Internal Quality Assurance

7 Internal Quality Assurance

7.1.1 Examination Boards

A report, summarising the observations of Academic Standards and Partnership staff on the operation and conduct of Examination Boards, is discussed, together with reports from all Faculties, at the autumn meeting of the Sub-Committee for Examination and Assessment and reported to Academic Standards Committee. The minutes of the SCEA meeting inform regulatory work in the Academic Standards and Partnership section.

1. 
   Quality Assurance
   

• 
  Academic Standards committee representative training to consider the role of the ASC representative at validation and within the new Periodic Review process. The event launched the ASC representatives Network on Community@Brighton, which, it is hoped, will become a forum for developing and sharing of good practice.
  

2. 
   Examination and Assessment
   

• 
  Workshop for Examination Board secretaries.
  
• 
  Workshop for Chairs of examination boards.
  

3. 
   Partnership – Northbrook College
   

• 
  Course Development Workshop which aimed to support Northbrook College staff from across the curriculum in the development of new courses and the revalidation of existing (previously OUVS validated) HE provision.
  
• 
  Preparation for Examination Boards which followed on from last year’s workshops to help staff prepare for the summer examination boards.
  

• 
  Minute taking and writing workshop, which ran twice during the year and provided training for administrators with minute taking responsibilities across the institution.
  

Full details about these workshops are reported annually to the Academic Standards Committee.

7.2.1 GEAR major changes

At its meeting in March 2008, the Academic Board approved a change to a 50% pass mark for the university’s postgraduate (taught) awards, for introduction from 2009/10. During the year, ASC considered further a set of interrelated regulations for postgraduate awards, including the approval of the introduction of the classification of merit and distinction and consideration of a university algorithm for their determination. The Academic Board also approved the introduction of regulations for the Foundation Diploma award, revised regulations on borderline cases. The university undergraduate marking/grading scale, approved by AB in June 2007, was included in GEAR for 2008/09. Following revision to the QAA Code of Practice section 5: Academic appeals and student complaints on academic matters (October 2007), both the university’s academic appeals procedure and student complaints procedure were fully reviewed and revisions approved by Academic Board.
7.3 External Examiners

7.3.1 Sub-Committee for External Examiner Nominations (SCEEN)

The Sub-Committee for External Examiner Nominations (SCEEN) met five times in the last academic year and dealt with an increased number of nominations from Faculties to previous years. Figures for the last three academic years are shown in Table 1 below.
Table 1.

External Examiner appointments considered by SCEEN

	2005/06	2006/07	2007/08
New appointments	87	110	106
Extensions to appointments	25	21	31
Re-allocation of duties	41	37	44
Total	153	168	181

7.3.2 External examiners’ workshop
The University held its ninth annual workshop for external examiners. Following feedback from examiners in previous years, the format of the workshop was reviewed to ensure its continued relevance and engagement from the university community. Subsequently, the focus of the workshop was changed with an emphasis on the ‘induction’ of newly appointed external examiners to the university and new sessions were introduced. This year’s workshop was well attended by over 50 external examiners.
7.3.3 Perspective external examiner workshop
The university held its second workshop aimed at providing staff with both an overview of the role and responsibilities of an external examiner in Higher Education and practical information about how to become one. The workshop was attended by 27 members of staff, including staff from Plumpton, Hastings and Northbrook Colleges.
7.4 Partner college review
During 2007-08 a review of Sussex Downs College took place, using the revised process approved during 2006-07. The University has now been informed of the scheduling of college Integrated Quality & Enhancement Review visits, and a schedule for partner college review, taking account of the IQER schedule, will be developed during 2008-09.

8 National Quality Assurance

8.1 National developments

National Credit Framework
Following the Burgess Group’s proposals relating to the establishment of a national credit and qualifications framework across England by 2010, the QAA convened a Credit Issues development Group. This has carried out detailed work to refine arrangements for a national credit framework, and to develop guidance to accompany its implementation.
From March 2008 to May 2008, the QAA conducted a consultation with institutions and other stakeholders on a draft Higher Education Credit Framework for England.
8.2 Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education
QAA Institutional Audit

A team of auditors from the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) visited the University from 12^th to 16^th May 2008 to carry out an institutional audit. The purpose of the audit was to provide public information on the quality of learning opportunities available to students and on the academic standards of the awards that the University offers.

