Purposes and outcomes of the review
The programme reviewed
Section A Framework
Section B Overall educational aims of the programme
Section C An evaluation of the emerging standards of the programme and the emerging achievements of students
Section D An evaluation of the quality of students' learning opportunities
Section E An evaluation of the monitoring and enhancement of quality and standards
Section F Good practice and/or innovative features
Section G Summary of the main review outcomes
In view of the recent establishment of the Foundation Degree (FD) award, the Higher education Funding Council for England (the HEFCE) decided that there should be follow-up action after a no confidence judgement in an FD review. This is to assist in the development and enhancement of the award.
There is no provision for a re-review within the FD review method. Instead, after the review, the institution produces an action plan. A QAA officer visits the institution to consider evidence of the effect of the actions to enhance the standard and quality of the students’ experience and education. In this process conclusions are drawn but judgements are not reached. Following this visit, a confidential report on the institution’s response to the conclusions of the original review (www.qaa.ac.uk) is sent to the institution and to the Higher Education Funding Council for England.
The institution has addressed the concerns set out in the report of the review of the FD in Equine Studies in May 2005 and has implemented an action plan to enhance the standard and quality of the students’ experience and education. The effectiveness of the impact of the action will be considered during the next institutional audit or collaborative provision audit and will contribute to the evidence base that auditors use to make their judgements.
The Higher Education Funding Council for England has commissioned the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education to carry out a second programme of reviews of a sample of Foundation Degrees (FDs) in England in the academic year 2004-05. The major purposes of the review process are:
The findings from the reviewers' lines of enquiry result in a published report containing two threshold judgements. In the case of programmes where there are students who have graduated, the report contains judgements on the confidence, or otherwise, the reviewers have in:
In the case of recent programmes where no students have graduated to date, the report contains judgements on the confidence, or otherwise, the reviewers have in:
The report also comments on the maintenance and enhancement of standards and quality, and on the examples of good practice and innovation which may be worthy of wider dissemination.
Each review looks at one FD programme. It covers the entirely of that programme and includes, as applicable, the provision at all sites of delivery, all pathways, sites of work-based learning and modes of study.
The review takes place within a framework that includes a range of activities common to all reviews. Each review is structured around a series of 11 key questions to be considered by the provider in preparing its self-evaluation and by the reviewers when summarising evidence to be used to reach the two threshold judgements. The same questions form the structure of the report.
1 The FD in Equine Studies is an award of Bournemouth University (the University). It was validated in 2002 to be delivered at Kingston Maurward College (Kingston Maurward), a land-based college just outside Dorchester. Kingston Maurward is one of six further education colleges (FECs) in the Dorset, South Somerset and South Wiltshire Partnership (DSW) area which deliver programmes in partnership with the University. Through this partnership the University seeks to support the development of a regional curriculum for higher education (HE) in a number of predominantly rural areas. Kingston Maurward has a mainly 16-18 student age profile and the FD is part of a recent strategic intention to increase HE provision in Kingston Maurward. Since the University itself has no Equine provision within its own portfolio, the award is the responsibility of the Department of Partnerships, Access and Community Education rather than one of its Schools. To address the gap in curriculum development that this might leave, the University has engaged a subject specialist from the Royal Agricultural College (RAC) in Cirencester to provide the Link Tutor support role. The articulation with honours is to the third year of the RAC's award: the BSc in Equine Studies.
2 The FD is a programme containing substantial science content which leads to a Foundation Degree in Science award. It is intended to provide a broad equine qualification that will equip students with the knowledge and skills to work in areas of the equine industry including, for example, equestrian enterprises and the nutrition industry. The programme also covers management and business with the intention that students may progress to careers in marketing or enterprise management within the equine industry. The programme was developed to provide a progression route for Kingston Maurward's National Diploma students, with encouragement from local Pony Club branches and the British Horse Society (BHS).
3 At the time of the review, three cohorts of students had been recruited to the award, with the first of these graduating in July 2004. The 30 students so far registered on the award have all been full-time and most were drawn from the local area. The most recently recruited cohort consisted of school-leavers who entered with GCE A-Level or equivalent qualifications. The placement element of the programme consists of a 400-hour, 20-credit unit on work-based learning (WBL) at level C. For this purpose, students undertake work in mainly small equestrian enterprises spread across the immediate region, generally one student at each site of WBL.
