Annual Review of Courses
Reflecting on the academic year 2014-15
An Annual Review of Courses report must be approved by the relevant Head of Department (or Heads in the case of a joint
course) before being submitted to the Deputy Dean (Education) via the Academic Standards and Partnerships Office
acstand@essex.ac.uk
Purpose:
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To review and evaluate the course to inform quality assurance and enhancement
To develop action plans that ensure the enhancement of the courses under review
To ensure excellence in the quality of education
To identify and share good practice
Name of Department solely or principally
responsible for courses under review
Date report discussed by Department:
Courses to which this report applies
(Please add or delete rows as necessary)
Number of students on the
course (all years of study) in
the year under review
Report Author(s)
Head of Department
Name
Signature
(I confirm that the information provided in this report is a true and accurate record)
SUBMISSION DEADLINE:
Undergraduate: By noon on Monday 16 November 2015
Postgraduate:
By noon on Monday 1 February 2016
Please note that the Deans will be reviewing these reports and providing the Faculty Education
Committee with an overview at their meetings on 25 November 2015 (UG) and 17 February 2016 (PG).
It is therefore essential that these reports are submitted by the deadlines above, or earlier where
possible.
Section one
Action update since last year’s Annual Review of Courses
Please add rows as necessary.
Please state the action taken as an outcome of last year’s Annual Review of Courses
Please ensure that updates are provided for all objectives identified in last year’s Annual Review of Courses as well as objectives that are still outstanding
from the Annual Review of Courses from previous years. Please indicate where objectives are being carried forward, and ensure these are included in
Section 5.
Action
Progress to date
Action
Objective
Responsibility
Timescale
carried
forward
(Y/N)
Section two
Overview of strengths and enhancements
Please indicate in brackets where comments link to the action plan. Where you have indicated that a strength or enhancement requires further work, an objective
and action should be generated in Section five.
Following the course review and enhancement meeting(s) within your department please comment on the following
 Use as evidence the relevant Key Performance Indicators, NSS, SSS, SSLC, SAMT, DLHE, progression, retention and achievement data, External Examiner
reports and any other departmental monitoring systems in place.
 Reference should be made to steps taken in response to internal and external influences, including Curriculum Review.
 Please also reflect on methods of seeking student feedback and levels of student engagement, for example through SSLCs.
 Please ensure you consider issues relating to equality and diversity when answering these questions.
1. What has been successful this year, including areas of good practice that could be shared?
2. What issues have arisen this year, and what will require monitoring in the forthcoming year?
3. Looking at the 2013/14 DLHE data received this year, please comment on how the results compare with the previous year and other universities. What
actions were implemented, or delayed, in 2013/14 that could have impacted on these results?
4. Given your DLHE results in 2013/14 please reflect on the employability initiatives undertaken in 2014/15, and how these initiatives are anticipated to improve
results in the future? Are there any further actions required for this academic year in light of this analysis?
Section three
Please confirm the following for the 2014/15
academic year
2014/15 Process
Please indicate in brackets
where comments link to the
action plan.
Monitoring and Review process
Students were consulted in the process for Annual
Review of Courses (ARC).
Management committees were convened for joint
course annual review purposes.
Action plans from the ARC were regularly reviewed.
The ARC was sent to the External Examiner(s)
Student involvement with quality assurance and enhancement
The department included all modules in the annual
student assessment of modules and teaching
(SAMT).
The department had an effective mechanism for
ensuring that actions identified through the SAMT
process were implemented.
The outcomes of SAMT, including good practice,
were communicated to students, including a ‘You
said, we did’ to all students on a module before they
completed their SAMT.
The department disseminated actions and issues
arising through SSS and NSS, to staff and students.
An up to date commentary was provided on the
web for current and prospective students by the end
of the Autumn Term.
Actions identified in SSLC minutes were followed
up and outcomes were reported to subsequent
meetings.
SSLC minutes were published to students on the
departmental website/moodle within 10 working
days of the meeting.
External Examiner reports were routinely reported
and discussed at the appropriate SSLC.
External Examiners
External Examiners were briefed and provided with
the module and course information they needed to
carry out their role by the department
Issues raised by External Examiners were
discussed and acted upon.
Action taken was reported to External Examiners,
and each External Examiner was sent a letter or
email by the department in response to their report.
A copy of the department’s response to the External
Examiner was sent to ASPO.
Assessment
An assessment strategy was in place which aligned
with the University’s Marking and Assessment
policies.
A system was in place which monitored feedback to
students on coursework.
A system was in place to monitor the timeliness of
feedback.
Communication
Decisions and key issues discussed at Senate and
committees of Senate were disseminated and
implemented in the department
Evidence
e.g. dates of meetings and
minutes, or website link
Ensure that copies of
evidence is saved and
available for review
Web address
Web address
Section four
Periodic Review and course validation
The departmental response to, or ongoing action in respect of, the last Periodic Review and/or
course validation undertaken in the last 12 months.
For the first report after a Periodic Review, this section must include a response to each Periodic
Review recommendation and a summary of the responses to conditions. In subsequent years,
updates should be provided via sections two and five.
For the first report after a course validation, this section must include a summary of the response to
conditions and recommendations.
Section five
Action plan
Please outline the actions for the 2015/16 academic year
When agreeing on objectives and actions, please keep in mind that there needs to be an effective means of measuring the impact of actions and whether the
objective has been achieved.
Objectives carried forward
Action
Means of measuring impact
Responsibility
Timescale
Progress to date
from previous years
and achievement of
objective
New Objective
Action
Means of measuring impact
and achievement of
objective
Responsibility
Timescale
Progress to date