Consultation on the proposed method of review of higher education in further education colleges in Northern Ireland

Feedback

In the main, respondents were extremely supportive of:

the inclusion of a reviewer in each review team from another Northern Ireland college
the institutional reviewer role
the focus on higher education provision and the opportunity to identify good practice and areas for improvement
the opportunity to benchmark the quality of provision across Northern Ireland and to contribute to raising standards
the involvement of students and the benefits this would provide in allowing the student views and perspectives to be reflected in the management of higher education provision
the contribution of the process to the inspection of colleges and the audit of partner universities.

Although the proposal for Developmental review was generally welcomed, areas of concern cited by respondents included:

the timing of the reviews in relation to the availability of the evidence base and the quality assurance processes and procedures that would be in place
the limitations of existing documentation resulting in the need to write the reflective statement specifically for the review
the logistics involved where a college has a number of awarding bodies
the role conflict that might arise from the institutional reviewer role
the costs to colleges of releasing staff to take part in their own college review and the review of another college
the amount of work required to prepare students and employers.

Further information and clarity were requested in relation to:

the structure and content of the reflective statement
the role and requirements of awarding bodies in the review process
the Academic Infrastructure
support for students in preparation of their written submission
the scope of the provision that would be included in the review.

The comments from the consultation exercise have been considered carefully and have informed the revision of the review method.

Further guidance

In response to the consultation, further guidance has been developed for colleges to assist them in preparing their reflective statement and portfolio of evidence. Further guidance has also been prepared to provide students with advice about the content and structure of the student written submission.

Awarding bodies were invited to attend the Developmental review briefing event which provided both colleges and their awarding bodies with more details of awarding body involvement in reviews. The extent of each awarding body’s involvement is a matter for discussion between the college and each of its awarding bodies.

Although QAA has introduced the concepts and terminology of the Academic Infrastructure in the briefing and training events for the review method, there is no expectation that colleges will be fully conversant with the Academic Infrastructure by the time of the Developmental review visits in May 2009. The handbook has been revised to reflect this.

DEL has confirmed that all higher education programmes funded by DEL in colleges are potentially within the scope of the Developmental review. This includes all programmes at levels 4 and above of The framework for higher education qualifications, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The handbook also emphasises that each Developmental review is based on a sample of this provision and evaluates the extent to which the college, working with its awarding body partner(s), exercises its responsibilities for maintaining academic standards, and for assuring and enhancing the quality of students’ learning opportunities in higher education programmes.

QAA is very grateful to all those who responded to the consultation.