Part A of the Quality Code explains how academic standards are set and maintained for higher education qualifications in the UK. Academic threshold standards define the minimum standards that licensing bodies must use to make the award of qualifications at a particular level in the relevant higher education qualifications framework (eg an undergraduate degree or a doctorate).
National qualifications frameworks for higher education
There are two parallel UK national frameworks for higher education: the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (FHEQ). The frameworks define and apply to all higher education qualifications awarded by degree awarding bodies. QAA (2001) The framework for qualifications of higher education institutions in Scotland www.qaa.ac.uk/Publications/InformationAndGuidance/Pages/FHEQ-Scotland.aspx.
The UK National Framework for Higher Education Qualifications assists higher education providers, their examiners and QAA reviewers by providing a point about. This program ensures that degree-awarding bodies place their qualifications at the appropriate level in the relevant Higher Education Qualifications Framework. QAA (2011) The Bologna Process in Higher Education: Compatibility of Higher Education Qualifications Frameworks in England, Wales and Northern Ireland with the Qualifications Framework of the European Higher Education Area.
Guidance on qualification characteristics
QAA (2013) Qualifications can cross borders – a rough guide to comparing qualifications in Britain and Ireland. Bologna Working Group on Qualifications Frameworks (2005) A framework for qualifications of the European Higher Education Area. Research Councils UK (2013) Statement of Expectations for Doctoral Education www.rcuk.ac.uk/documents/researchcareers/statementofexpectation.pdf QAA (2008) Verifying the Compatibility of the Higher Education Qualifications Framework in England, Wales and Northern Ireland ( FHEQ) with the European Higher Education Area Qualifications Framework (FQ-EHEA).
QAA (2007) Verification of compatibility of the qualifications framework of higher education institutions in Scotland with the qualifications framework of the European Higher Education Area.
National credit frameworks for higher education
Diploma awarding bodies use this manual as a basis for determining the credit value of a module or program before it is offered to students. Chapter B6: Assessment of students and the recognition of prior learning for more detailed information on the transfer of credits between degree awarding bodies and the. The European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) is the credit system used in the European Higher Education Area.
QAA (2009) Academic credit in higher education in England - an introduction www.qaa.ac.uk/Publications/InformationAndGuidance/Pages/Academic-credit-in- higher-education-in-England---an-introduction.aspx. QAA (2008) The framework for higher education qualifications and credits: how they relate to academic standards. UK HE Europe Unit (2009) UK HE Europe Unit guidance on the relationship between UK academic credit schemes and the European credit transfer and.
Subject benchmark statements
Some benchmark statements on topics are combined with, or refer to, professional standards required by external professional or regulatory bodies in the field. Subject benchmark statements describe results and characteristics expected at the threshold standard and, in most cases, also at the typical or modal performance level. Subject benchmark statements also describe what gives the subject its coherence and identity, the key characteristics of courses and the nature of teaching, learning and assessment in that subject or field.
The Recognition Scheme for subject benchmarks provides a means by which cases can be made for the creation of new benchmarks to cover emerging areas of knowledge within higher education and subsequently be developed. Higher education providers are therefore expected to demonstrate that they have considered and taken into account relevant subject benchmarks rather than showing strict adherence to them. QAA (2009) Outcomes from institutional audit Second series: Subject benchmark statements www.qaa.ac.uk/Publications/InformationAndGuidance/Pages/Outcomes-from-institutional-audit-Second-series-Subject-benchmark-statements.aspx.
Academic governance arrangements and
Degree-awarding bodies are responsible for determining the assessment procedures that will be used to demonstrate the achievement of the intended learning outcomes of the modules and programs leading to the award of their academic credits and/or qualifications. These regulations are systematically and consistently applied to ensure academic standards (see section A3) and are regularly reviewed and maintained. Degree-awarding bodies take into account a range of external reference points for academic standards when establishing and maintaining their academic frameworks and regulations, including European standards and guidelines relating to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), UK frameworks for higher education qualifications, guidelines on the characteristics of qualifications, national credit frameworks and chapters in Part B of the Quality Code.
QAA (2011) Outcomes from Institutional audit 2007-09: Management of academic standards www.qaa.ac.uk/Publications/InformationAndGuidance/Pages/Outcomes-from-audit- academic-standards.aspx. Equality Challenge Unit (2011) Public sector equality duty: Specific duties for England www.ecu.ac.uk/publications/files/psed-specific-duties-for-england-sept11.pdf/view Equality Challenge Unit (2011) The public Sector Equality Duty: Specific Duties for Wales www.ecu.ac.uk/publications/files/psed-specific-duties-for-wales.pdf/view. Equality Challenge Unit (2010) Anti-discrimination law in Northern Ireland www.ecu.ac.uk/publications/anti-discrimination-law-in-northern-ireland Leadership Foundation for Higher Education (LFHE) Management www.lfhe.ac.uk / af/audiences/governance-new/index.cfm.
Definitive records of individual programmes and qualifications
Definitive research degree records contain different types of information, but include at least the subject or interdisciplinary field approved for offering research degree programs (see Chapter B11: Research degrees), the types of qualifications approved in that field, and the level at FHEQ or SCQF where located, along with a definitive record of any taught or structured component. The final record, which is changed only according to the prescribed procedure, serves as a reference point for academic and support staff involved in the implementation of the program and. Higher education providers determine the best ways to prepare and disseminate the information obtained from these records to their different audiences, such as prospective and current students and employers (see also Part C: 'Information about the provision of higher education' of the Quality Code).
There are four main ways in which degree-awarding bodies ensure academic standards and quality ensure the learning outcomes-based approach to academic awards in the UK, which are discussed in this Chapter. When the QAA carries out reviews of degree-awarding bodies to ensure the quality of providers of higher education qualifications (see section 'higher education qualification frameworks and . institutional reviews' in Chapter A1, page 12), the review teams assess the extent to which tuning bodies execute these processes effectively.
Design and approval of modules, programmes and qualifications
To ensure standards, approval processes are used to determine whether the assessment scheme adequately tests the intended learning outcomes. Where the approval period is open, degree-awarding bodies use periodic review processes to reaffirm that the UK threshold academic standards and their own academic standards continue to be met. QAA (2010) Institutional audit results Second series: Validation and approval of the new provision and its periodic review.
Equality Challenge Unit (2010) Anti-discrimination law in Northern Ireland www.ecu.ac.uk/publications/anti-discrimination-law-in-northern-ireland.
Assessment of learning outcomes
For the purpose of awarding credits and/or qualifications, assessment is used to enable students to demonstrate achievement of the relevant learning outcomes. To ensure that the UK Academic Threshold Standards in Chapter A1 are met, decisions to award credits or qualifications are based on solid evidence that the learning outcomes of the module (for the award of credit) or the learning outcomes of the program (for the award of a qualification) have been achieved. In the case of research training qualifications, learning outcomes or award criteria are tested in accordance with the relevant qualification description and demonstrated for an award to be made.
Reasonable adjustments to assessment methods are made where required for students with protected characteristics, provided these do not compromise the academic standards expressed through learning outcomes. QAA (2011) Institutional Audit Outcomes 2007-09: Assessment and Feedback www.qaa.ac.uk/Publications/InformationAndGuidance/Pages/outcomes-assessment- and-feedback.aspx. QAA (2012) Institutional Audit Outcomes 2009-11: Evaluation and Commentary www.qaa.ac.uk/Publications/InformationAndGuidance/Pages/Outcomes-audit- evaluation.aspx.
Monitoring and review of alignment with UK
Externality
The Expectations
The Quality Code sets out the following expectations regarding the setting and maintenance of academic standards to which higher education providers must meet. In order to ensure academic threshold standards, degree awarding bodies: .. a) ensure that the requirements of The Framework for Higher Education Qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland/The Framework for Qualifications of Higher Education Institutions in Scotland are met by: .. their qualifications on the appropriate level of the relevant framework for higher education qualifications .. ensuring that program learning outcomes match the relevant qualification descriptor in the relevant framework for higher education qualifications .. naming qualifications in accordance with the title conventions specified in the frameworks for higher education qualifications .. awarding qualifications to achieve of positively defined program learning outcomes. Degree-awarding bodies keep a definitive record of each program and qualification they approve (and of subsequent changes to it) which forms the reference point for program delivery and assessment, its monitoring and review, and for the provision of study records to students and alumni.
Degree-awarding bodies establish and consistently implement procedures for the approval of teaching programs and research degrees which ensure that academic standards are set at a level equivalent to the UK qualification threshold standard and are consistent with their own academic frameworks and regulations. Degree-awarding bodies ensure that procedures are in place to monitor and review programs which specifically address whether UK academic standards thresholds are achieved and whether the academic standards required by the individual degree-awarding body are maintained.
Membership of the advisory group for Part A
