July 2014
Higher Education Review Action Plan
The Higher Education Review Action Plan has been developed in response to the QAA’s review undertaken in February 2014. It includes key areas for
development which support continuous improvement of Higher Education provision at the College. The College’s Adult FE/HE Manager is responsible for this
action plan and progress made as planned is monitored by the College Leadership Team (CLT) and the Curriculum, Quality & Standards sub-committee of the
Governing Body.
The following Green / Amber / Red codes are used to indicate the status of each area for development:
Green – Activities complete or ongoing / planned and highly likely to achieve desired outcome
Amber – Activities ongoing / planned and likely to achieve desired outcome
Red
– Activities highly unlikely to achieve desired outcome
Additions / changes since last update are indicated in italics
Acronyms
DP – Deputy Principal
AP – Assistant Principal
HoQ - Head of Quality
CD – Curriculum Director
Last updated December 2014
By Chair of HE Forum
Approved by Curriculum & Quality group
Received by Principalship
Next review date February 2015
Page 1 of 6
Recommendation
What is our intended impact?
The College should ensure that it
has oversight of, and manages the
implications arising from,
curriculum change over time
(Expectation B8)
To minimise and manage effectively any disruption to learners through changes to the curriculum and/or assessment.
Specific Action(s)
Success Criteria /
Target
Job Role(s)
responsible for
implementation
of planned actions
(What you will do to ‘fix’ the problem)
(What you are aiming to achieve by
taking specific actions)
A revised Course Approval
process will operate alongside
the Curriculum Planning and
Review process to consider
curriculum and assessment
changes for all programmes.
Part of the remit of the Course
Approval process will be to
identify what kind of support is
required for the programme to
be delivered effectively,
ensuring that any disruption for
students initiated by curriculum
and assessment changes by an
external awarding body is kept
to a minimum and managed
appropriately.
Sign-off at end of planning and
review process including
agreement as to whether any
DP
changes are referred to course
approval.
At course approval panel,
Curriculum and assessment
changes are discussed,
quantified and noted. Secondly
that where necessary, sufficient
support enables the course to
operate effectively.
Communications with students
are timely and informative
Job Role(s)
responsible for
monitoring
progress of
implementation
Milestones /
completion date
(At what point will
the actions be
reviewed or
completed)
August 2014
AP
Progress update
RAG
A new course approval process
to be drawn up and piloted
during 2014-15 for both new
and existing courses
Training to take place for
Curriculum Managers in
January 2015
Page 2 of 6
Recommendation
What is our intended impact?
The College to ensure all
handbooks consistently contain
relevant policies and procedures,
including complaints and appeals
(Expectation C)
Provide programme information
consistent with Part C: Information
about higher education provision
of the UK Quality Code for Higher
Education (Expectation C)
That all students receive consistent and full information of all policies and procedures relevant to their time studying at
the College which will enable them to participate fully in their study with us.
All students will have a clear idea of the complaints and appeals policies – to know what to do and who to speak to if
they find they have a complaint or appeal
Specific Action(s)
(What you will do to ‘fix’ the problem)



Develop a checklist of
indicative content for
programme
specification student
course handbooks.
Seek approval for use
via HE Forum.
A revised Assessment
Policy for 2014-15 that
covers inter alia,
appeals has been
agreed and will be
integrated into the
Quality Handbook in
August.
Success Criteria /
Target
(What you are aiming to achieve by
taking specific actions)
A consistent and definitive
handbook that enables all
students to participate
effectively at the College.
Curriculum teams aware of
content expected in student
handbooks from August 2014
Job Role(s)
responsible for
implementation
of planned actions
Job Role(s)
responsible for
monitoring
progress of
implementation
Milestones /
completion date
(At what point will
the actions be
reviewed or
completed)
August 2014
HoQ
Progress update
RAG

