Misc. Guidance
Each programme and module must be governed by a completed Programme Specification or Module Descriptor that is readily available to students and other stakeholders. Provision of information in this form is expected by the Quality Assurance Agency. These documents also serve a host of functions, which are important both within and beyond the University.
Programme Specifications should state clearly for which year/s of entry they apply.
The Teaching Quality Assurance (TQA) Manual
The TQA is a resource for staff and students containing the processes which underpin the quality of learning and teaching at the University of Exeter.
Useful sections to consider when developing a programme or module include:
- The Credit and Qualifications Framework
- Marking and moderation/sampling
- Feedback
- External Examining
- Assessment, Progression and Awarding Committees (APACs)
- Annual Student Experience Review
The Education Strategy 2014 – 2020
The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) for Higher Education
The QAA is the independent body entrusted with monitoring and advising on standards​ and quality in UK higher education.
Useful information provided by the QAA includes:
- Subject Benchmark Statements
- Characteristics Statements for Doctoral degrees, Master’s degrees, Foundation degrees and Degree Apprenticeships
- Contact hours – guidance for providers
- Contact hours – guidance for students
- Class size
- Student workload
- Student feedback
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)
HESA are experts in UK higher education data and analysis, and the designated data body for England. They collect and publish detailed information about the UK higher education sector.
There are a number of HESA collections, one being the Discover Uni (formerly Unistats) record (in 2017/8 this replaced the KIS record which had been collected since 2012/13) which is collected to aid prospective higher education students in making a decision about what and where to study.
Discover Uni collection provides comparable information about full or part-time undergraduate courses and contains information that prospective students have identified as most important to inform their decisions about future study, including Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PSRBs). The emphasis of the coverage of the Discover Uni record is for any undergraduate course that someone can register for in the next academic year. The data is then joined to other datasets, such as National Student Survey outcomes, to generate a range of course information for publication on the Discover Uni website.
Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
Consumer protection law applies to the relationship between the University of Exeter and offer-holders and current students.
Useful information provided by the CMA includes:
- UK higher education providers – advice on consumer protection law
- 60 second summary - Higher Education Providers: Consumer Law
The Office for Students (OfS)
The Office for Students (OfS) is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Education, acting as the regulator and competition authority for the higher education sector in England.
When developing a new programme and/or module we encourage you to consider how you can use online-tools to support delivery and assessment.
We recommend contacting the E-Learning team at the earliest opportunity to explore how to embed new technologies in your course in order to best support learning and teaching.
Contact details for the E-Learning team can be found here.