4 The primary aim of this programme is the development of students who on completion of the FD:
5 The aims and intended learning outcomes (ILOs) of the programme are clear and reflect the defining features of an FD. They are available in the programme specification and the student handbooks, and staff and students are familiar with their detail. The ILOs of the units have been mapped against the programme aims and learning outcomes which are generally appropriate for the Intermediate level of the FHEQ.
6 The learning outcomes of practical units are aligned with BHS qualifications, but to date there has been no mapping to National Occupational Standards because Lantra standards, as set out in the Foundation Degree Sectoral Framework for Animal Health and Welfare, were not published until April 2005. Thus, College consideration of the Framework is still in its early stages, but reviewers were informed that the Framework is being used to inform the current revision of the programme which is intended to become operational in September 2005. Theoretical units were designed in the context of the Subject benchmark statement for agriculture, forestry, agricultural sciences, food sciences and consumer sciences. The Foundation Degree qualification benchmark (FDQB) was not available at the time of the original validation but Kingston Maurward plans to address this issue, and to ensure the programme's alignment as part of internal periodic review.
7 The programme aims to ensure that its students 'have the relevant practical and professional skills with underpinning knowledge to enable them to gain employment in the equine industry'. Kingston Maurward has an Industrial Liaison Group whose remit is to review the effectiveness of provision in relation to current labour market requirements, advise on quality issues regarding students' work placement provision and to consider and advise in future curriculum plans in relation to the equine industry. The Group has met regularly to advise on work placements, however, this Group was not systematically involved in the development of the programme or in its operation. Overall, the design of the programme would have benefited from more direct involvement of employers, in addition to those staff at Kingston Maurward who are also employers and practitioners.
8 The students are aware of the articulated progression route to an honours degree at the RAC and other progression opportunities. One FD graduate has progressed to the final year at RAC, and another to the second year of an Equine Science degree at Hartpury College.
9 The course is delivered on three days a week to increase accessibility and flexibility. This allows many students to undertake their work placement during the college term, and increases the opportunities for full-time students to earn as they learn. The programme team acknowledges that the daytime-only delivery has probably discouraged applications from part-time students and non-traditional learners, in particular, those who are currently employed in the equine industry. They aim to take account of this in the imminent review and revalidation of the programme.
10 The programme consists of 12 units, all of which are mandatory. Students study a range of equine-related disciplines including anatomy and physiology, psychology, husbandry, sports medicine and business and management. Students have the opportunity to gain additional qualifications, for example, those of the BHS, and all gain a First Aid at Work qualification. Students see this as an attractive feature of the programme.
11 The programme carries a rating of 240 credits with 120 of these at Intermediate level. In order to progress to the relevant Bachelor of Science Honours Degree at the RAC students must also complete a prerequisite 12-week work experience period.
12 The BHS standards provide an important reference for curriculum design and Kingston Maurward staff have used these in the development of the FD. These standards are entirely appropriate for some parts of the curriculum, however, the curriculum content and delivery focuses unduly on students' achievement of these standards at the expense of providing students with sufficient opportunities to achieve the full range of the programme aims. For example, at Certificate level, the Horse Husbandry unit and, at Intermediate level, the Equestrian Enterprise Management unit, link closely to the BHS Horse and Care qualifications and the BHS Stable Manager qualification. However, the focus in the curriculum on horse husbandry and event management is at the expense of some of the wider aspects of the equine industry.
13 While the programme currently addresses the development of some of the relevant practical skills there is insufficient encouragement and guidance to the students on how they might reflect on and apply knowledge between the theoretical and the practical components of the programme. The programme does not currently utilise personal development planning but it is planned to do so for the 2005-06 academic year.
14 Health and safety issues are integrated into the curriculum. Particular stress is placed on these in the workplace, where Kingston Maurward staff brief employers on the health and safety requirements. However, there were no clear procedures in practice relating to Criminal Records Bureau disclosures for placements where students may be working with children.
15 Assessment arrangements are set out in the programme specification and unit documentation and are generally clear to students. Unit specifications map assessments to learning outcomes for the unit and the programme. A good range of assessment instruments is used to cover theoretical and practical elements, although the proportion of conventional examinations is high, ranging from 30 per cent to 70 per cent in eight of the 12 units.
16 In order to consider student work that had gone through the full assessment process, reviewers scrutinised a sample of student work from the academic years 2002-03 and 2003-04. Around one-third of assignments seen by the reviewers, including Horse Husbandry Welfare and Veterinary Care, Research Methods, and WBL lack the necessary academic challenge in relation to the specified levels. Kingston Maurward recognises that more could be done to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate the integration of academic learning with the acquisition of practical and vocational skills, and is seeking to address this in the forthcoming internal periodic review.
17 There was also a poor alignment between unit learning outcomes and assessment criteria. Assessment and grading criteria used by the University are provided in the programme handbook, and current students are aware of these, but the reviewers saw little evidence of their use in assessment, or in the feedback provided to students. Assessment criteria are stated on the assignment briefs but often these are simply a list of the tasks to be completed rather than an indication of the basis on which the standard of the work would be judged or what is required for different grades. There is a need for a greater alignment between unit learning outcomes and the assessment criteria.
18 The comprehensive University procedures for assessment are not implemented effectively within the programme. For example, there were cases, in the internal moderation of student work in Research Methods and Applied Equine Physiology, where neither first nor second marker had identified significant factual errors in the student work; they remained uncorrected. The University has comprehensive procedures for dealing with maladministration in examinations and academic malpractice, but the reviewers' scrutiny of documentation and discussion with staff indicated a number of instances where these procedures have not been fully implemented. The programme team needs to adhere more closely to the University procedures for assessment.
19 Similarly, while University procedures exist for the accreditation of prior (experiential) learning (AP(E)L), there is little reference to these in the course documentation. They have not been utilised to date and students were unaware of their existence.
20 Student have received some excellent feedback on their work, particularly in Equine Sports Medicine, and Functional Anatomy and Physiology. However, in nearly half of the 25 sets of assignments sampled, the written feedback did not provide an adequate formative learning function, being brief, unrelated to the generic marking criteria or failing to indicate how the work could be improved. Examples of these problems can be found in Equine Industry, Equestrian Enterprise Management, and in the Independent Research Project. This places considerable demands on the efficacy of oral feedback.
21 The reviewers sampled 25 assessments across all 12 units during the course of the review and they found problems in nine of these units. In five units the student work did not achieve the standard required and in a further four the reviewers judged that the work had been marked generously. This was the case, for example, in Equine Sports Medicine, Applied Equine Physiology, and Independent Research Project. The external examiner had also noted generous marking in his 2003 report.
22 The coursework assessment brief for the work placement unit lacked clear instructions to students to enable them to achieve the learning outcomes at the appropriate academic level. The validating panel had recommended that the assessment 'focus more on students' reflection and evaluation of their personal development', but this was not apparent to the reviewers in the work they sampled. Within the WBL unit, 25 per cent of marks are allocated to the employer questionnaire on student performance during the work placement. However, there are no arrangements to induct and train employers in assessment methods or the use of criteria. This has led to anomalies where students were graded at 95-100 per cent. These grades had not been moderated to achieve parity with grades awarded elsewhere on the programme. Overall unit marks were substantially distorted as a result of this strategy, with some students receiving high marks for the unit because of the employer input despite low-level performance in the written report in the same unit. This assessment practice will be discontinued from the 2005-06 academic year. As an interim measure, students' performance in WBL at Kingston Maurward's Equestrian Centre is used to moderate marks awarded by placement providers.
23 Paragraph seven describes the involvement of employers, employer-related organisations, and staff from Kingston Maurward who are also employers and practitioners, in the design of the programme. These representatives of employers in the equine industry are also involved in advising on and participating in the delivery of the programme, for example, through provision of study visits and visiting speakers as well as the provision of work placements. The main contact between the programme team and employers however, is through the 20-credit WBL unit at certificate level. This involves students in an eight-week (400 hours) placement at an enterprise of their choice, normally undertaken in a continuous block, but sometimes the placement runs alongside their timetabled sessions. Students are provided with a list of potential placements which cover the full range of occupations within the equine industry. However, in practice, students have selected mainly yard-based enterprises. This gives students an important experience of yard-based practical skills, but does not provide a coherent linkage between higher-level theory and practical skills nor their application in a broad range of placement types. The unit learning outcomes include the expectation that the experience will enable students to demonstrate 'an understanding of the role of science and management in context'. The reviewers consider that the placement element of the programme, in practice, does not provide all students with the opportunity to achieve the unit learning outcomes or to experience WBL as intended by the FDQB.
24 The self-evaluation acknowledges the reluctance of students 'to take up exciting work placement opportunities out of county'. This point was confirmed in the Annual Report following the first year of operation. It was evident that students valued the placement as a source of paid employment more than as a learning opportunity integral to the programme. Employers informed the reviewers that they did not, in their allocation of work, differentiate between FD placements and those at National Diploma level.
