The academic quality handbook : enhancing higher education in universities and further education colleges

Universities and further education colleges are under increasing pressure to provide 'quality' for their students. Quality assurance and development issues affect the staff, resources, administration and culture of an academic institution, yet there is often a lack of clear guidance available to those responsible for implementing best practice. This book provides practical guidelines for managing academic quality assurance and quality enhancement, outlining best practice from both the UK and the rest of the world. Each chapter addresses the key points, risks and good practice across a wide range of quality issues, drawing explicitly and in detail from the QAA guidance on the Code of Practice, Subject Benchmarks, Qualifications Framework and Institutional Audit. The material is presented in an accessible and straightforward style, incorporating useful features such as development questions for individual or team review. A maintained website accompanying this book (www.academicquality.com) contains further useful resources, with updates and supplementary material in this constantly changing area. Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 2 Copyright......Page 3 Dedication......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Preface......Page 8 Introduction......Page 10 Part 1 The quality infrastructure......Page 18 1 The Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ)......Page 20 2 Benchmarking academic standards: the subject benchmark statements (SBSs)......Page 30 3 Institutional audit......Page 38 4 Information on quality and standards in higher education......Page 52 5 Managing quality enhancement (QE)......Page 62 Part 2 Managing quality in the context of the QAA Code of Practice......Page 74 6 The Code of Practice......Page 76 7 Collaborative provision......Page 82 8 Students with disabilities......Page 120 9 External examining systems......Page 138 10 Academic appeals and student complaints......Page 152 11 The assessment of students......Page 162 12 Programme approval, monitoring and review......Page 176 13 Career education information and guidance (CEIG)......Page 202 14 Placement learning......Page 214 15 Recruitment and admission of students......Page 230 16 Distance learning......Page 240 Appendix: Useful contacts......Page 254 References......Page 258 Further reading......Page 260 Index......Page 262