AP


Checklist developed
January 2014 shared
with QAA Lead Reviewer
February 2014
HE Forum approval
granted 9th May 2014
for content/request
from programme teams
to provide as a word
document with college
level/wide data
automatically inserted
Audit carried out
December 2014 and
response shared with
curriculum team and
Page 3 of 6
reported back to HE
Forum
Recommendation
What is our intended impact?
The College to ensure the
consistent implementation of the
annual monitoring process
(Expectation B8)
That the quality code is systematically and consistently implemented in the annual monitoring process.
Specific Action(s)
(What you will do to ‘fix’ the problem)




Revise Self Evaluation
Document to reflect
recent changes in the
Quality Code.
SED to be used for all HE
programmes regardless
of awarding body.
The HE Forum will peer
review all programme
SEDs to ensure a
consistent
implementation of the
annual monitoring
process.
In line with RUTC quality
assurance processes the
SED will be validated by
Success Criteria /
Target
(What you are aiming to achieve by
taking specific actions)
That there is a clear
demonstration of a consistent
implementation of the quality
code in the annual monitoring
process
RUTC College SED process
supports team in evaluating
their provision in line with the
expectations of the current
Quality Code
Job Role(s)
responsible for
implementation
of planned actions
CD/HoQ
Job Role(s)
responsible for
monitoring
progress of
implementation
AP
Milestones /
completion date
(At what point will
the actions be
reviewed or
completed)
Progress update
RAG

Completed in May 2014

Validated in October
2014
May 2014
Page 4 of 6
the Curriculum Director
and Assistant Principal
Recommendation
What is our intended impact?
The College to develop and initiate
a periodic review process for
higher national programmes
(Expectation B8)
To make a judgement on the continued approval of individual programmes involving employers and academics as
appropriate and thereby both maintaining academic standards and quality of the higher education provision and
providing an opportunity to be strategically forward looking
Specific Action(s)
Success Criteria /
Target
Job Role(s)
responsible for
implementation
of planned actions
(What you will do to ‘fix’ the problem)
(What you are aiming to achieve by
taking specific actions)
We will establish a Periodic
Review process in line with the
Curriculum Planning and
Review procedure, which
provides a means for evaluating
programmes and subjects
holistically, at least every 3 - 4
years. We will monitor the
validity and relevance of
individual programmes,
involving appropriate external
expertise such as academic and
employer representatives.
To have carried out a broader
review of the individual
programmes to assure
ourselves of their continuing
HoQ
validity and relevance. This will
be based on an enhancement
focused review process that
seeks to identify both current
and future mechanisms to
enhance the quality of the
student experience and thereby
facilitating improvement
Job Role(s)
responsible for
monitoring
progress of
implementation
Milestones /
completion date
(At what point will
the actions be
reviewed or
completed)
December
2014
AP
Progress update
RAG

HoQ and AP to build
into the Curriculum
Planning and Review
procedure a process to
carry out a Periodic
Review on a 3-4 year
cycle
Page 5 of 6
Recommendation
What is our intended impact?
The College to put in place
mechanisms that enable the
systematic recording, monitoring
and evaluation of complaints and
appeals (Expectation B9)
That all appeals and complaints are systematically recorded, monitored and evaluated.
Specific Action(s)
Success Criteria /
Target
(What you will do to ‘fix’ the problem)
(What you are aiming to achieve by
taking specific actions)
The student handbook will
signpost the College process for
dealing with complaints and
appeals. All complaints will be
logged and handled centrally
through the Principalship. All
assessment appeals will be
logged and resolved locally
where possible and passed
centrally to Quality for action as
appropriate.
That the number and types of
appeals and complaints are
reduced in light of recording,
monitoring and evaluation,
taking action to improve the
student experience.
Job Role(s)
responsible for
implementation
of planned actions
Job Role(s)
responsible for
monitoring
progress of
implementation
Milestones /
completion date
(At what point will
the actions be
reviewed or
completed)
December
2014
CD/HoQ
Progress update
RAG

AP

Checklist developed
January 2014 shared
with QAA Lead Reviewer
February 2014 (includes
clear guidelines for
complaints/appeals
procedures)
All appeals/complaints
logged and action taken
locally. All appeals will
also be logged centrally
by Quality and actions
followed up as
appropriate.
Good Practice identified by the HER will be shared and discussed with the HE peer review and development group of Colleges
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