UNIVERSITY OF BEDFORDSHIRE
Course Information Form (CIF): Guidance notes on completion
CIF0708
The University is changing to a non-semesterised basis of course delivery across all its provision from
September 2008 (courses at the Polhill campus are already de-semesterised). A revised curriculum
framework (CRe8) is being phased in over the period to September 2010 and the University has devised
specifications for courses (represented by the CIF) and units (represented by the UIF) incorporating the key
elements of CRe8.
This document provides guidance to staff on the completion of the CIF. The CIF provides essential
information to students, staff teams and others on a particular course of study and is designed to meet the
University’s own expectations and those of external bodies such as the QAA in respect of programme
specifications.
Note:
o
All courses that lead to a recognised University of Bedfordshire award should have a CIF.
o
CIFs incorporate the University’s distinctive wider educational principles and structures developed
through the CRe8 (Revised Curriculum Framework 2008) process and thus feature personalised
learning, the professional student and employability. (See
http://www.beds.ac.uk/aboutus/tandl/curriculum for further details on CRe8).
o
The CIF covers many of the aspects required by the Progress File element of the QAA’s
infrastructure and there is a specific section in the CIF to be completed on Progress Files. Further
guidance and support on Progress Files is available on the CETL web site (see
http://bridgescetl.beds.ac.uk/curriculum/curriculum_guides ).
o
CIFs are written primarily for students and the language should reflect this; CIFs may need to be
supplemented by additional information for approval.
o
All students should be provided with the appropriate CIF for their course as part of their orientation.
o
CIFs will be made available to prospective students via a web site (during 2008).
o
CIFs are approved by the University through the validation or subject review process.
o
Any changes to a CIF will require approval – please contact your faculty Sub Dean (Quality
Enhancement) in the first instance.
o
If you have any queries about completing the CIF, it is worth initially checking the FAQs on
http://www.beds.ac.uk/aboutus/qa/documents/proformas and if your queries are not resolved, contact
your faculty Sub Dean (Quality Enhancement).
SECTION 1 – General Course Information
Qualification (award type)
This section should indicate the type of award in the left hand column: BSc(Hons), BA(Hons), FdA, FdSc,
MA, MSc etc. The University has a range of awards; further details can be found in the regulations at
http://www.beds.ac.uk/aboutus/qa/documents. Only award types approved by Academic Board should be
used.
Course Title
This should be the proposed title for the award and should accurately reflect the main area of study. It will be
the title of the student’s award as reflected on their certificate. If there are a series of closely related
pathways associated with the award which share the same learning outcomes, then all of the titles should be
listed here and the different structures indicated in the curriculum structure section (Section 3).
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Intermediate Qualification(s)
In this section, using the drop down box, you should indicate which intermediate qualifications (award type)
are applicable.
Qualification
Award
Foundation Degree
Diploma
Intermediate Qualification(s)
Bachelor’s Degree
Bachelor’s Degree
with Honours
Masters
Intermediate Award
Certificate of Higher Education – 120 credits at
Level 1 unless there are professional restrictions
prohibiting such action
Certificate of Higher Education – 120 credits at
Level 1
Diploma of Higher Education – 240 credits with
105 credits at Level 2 or above
Pass degree – attempted a course of at least 300
credits, and achieved a minimum of 105 credits at
Level 2 and 60 credits at Level 3
Postgraduate Certificate – 60 credits at Level M
Postgraduate Diploma – 120 credits at Level M
Awarding Institution
This will always be the University of Bedfordshire.
Location of Delivery
This will indicate the main teaching location. It should indicate which of the University’s campuses the course
will be primarily taught at, or the name of any partner institution that will be the main location of students.
Duration of Course
This will indicate the standard amount of time a student will take to complete their course e.g. two, three or
four years.
Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Body Accreditation
Here you should indicate any professional bodies who recognise the course if applicable. In many cases,
accreditation may lead to a right to practise a profession, achieve exemption from professional examinations
and/or membership of a professional body. For non-accredited courses put ‘not applicable’.
Accreditation Renewal Date
Indicate here the date (Month and Year) when the course is due for re-accreditation by the professional/
statutory body.
Route Code (SITS)
This should be left blank if a new course. (If a new course, the route code will be advised following academic
approval of the course).
UCAS Course Code
This is only applicable to full-time undergraduate courses. Write ‘not applicable’ otherwise. If a new course,
Admissions will be applying for the UCAS code.
Relevant External Benchmarking
All courses should use the University’s own curriculum descriptors as a relevant reference point. These can
be found at http://www.beds.ac.uk/aboutus/qa/documents/qahsep06-app11a.doc and
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http://www.beds.ac.uk/aboutus/qa/documents/qahsep06-app11b.doc (Masters). This section should indicate
the relevant external reference points such as subject benchmarks; professional, statutory and regulatory
body requirements, National Occupational Standards etc. used as the basis for compiling the CIF.
If the course is a foundation degree you should indicate the Sector Skills Council(s) to have endorsed the
course. If recognition or endorsement is still being sought then this should be acknowledged.
QAA subject benchmarks can be found at
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/benchmark/default.asp . Please note:
o
At undergraduate level, if there is no subject benchmark directly in the subject of the course then the
most appropriate one(s) that have been used as an external reference point should be indicated.
o
At Masters’ level this section should indicate which subject benchmarks have been used to provide
the starting point on which to build.
o
For foundation degrees this section should indicate that the foundation degree qualification
benchmark has been used as an external reference point as well as the University’s own
expectations.
o
Student employability profiles are another important reference point and can be found at
http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/learning/employability/disciplines.
SECTION 2 – Entry Requirements, Student Support and Further Opportunities
Entry Requirements
On the CIF itself, three standard statements/websites have been included and should be retained.
Standard:
Standard entry requirements for UK students - http://www.beds.ac.uk/howtoapply/ukugentryreqs
Entry requirements for students from the European Union - http://www.beds.ac.uk/howtoapply/eu/guides
Entry requirements for international students - http://www.beds.ac.uk/howtoapply/international/apply
Additional: You only need to add further information here if non-standard and/or specific requirements apply
to your course.
Student Support during the Course
This section should clarify the support arrangements within departments and any particular referral
arrangements made with various support areas for specialist advice and assistance, such as with CAAS and
the Professional and Academic Development (PAD) for specialist advice and assistance – see list of support
areas at: http://www.beds.ac.uk/studentlife/support. It is also worth visiting the PAD BREO site (the PAD site
link is located under the 'my organisations' section of BREO to which everyone should have access). Via
PAD for example, you might mention any additional support available such as language and study skills or if
more applicable, any IT support.
You should also give details of any personal support, including the personal tutor scheme.
Note: this section should be amended where appropriate by partner institutions to reflect local practice.
Students with Disabilities
In order to conform to disability discrimination legislation, you should indicate if there are any elements of the
course which, in the case of disabled students, may require special consideration and further discussion, in
order that they may participate fully e.g. practice based work, lab work, field trips.
Advice on the nature of specific disabilities and the reasonable adjustments which can be made to
accommodate disabled students is available from the Disability Advice Team - see
http://www.beds.ac.uk/studentlife/support/disabilities and from the Disabilities BREO site.
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Distinctive Features of the Course
This section should indicate any key and particularly distinctive features of the course. Examples might
include:
o
Whether a large element is delivered via e-learning, work-based learning, problem based learning or
any other particular mode.
o
Opportunities for study abroad.
o
Field trips etc.
o
Split site delivery.
o
Distinctive learning environments.
o
Volunteering opportunities.
Career/ Further Study Opportunities
Career:
Further study:
In this section on the CIF, you should indicate: ‘On completing this course students are likely to progress into
the following areas: …….. ‘ .
o
A bulleted list of around six likely destinations should be provided. This may be further study and/or
employment allocated to each sub-heading on the form.
o
For those courses with some history of ‘successful’ students, you should indicate the most common
destinations and this should be based on data available from the HESA Destinations of Leavers from
Higher Education (DLHE) survey.
o
Check ‘local’ graduate destinations data with the University’s Centre for Personal and Career
Development, as well as resources such as Options with your Subject, and What Do Graduates Do?
– two resources that are validated from national surveys – on the UK’s official graduate careers
‘Prospects’ website:

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/Options_with_your_subject/p!eXbLc

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/cms/ShowPage/Home_page/What_do_graduates_do__2007/p!ea
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SECTION 3 – Teaching, Learning and Assessment
Educational Aims
This section should provide a descriptive overview around 100 – 200 words of overarching educational aims
of the course.
Course Learning Outcomes
This section needs to clearly articulate the key outcomes that students will be expected to achieve by the end
of the course. There will, of course, be many outcomes – some of which are through design and others
unplanned. Here you are being asked to identify what the course team thinks are the most important and
produce a numbered list of learning outcomes.
‘Upon successful completion of this course, you should be able to:’
1. LO1 ……
2. LO2 ……
3. LO3 …… etc. etc.
o
Normally between 6 and 10 learning outcomes are expected; fewer outcomes are possible for short
courses, but no more than ten should be recorded.
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o
Four of these learning outcomes must be the core skills areas that the University expects all courses
to emphasise and focus upon (having developed from the CRe8 process): communication;
information literacy; research and evaluation; and creativity and critical thinking. These skills are at
the core of ‘graduateness’ and employability. It is important that these learning outcomes are subject
contextualised.
o
The learning outcomes should reflect the course team’s own aspirations for its students, though the
internal and external reference points mentioned earlier will be an important source of information.
o
They should accurately reflect the level of the course (see the University level descriptors
(http://www.beds.ac.uk/aboutus/qa/documents) and the QAA’s Framework for Higher Education
Qualifications (http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/FHEQ/default.asp).
o
The University’s curriculum framework (CRe8) is based upon four strands: subject knowledge; skills;
personal development; and the professional student. The professional student strand is responding
to an increasing need to focus on students attitudes and to send a clear message to students that
attitudes are important to enable engagement in the world beyond the University. One of your
learning outcomes might relate to this strand (see further details on this in Section 4). Composite
statements covering all four strands are possible but for some learning outcomes you might prefer to
focus on one strand or even an element within a strand.
o
The University is currently considering whether these outcomes should be included on a student’s
official transcript so they need to be appropriately worded to make it clear to students (and
employers) what they will have achieved.
Teaching Strategy
This section should explain the approaches to be used throughout the course and give the students a feel for
the sort of learning activities they will be engaged in. You should ensure that you include a mixture of
different approaches (lectures, seminars, practicals, case studies etc.). You should mention the environment
in which these activities take place and give a rough indication of how much of the learning is classroombased and VLE-based.
Assessment Strategy
This section should clearly explain the overall approach to assessment embodied in the course, explain the
type of assessment methods to be used throughout the course, and indicate that a range of activities are
used to develop skills and demonstrate outcomes. You may emphasise specific assessment methods that
are particularly important to the course (for example laboratory practicals, ‘crits’, performance etc.) and how
the assessments that are used are designed to help prepare students for the range of activities they will
engage in once they finish the course.
Curriculum Structure, Assessment Methods and Learning Outcomes
This section has a table that should be completed.
o
You should list the units which make up the course in the order they will be normally studied (final
year units at the bottom of the list).
o
You should indicate whether the units are core or option units as well as identifying any particular
pathways leading to named awards. More detailed structural maps can be appended to the form if
necessary.
o
There should be some correlation between the assessment methods listed in the table and the
assessment strategy described in the previous section, as well as clear demonstration of a range of
assessment methods being employed.
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o
The codes you should use for ‘Assessment Methods’ are listed below on the CIF – as below.
o
The far right hand column ‘Contributing towards the Learning Outcomes’ aims to demonstrate and
ensure that all course level learning outcomes are being supported throughout the course and that
they are being assessed at the final level. Each unit should indicate whether the learning outcome is
being taught (T), practised (P) and/ or assessed (A). The learning outcomes across the top relate to
the learning outcomes identified in Section 3.
Unit
code
Level
Unit Name
Credit
Core (C)
Option (O)
Assessment
Methods*
Contributing towards the
Learning Outcomes
(Taught (T), Practised (P)
and/or Assessed (A))
1
2
3
4
5
etc
etc
* The following codes apply (assessment methods)
AR
artefact
PC
practical
CB
computer-based
PF
performance
CS
case study
PL
placement
etc etc
SECTION 4 – Learning and Employability
Skills Development Strategies
There are four core skills areas that the University expects all courses to emphasise and focus upon (having
developed from the CRe8 process): communication; information literacy; research and evaluation; and
creativity and critical thinking.
o
So that students realise the importance of skills development to their future, you should make this
clear initially e.g. you will improve your chances of employment by …… .
o
There may be other skills that you wish to identify and highlight in the CIF – other than the four core
skills areas above e.g. that may relate to your subject benchmarks.
For each of the following core skills areas, you should indicate the overarching strategy to developing each.
Reference should be made to explicit units that emphasise each skills area and to how the strategy changes
from level to level as the student progresses with his or her study.
Communication skills
To help with the development of this you will …
Information literacy skills
To help with the development of this you will …
Research and evaluation skills
To help with the development of this you will …
Creativity and critical thinking skills
To help with the development of this you will …
Team Working
Team working is also key within CRe8. You should describe the strategy for developing team working skills
across the course and the opportunities provided for its development and assessment.
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Improving Learning and Performance
Personalised learner development is a key feature of the University’s distinctive curriculum, the purpose of
which is to develop the identity of the learner, their self-awareness and their preparedness for future
opportunities.
In student-friendly language, this section should describe the course team’s strategy for engaging students in
their own learning and development and for making them more aware of how they learn, and how their
learning can be improved. Areas that should be covered include:
o
The strategy for engaging students in using assessment feedback.
o
How the learner is supported in being given greater responsibility for their own development through
the course.
o
The role of the personal tutor (or similar support arrangements) and how these evolve through the
course.
o
The use that will be made of diagnostic testing.
o
Where within the course ‘study skills’ will be explicitly developed.
Career Management Skills
This section should demonstrate how all students develop career management skills, which may be
integrated within the processes of personalised learning for employability and the professional student:
o
o
o
How do students undertake self-assessment to identify their strengths, interests and development
needs in relation to external criteria – e.g. the requirements of an occupation, employer-organisation
or industry sector?
How do they represent and promote the ‘fit’ between their profile and their chosen occupation or
option – on paper (through CVs and applications) and in person (at interviews and assessment
centres)?
How will students be introduced to the Centre for Personal and Career Development and the
opportunities the curriculum provides for Careers staff to engage with students?
o
Where and how will students be introduced to MyFuture (formerly CMS online) and what use will be
made of this resource?
o
You may wish to include a career management skills related course learning outcome if particularly
appropriate for your course.
For further guidance on career management skills, see the SOAR summary document at
http://www.beds.ac.uk/aboutus/tandl/curriculum/cif-uif. SOAR is a student-centred process for integrating
personal, academic and career development.
Progress Files
o
It is important to ensure that students are aware of Progress Files (part of the QAA’s infrastructure)
and the range of opportunities open to them for enhancing their academic development and
employability.
o
Further guidance and support on Progress Files is available on the CETL web site (see
http://bridgescetl.beds.ac.uk/curriculum/curriculum_guides ).
This section should indicate:
o
How and where the Progress Files initiative will be introduced to students.
o
Whether students will be expected to keep paper-based or e-portfolios.
o
How students engagement with their Progress File will be monitored, for example through the
assessment process or by the personal tutor system.
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Professional Standards
The term ‘professional’ is being used in a loose sense here, the intention being to send a clear message to
students that attitudes are important to enable engagement in the world beyond the University. Thus, this
section should specify the ‘professional standards’ which will be expected of students. The need to
emphasise these attributes and behaviours has arisen from a growing concern that students need to be more
aware of how to behave appropriately in different contexts. There is no University provided set of standards
since they need to be appropriate to the subject and the nature of the student body, thus they are left to
course teams to define. Either department-wide or course specific standards are appropriate.
Further guidance on their development and use will be available as practice across the University in this area
develops. The following general notes of guidance are provided:
o
No more than ten ‘expectations’ should be identified.
o
These should be couched in terms that apply to both staff and students.
o
They may, for example, include attendance requirements, punctuality, general behaviour, dress
codes, use of mobile phones, contact arrangements etc. as appropriate to the course.
o
The standards may change as students move through their studies and may depend on the context
in which they work – this should be made clear.
o
You may explicitly address issues of Plagiarism.
o
A statement should be included relating to ‘Fitness to Practice’ and/or Criminal Records Bureau
(CRB) checks where this needs to feature within a course.
o
This section should also specify how ethics and values will be incorporated and specifically the
relationship to the codes of practice of any appropriate professional body.
o
Professional standards expected should be shared with and adopted by the whole course team since
it is important that students get a consistent view.
Strategy for Developing and Embedding the Professional Standards
This section should indicate how the professional standards will be introduced to students and any role that
the students have in developing and evolving them. It should also indicate how adherence to the standards
will be monitored and any issues addressed.
SECTION 5 - Administrative Information
This section contains administrative information that needs to be completed:
Faculty
Field – if applicable.
Department/ School/ Division
Course Leader
Version number – indicate number/academic year – this shows the version of the CIF e.g. this might be 1/07 or 2/07 or 3/08. Every time there is a change in the form, there should be a new version number/year.
Body approving this version – e.g. FTQS Committee, University validation.
Date of University approval of this version - indicate when the course was formally approved as leading
to a university award.
Form completed by – name and date (dd/mm/yyyy).
Authorisation on behalf of the Faculty Teaching Quality and Standards Committee (FTQSC) – the
Chair of the FTQSC signs and dates (dd/mm/yyyy).
Course updates - following approval of the change by the Committee, the FTQSC secretary completes the
table on the CIF, indicating date (dd/mm/yyyy) and the nature of any update, cross-referencing with the TQSC
minute reference.
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