Time to look more closely at assessment arrangements, the 'comparability' of honours degrees and continuing growth in international student numbers, says QAA.
In three newly published papers in its Outcomes from institutional audit series, QAA finds much solid achievement but some worries. Drawing on 59 QAA institutional audit reports of universities and higher education institutions in England and Northern Ireland published between December 2004 and August 2006 the papers - Assessment of students (Assessment) and External examiners and their reports (External examiners) deal with related aspects to do with the academic standards of students' awards. The third paper, Arrangements for international students (International students), focuses on how institutions were supporting their international students.
Both Assessment and External examiners find that many institutions are working hard to improve the consistency and fairness of their assessment arrangements. Both papers, however, find that critical recommendations outweigh identifiable good practice in the audit reports - as was the case with the corresponding papers, based on the audit reports published between 2003 and November 2004.
Again, both Assessment and External examiners call attention to gaps between institutional ambitions to have assessment arrangements fair and consistent (and consistent with QAA's advice), and the practices of staff in departments, schools, and faculties as observed by audit teams. Worries include doubts in some cases about the double-marking and/or moderation of students' summative assessments; continuing difficulties with degree classification; departures from institutional practice in the way staff in departments and schools work with external examiners; and generally weak use of statistical data to monitor and quality assure the assessments of all students and degree classifications. The papers also find weaknesses in the arrangements of some institutions for detecting and dealing with plagiarism and for providing feedback on students' assessed work, including feedback to international students.
One of the key findings of the Assessment paper is that while many institutions were working strenuously to improve both their assessment procedures and their arrangements to support the work of their external examiners, 'more could be done to provide institutions, and ... external examiners, with reliable information on the effects of their assessment practices' including 'on how honours degrees are classified'.
The International students paper shows the extent to which the student body in some institutions has been internationalised - with many institutions taking more than 10 per cent of their students from overseas, and some (mostly in London) recruiting more than 30 per cent of their students from outside the UK. Overall, the paper finds that the support institutions give their international students should be seen as a strength, but it also highlights concerns on the part of audit teams that the number of international students was being increased in an unsustainable fashion in some institutions. In these cases, audit teams called for more attention to the impact this would have on their services to support international students and the student body overall.
International students finds some institutions taking care to check for themselves the English language proficiency of newly arrived overseas students. It also notes, however, recommendations in the reports linked to the need for institutions, particularly small and specialist institutions, to give greater attention to English language support for international students, including postgraduate, taught and research students.
Reviewing the findings of these papers, Peter Williams, Chief Executive of QAA called for consultations on how institutions can best provide themselves with reliable information on the effects of their assessment practices, the comparability of honours degrees, and on sustainable practices for the recruitment of international students.
Assessment of students
External examiners and their reports
International students
Ends
For further information please contact Katie Sharrock, Communications,
t: 01452 557074, e: k.sharrock@qaa.ac.uk
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