The University achieved the best possible outcome in the audit, a judgement from the audit team that:

• 
  confidence can reasonably be placed in the soundness of the University’s present and likely future management of the academic standards of the awards that it offers;
  
• 
  confidence can reasonably be placed in the soundness of the University’s present and likely future management of the quality of the learning opportunities available to students
  

The audit team also identified a number of areas of good practice, as well as some recommendations for action. The University will address these under the management of the Institutional Audit Working Group and the Academic Standards Committee.

Integrated Quality Enhancement Review (IQER)

The QAA published the IQER handbook in 2008. This handbook sets out the methodology which will be used to review higher education delivered in further education colleges between 2008 and 2012. The University’s partner further education colleges will all be reviewed between 2010 and 2012.

8.3 OFSTED
8.3.1 Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) inspection
The 2007/8 year was significant in terms of OfSTED inspection, with all of the University’s Primary (School of Education) and Secondary (Chelsea School and School of Education) award-bearing Initial Teacher Education (ITE) provision undergoing ‘short’ inspections.
The outcomes were very positive, with the ‘Management and Quality Assurance’ of Primary provision achieving a grade 1 (‘Outstanding’), the highest grade available, and an improvement from the grade 2 awarded during the previous inspection. Similarly, the grade 1 in the ‘Management and Quality Assurance’ of Secondary provision was retained. Commendations cited in the reports refer to, for example, ‘the high quality of the management’, ‘the excellent support for individual trainees’ and the ‘commitment to inclusion and diversity’.
These grades accompany the grade 1 achieved in the OfSTED inspection of the University’s Further Education (Post Compulsory) ITE provision in 2006/7. The University is the first – and currently the only – higher education institution in the country with an ‘outstanding’ profile across the full range of its ITE provision.
A new OfSTED inspection framework will be introduced from September 2008, and this will involve single combined inspections of all ITE provision (Primary, Secondary, Post Compulsory and the Graduate Teacher Programme): the University will receive its next inspection in either 2008/9 or 2009/10 following a six week notice period.
8.3.2 Training and Development Agency for Schools
As a separate exercise during 2007/8, the University was invited by OfSTED to provide evidence that the ‘Quality of Training’ element has improved since the last full inspection of its Secondary ITE provision. The University’s submission was successful, and the grade awarded to ‘Quality of Training’ has improved to a grade 1 (Outstanding). As a consequence, the University is now deemed to be a Category A provider (Very Good – the highest rating available) of Secondary ITE by the Training and Development Agency for Schools (the TDA). This accompanies the existing Category A rating of the University’s Primary ITE provision.
This quality profile places the University in a very favourable position should, for example, additional student number places are made available by the TDA.
The TDA has recently published its ‘Performance Profiles’ for 2008. These data indicate achievement rates and the numbers of graduates who enter the teaching profession. The proportion of all final year University of Brighton students who achieve Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) is broadly the same as national averages; and a significantly larger percentage of those gaining QTS are subsequently employed as a teacher (80% compared to 65%) in the immediate months following graduation: this continues to reflect the excellent employability of graduates from the University (the 2008 Performance Profiles are based on the outcomes of final year students in 2006/7) – see Table 1.

Table 1. TDA Performance Profiles 2007: Percentage of University of Brighton initial teacher education students gaining QTS and entering the teaching profession

Directory: reg
reg -> Board of Historic Resources Quarterly Meeting 16 June 2016 Sponsor Markers Diversity
reg -> Port Cambeltown dated 8th April 1830 Name
reg -> Contents september 2009 I. Executive order
reg -> In this issue
reg -> Reginald irenee vachon
reg -> Index for the Register Volumes 72-108 (1974-2010)
reg -> A century of ufo sightings and Close Encounters in the Midwest

Download 2.04 Mb.

Share with your friends: