April 2003/15
Good practice

This report is for information and guidance

Supporting higher education in further education colleges

A guide for tutors and lecturers

This document is aimed at lecturers and tutors providing higher education courses in further education colleges. It contains good practice guidance, with examples from over 50 institutions, information requested by colleges, and suggestions. A companion volume for senior managers (HEFCE 2003/16) addresses policy issues and prospects for HE in FE colleges.

View updated guide (March 2009)

Table of contents and introduction (read on-line)

Download

Sections 1-5 of the guide
[ MS Word 433K | Zipped Word 119K | Adobe PDF 157K | Zipped PDF 130K ]

Sections 6-10 of the guide, plus annexes
[ MS Word 510K | Zipped Word 113K | Adobe PDF 307K | Zipped PDF 251K ]

Contents

Introduction: using the materials

1      The context for higher education in further education
2      Developing higher level skills
3      Curriculum development
4      Assessment
5      Marketing and recruitment
6      Academic advice and support: the student life-cycle
7      Working in partnership
8      Management and planning
9      Staffing and staff development
10    Quality assurance and enhancement

Annex A    Institutions and organisations that contributed to the project
Annex B    Useful web-sites
Annex C    Additional material on the HEFCE web-site
Annex D    Glossary

Introduction: using the materials

This document and additional materials on the web aim to meet the needs of colleges providing higher education, who identified areas in which they would welcome good practice guidance. Further education colleges (FECs) do not always acknowledge what they do as 'good practice', and can be reticent about using the term. The definition of good practice for these materials is examples that have worked well in FECs with higher education provision.

The topics were identified through a questionnaire by the University of Warwick with FECs that receive money from HEFCE's Development Fund for Learning and Teaching, and through feedback from conferences and seminars. Their relevance will depend on the range and size of a college's provision, the nature of its partnerships, and the length of experience that individuals have of HE in FE. This is a very diverse sector in which one size definitely does not fit all.

Not all the materials will be of equal use to all colleges, but we hope some will be. We also believe they will be useful to higher education institutions (HEIs) to inform and develop their partnerships with FECs.

The good practice guidance has been produced at a time of rapid change, but we believe that the principles will still be relevant.

The materials cover:

• guidance (with practical examples from over 40 FECs and 12 HEIs)
• information (requested by some colleges)
• suggestions.

Additional materials

Self-assessment questions for independent learners
Lansing College
[ MS Word 23K | Zipped Word 5K | Adobe PDF 9K | Zipped PDF 5K ]

Choosing a virtual learning environment
City College Manchester
[ MS Word 21K | Zipped Word 4K | Adobe PDF 8K | Zipped PDF 6K ]

Programme approval template
Open University
[ MS Word 29K | Zipped Word 6K | Adobe PDF 15K | Zipped PDF 11K ]

Model business plan for proposed HE course
City College Manchester
[ MS Word 22K | Zipped Word 4K | Adobe PDF 8K | Zipped PDF 5K ]

Policy on local provision of HE with partner FECs
University of Sunderland
[ MS Word 92K | Zipped Word 17K | Adobe PDF 27K | Zipped PDF 20K ]

Template for presenting quantitative student data
[ MS Word 101K | Zipped Word 10K | Adobe PDF 18K | Zipped PDF 14K ]

HE in FE and scholarly activity - a discussion paper
New College Durham
[ MS Word 34K | Zipped Word 10K | Adobe PDF 17K | Zipped PDF 13K ]

Framework for assuring quality in a large FEC with substantial HE provision
[ MS Word 37K | Zipped Word 8K | Adobe PDF 29K | Zipped PDF 20K ]

Student feedback systems
Bradford College
[ MS Word 28K | Zipped Word 7K | Adobe PDF 11K | Zipped PDF 8K ]

Programme specification for HNC in computing
[ MS Word 92K | Zipped Word 15K | Adobe PDF 28K | Zipped PDF 22K ]

Programme specification for BA in counselling and psychology in community settings
Bradford College
[ MS Word 101K | Zipped Word 16K | Adobe PDF 25K | Zipped PDF 18K ]