Higher Education Review of Wiltshire College December 2015 Contents About this review ..................................................................................................... 1 Amended judgement March 2017 ........................................................................... 2 Key findings .............................................................................................................. 6 QAA's judgements about Wiltshire College ........................................................................... 6 Good practice ....................................................................................................................... 6 Recommendations ................................................................................................................ 6 Affirmation of action being taken ........................................................................................... 7 Theme: Student Employability ............................................................................................... 7 About Wiltshire College ........................................................................................... 8 Explanation of the findings about Wiltshire College ............................................. 9 1 Judgement: The maintenance of the academic standards of awards offered on behalf of degree-awarding bodies and other awarding organisations ..................................... 10 2 Judgement: The quality of student learning opportunities ............................................. 23 3 Judgement: The quality of the information about learning opportunities ....................... 44 4 Judgement: The enhancement of student learning opportunities ................................. 47 5 Commentary on the Theme: Student Employability ...................................................... 50 Glossary .................................................................................................................. 51 Higher Education Review of Wiltshire College About this review This is a report of a Higher Education Review conducted by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) at Wiltshire College. The review took place from 1 to 4 December 2015 and was conducted by a team of four reviewers, as follows: Wendy Gill Patricia Millner Karen Willis Scott Thomas (student reviewer). The main purpose of the review was to investigate the higher education provided by Wiltshire College and to make judgements as to whether or not its academic standards and quality meet UK expectations. These expectations are the statements in the UK Quality Code for Higher Education (the Quality Code)1 setting out what all UK higher education providers expect of themselves and of each other, and what the general public can therefore expect of them. In Higher Education Review, the QAA review team: makes judgements on - the setting and maintenance of academic standards - the quality of student learning opportunities - the information provided about higher education provision - the enhancement of student learning opportunities provides a commentary on the selected theme makes recommendations identifies features of good practice affirms action that the provider is taking or plans to take. A summary of the findings can be found in the section starting on page 6. Explanations of the findings are given in numbered paragraphs in the section starting on page 10. In reviewing Wiltshire College, the review team has also considered a theme selected for particular focus across higher education in England and Northern Ireland. The themes for the academic year 2015-16 are Student Employability and Digital Literacy,2 and the provider is required to select, in consultation with student representatives, one of these themes to be explored through the review process. The QAA website gives more information about QAA and its mission.3 A dedicated section explains the method for Higher Education Review4 and has links to the review handbook and other informative documents. For an explanation of terms see the glossary at the end of this report. 1 The UK Quality Code for Higher Education is published at: www.qaa.ac.uk/quality-code. 2 Higher Education Review themes: www.qaa.ac.uk/publications/information-and-guidance/publication?PubID=2859. 3 QAA website: www.qaa.ac.uk/about-us. 4 Higher Education Review web pages: www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews-and-reports/how-we-review-higher-education/higher-education-review. 1 Higher Education Review of Wiltshire College Amended judgement - March 2017 Introduction In December 2015, Wiltshire College underwent a Higher Education Review, which resulted in academic standards, information about learning opportunities, and enhancement of student learning opportunities meeting UK expectations, but quality of learning opportunities requiring improvement to meet UK expectations. Negative judgements are subject to a formal follow-up by QAA, which involves the monitoring of an action plan produced by the College in response to the report findings. The College published an action plan in June 2016 describing how it intended to address the recommendations and affirmations identified in the review, and has been working over the last eight months to demonstrate how it has implemented that plan. The follow-up process included three progress updates and culminated in the review team's scrutiny of the College's progress reports and the supporting documentary evidence, along with a one-day visit on 8 February 2017 with two reviewers. During the visit, the review team met senior, academic and support staff, employers, and students to discuss progress and triangulate the evidence base received over the preceding months. The visit confirmed that the recommendations and affirmations relating to the quality of learning opportunities had been successfully addressed. Actions against recommendations and affirmations relating to academic standards and information about learning opportunities, which received positive judgements, had also been completed on schedule and contributed to the progress against the quality of learning opportunities. QAA Board decision and amended judgement The review team concludes that the College had made sufficient progress to recommend that the judgement be amended. The QAA Board accepted the team's recommendation and the judgement is now formally amended. The College's judgements are now as follows. The maintenance of the academic standards of awards offered on behalf of degree- awarding bodies and other awarding organisations meets UK expectations. The quality of student learning opportunities is meets UK expectations. The quality of the information about learning opportunities meets UK expectations. The enhancement of student learning opportunities meets UK expectations. Findings from the follow-up process The team found that the College had made progress against the recommendations and affirmations as follows. Recommendation - Ensure that all Higher National programme specifications include tailored programme-level learning outcomes to meet the requirements of the awarding organisation and reflect the integration of unit content into a coherent programme (Expectations A2.2, A3.2 and B1). The College now links local Higher National (HN) programme aims and outcomes to unit learning outcomes through the use of a revised programme handbook template. Staff development days, and individual and group sessions have been held to support academic staff in developing programme-level aims and outcomes and to map them to unit learning 2 Higher Education Review of Wiltshire College outcomes using the HN programme-level learning outcomes mapping template. Senior staff have been using a checklist to monitor progress on mapping. All but one of the programme handbooks now contain full statements of local programme aims and the mapping of defined programme outcomes to individual units. The review team concludes that the College is making the required progress in addressing the recommendation. Recommendation - Implement College-level oversight of clear and robust arrangements for placement and work-based learning activities that include definitions of the various types of workplace learning, and are proportionate to the nature and requirements of the respective programme and their unit/module learning outcomes (Expectation B10). The College conducted a comprehensive audit of work placement and work-based learning practice and documentation, and of practice elsewhere, and this has informed the development of a new set of procedures for maintaining oversight of work-related activities, including an online tracking sheet. The College revised its policy statement on 'Work-based learning and placement learning and its assessment' to include clear and distinct definitions of different types of work-related activity at both College and course level. A significant aspect of the improvement in oversight of work-related activities has been the development of the Higher Education Work Experience (WEX) File. The File is overseen by the Higher Education Work Experience Team Leader, which has enabled effective liaison with tutors to advise and ensure currency and completeness of information. These significant developments have been overseen by the Higher Education Performance and Quality Group and the Higher Education Board of Studies (HEBoS). The review team concludes that the College is making the required progress in addressing the recommendation. Recommendation - Ensure that training for