25 In addition, the employers were not familiar with FD requirements and how the academic knowledge of the students should be integrated into the WBL. Training is available for employers but staff reported difficulty in persuading employers to participate in this. In practice, the briefing of employers covered mainly health and safety issues rather than the defining characteristics of FDs.
The reviewers have no confidence in the academic standards and achievements of students.
26 A wide range of learning and teaching methods is used on the programme and students report good quality delivery, appreciating the blend of theory, practice and work related activities that include visits, case-studies and study visits, for example, in France and Germany.
27 The practical resources at Kingston Maurward are used extensively in both practical skills development and to support theoretical aspects of the majority of taught units. Practical yard duties are integrated into the first year through the unit on horse husbandry, welfare and veterinary care. Students have the opportunity to participate in the running of a significant regional centre for equestrian events and this experience is regarded highly by the students. Staff stated their intention to integrate further the practical experience, gained within Kingston Maurward itself, as a formal part of the WBL element of the programme at its forthcoming revalidation.
28 The partnership with the University has provided a range of opportunities for teaching quality enhancement through dedicated HE staff development sessions delivered at the University and at Kingston Maurward, and the PgCert/MA Academic Practice delivered at the University. Equine team members reported that they have not always been able to take up such opportunities due to competing demands on their time. Kingston Maurward staff undertake observation of teaching, but HE classes are not specifically targeted when observations take place. The partnership should ensure that it continues to support the emerging HE practice at Kingston Maurward by staff development that is targeted to need.
29 There is also an extensive College staff development programme, which focuses on teaching and student support. Additionally, the specialist Link Tutor supports the FD programme team in the development of teaching at HE level and the development of the curriculum. The reviewers considered that the arrangement for the use of a Link Tutor from a specialist HE institution is well conceived.
30 The first cohort of students was largely from Kingston Maurward's own National Diploma. Subsequent cohorts have been drawn predominantly from local students with GCE A-Level qualifications. The retention rate for the programme is high. Since the FD started, only two out of 30 students have withdrawn from the programme. Students who declare disabilities are assessed by the learning support team at induction and, where appropriate, an Essential Skills Coordinator and a Dyslexia Learning Support Tutor facilitate access to support funding through the Disabled Students Allowance. The admissions procedures and support for students on the programme have recently been enhanced by the appointment of an HE Coordinator.
31 Students are provided with a tailored induction which includes a visit to the University. They are given comprehensive documentation about the course including a CD containing the University's rules, policies and regulations and an informative student handbook.
32 Students are clear that the FD is a worthwhile qualification that meets their expectations and that they are well supported by an efficiently managed and dedicated staff team at Kingston Maurward.
33 Eight members of staff deliver the programme. They have a wide range of appropriate qualifications and industry-related experience; six have a teaching qualification. Specialist equine staff engage regularly in industry-related activities to ensure that they are familiar with the latest developments. Students value the effective assistance provided by support staff in the resource centre.
34 Kingston Maurward maintains a dedicated building for its HE students. The HE Coordinator is based in this HE centre which contains a common room and an IT room with 13 networked PCs and internet access. This facility is open between 0830 and 2100 on Mondays to Friday and 0930 to 1600 at weekends and is very much valued by the students. The library contains an adequate range of texts and journals HE students and most books are recent publications. Library staff are reviewing and updating texts. There are an additional 41 personal computers with printing facilities available to all College students.
35 Students are able to use library and other facilities at the University. In addition, a wide range of journals is available through the University's electronic network.
36 The laboratory facilities are rather dated and this limits the practical work that can be carried out on this science-based award. However, a newly employed part-time technician is currently enhancing the provision and there are proposals in Kingston Maurward's Estates Plan to build a new laboratory accommodation.
37 Kingston Maurward has a good level of equestrian resources. The Kingston Maurward Equestrian Centre includes international sized indoor and outdoor arenas, a commercial riding school, a well-respected equestrian competition centre, a cross-country course, and stabling for approximately 30 horses.
38 The experience of WBL on the award is derived mainly from the 20-credit placement unit at certificate level. This is of limited value since, as presently configured, the unit does not provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate the integration of practical and theoretical learning. The nature of work placements is such that they do not always facilitate students' achievement of the wider aims and learning outcomes of the programme. Currently, employers are not sufficiently inducted into the nature of the programme and so are not in a position to mentor placement students.
