Self-Assessments
7. When the date of an assessment visit has been agreed with the institution, the Council will confirm this by letter and will include the deadline for submitting the self-assessment. Institutions should provide three copies of the self-assessment. In addition, it would be helpful if the statement of aims and objectives could be sent electronically; the confirmation letter will include the email address.
8. The deadlines for receipt of self-assessments are as follows:
For visits in the autumn term 1997: 10 April 1997
For visits in the spring term 1998: 10 July 1997
For visits in the summer term 1998: 10 November 1997.
Review of the Size of Provision
9. Circular 26/95 (paragraph 19) invited institutions with small pockets of provision (fewer than 30 full-time equivalent students) to propose how they might be assessed. Where institutions could not combine such provision with another unit of assessment in 1996-97, the Council agreed that the size of their provision would be reviewed after the student intake for the new academic year in the autumn of 1996. These institutions will be contacted separately during October 1996, and until then do not need to return the form at Annex A.
Preparation of Self-Assessments
10. The Council published guidance on the preparation and analysis of self-assessments in December 1994 (Circular 39/94). That guidance still stands. The relevant extracts from Circular 39/94 appear as Annex B (The Self-Assessment) in Circular 26/95.
11. Self-assessments are submitted to the Council three times a year, about six months before the start of the term in which the assessment visit is scheduled. The information provided within self-assessments is used to help plan the assessment visits. On receipt, self-assessments are checked for length and the statements of aims and objectives are checked for length and clarity. If a self-assessment exceeds the page/word limits or the statement of aims and objectives is not clear, the self-assessment is returned to the institution for amendment.
12. A clear statement of aims and objectives is necessary to enable the Council to carry out an effective assessment visit. Most self-assessments received in June 1996 did contain such a statement. However, in preparing self-assessments for 1997-98, institutions are reminded of the following:
a. The aims and objectives should be expressed as clearly as possible within the guidelines set out in Annex B of Circular 26/95.
b. The statement of aims and objectives should articulate the relationship between broad purposes (aims) and specific intentions (objectives).
c. The statement of aims should express the subject provider's broad purposes in presenting each programme of study in the subject, and should focus at the level of subject provision, students and programmes of study. Separate aims should be specified for each programme of study and different levels of study (diploma, undergraduate, or taught postgraduate). Where reference is made to institutional goals, the statement should establish the link between these and the subject aims.
d. The statement of objectives should give specific intentions for the student learning experience and learning outcomes that demonstrate successful completion of a programme of study. Separate objectives should be specified for different levels of study (diploma, undergraduate, taught postgraduate).
e. In determining whether a statement of aims and objectives is clear enough for an assessment visit to take place, the Council will consider the expression of, and consistency between, the aims and objectives, and whether there is sufficient differentiation between broad purposes and specific intentions.
f. The self-assessment should not exceed the word and page limits. There is a limit of 500 words for the statement of aims and objectives: as a rough guide, each word should be counted, except for the main heading, 'Aims and Objectives', and the two sub-headings, 'Aims' and 'Objectives'. Paragraph numbers and heading numbers should not be counted, but figures within the text are counted as words. Institutions should include the word count in brackets at the end of the statement. Self-assessments and statements of aims and objectives that exceed the limits will be returned for editing.
g. The self-assessment, including the statement of aims and objectives, should cover taught postgraduate courses where relevant, but not postgraduate research or informal postgraduate teaching associated with research supervision.
h. Provision delivered within a collaborative or franchised framework should be clearly identified.
i. The statement of aims and objectives is published in the quality assessment report following the assessment visit.
Timetable of Arrangements for the 1997-98 Assessment Programme
October 1996
10 October: Deadline for receipt of form (Annex A), identifying term/semester dates and inappropriate times for assessment visits.
Institutions with small pockets of provision contacted for review of student numbers.
October/November 1996
Confirmation of dates for assessment visits from October 1997 to June 1998 begins. Institutions contacted by telephone to discuss the timing of their visits.
April 1997
10 April: Deadline for receipt of self-assessments from institutions to be visited in the autumn term 1997.
July 1997
10 July: Deadline for receipt of self-assessments from institutions to be visited in the spring term 1998.
Preparatory meetings with institutions due to be visited in the autumn term 1997 begin.
November 1997
10 November: Deadline for receipt of self-assessments from institutions to be visited in the summer term 1998.
Preparatory meetings with institutions due to be visited in the spring term 1998 begin.
January 1998
Preparatory meetings with institutions due to be visited in the summer term 1998 begin.