39 All specialist staff teaching on the FD are currently active within the industry and the programme is designed to be practical in its approach to the disciplines related to the equine industry. Students were unanimous in their view that the FD provided a good grounding in the skills needed for a career in the equine industry. To some extent, the programme is able to bridge the skills gap, created by a limited approach to WBL in the placement unit, by a strong emphasis on the practical aspects of equine work during the delivery of units at Kingston Maurward. The Course Diagram and Unit Directory indicate that the Equestrian Centre at Kingston Maurward is used to provide practical work-related learning to support the academic aspects of the programme. For example, in Equestrian Enterprise Management, learning outcomes are assessed on practical, supervisory activities that take place in the equestrian unit. Other examples are found in the units on Functional Anatomy and Physiology, Horse Husbandry, Research Methods, Applied Equine Physiology, Equine Sports Medicine, and Event Management and Marketing. Further opportunities exist to extend the practical work at Kingston Maurward, particularly the use of the Equestrian Centre as an event venue, to provide WBL explicitly related to the defining characteristics of FDs. Students value the regular guest lectures from employers and the annual international study tours.
40 The opportunity to gain advanced credit by way of AP(E)L is part of the Admissions Regulations, but currently there is no system to encourage students to claim credit in this way, nor has any student to date done so. Students were unaware of the opportunity. While it is unlikely that any of the current students would wish to apply, given the nature of their entry qualifications and experience, a more positive approach to AP(E)L might encourage a wider range of applicants to the programme.
The reviewers have confidence in the quality of the students' learning opportunities.
41 The programme is subject to the quality assurance procedures of the University, acting through the Department of PACE, and this provides an appropriate framework to assure standards and quality, including validation, annual monitoring, and review, and the appointment of external examiners, as well as support through the partnership network. In November 2003, these were reinforced by the appointment of an Academic Programmes and Quality Manager based in PACE and a Quality Committee, to manage collaborative arrangements.
42 The quality assurance procedures applied by the University are well established and consonant with the Code of practice for the assurance of academic quality and standards in higher education, including Section 7: Programme approval, monitoring and review, and Section 2: Collaborative provision. The final version of the FDQB had not been published at the time the Equine Studies programme was approved. The programme does not yet align with the published benchmark, particularly in respect to the role of employers and the integration of academic and practical learning. The University engaged an equine consultant as a member of the validation panel, but the process did not examine the appropriateness of the intended work placements. Nor does this aspect figure strongly in the annual reporting or Link Tutor reporting procedures.
43 At this early stage in the development of this FD, Kingston Maurward has not claimed any practice worthy of dissemination. Students are involved in running Kingston Maurward's Equestrian Centre and the reviewers considered that this element of the programme might be extended in future as an integral part of the formal WBL for the award and is a potential area of good practice.
The Foundation Degree (FD) in Equine Studies validated by Bournemouth University (the University) and delivered at Kingston Maurward College was reviewed in the academic year 2004-05. Judgements were made about the academic standards and the achievement of students and of the quality of the learning opportunities provided.
The programme has insufficient employer involvement in its design, development and delivery, to match the defining characteristics of an FD. The work-based learning (WBL) provides too narrow an experience to enable students to demonstrate the achievement of the relevant aims and outcomes of the award or to integrate fully academic and practical learning in the way intended by the Foundation Degree qualification benchmark (FDQB). Sound standards of academic practice are not yet fully established in this programme. This is most marked in the area of student assessment, where a number of the assignments do not match the requirements of intermediate level and so students do not have the opportunity to demonstrate their achievement of the intended learning outcomes. The University assessment policies and procedures are not yet fully implemented in practice. However, the programme is delivered by a well-qualified team utilising appropriate equine-based resources at Kingston Maurward, and provides a supportive learning environment for its students.
Overall, the reviewers have no confidence in the academic standards and achievements of students.
Areas for immediate development include:
Strengths of the programme include:
Overall, the reviewers have confidence in the quality of learning opportunities provided for students.
Strengths of the programme include:
Areas for development include:
The programme is subject to the quality assurance procedures of Bournemouth University. This provides an appropriate framework to assure standards and quality, including validation, annual monitoring, and review, and the appointment of external examiners, as well as support through the partnership network. However, these procedures would benefit from review in order to ensure that they encompass the requirements of the FDQB. In particular, attention should be paid to the role of employers in the design and delivery of the programme and to the integration of academic and practical work.