Royal Holloway, University of London
Seeking Your Views On How We Should Respond To The Government’s Green Paper- Part 2
HOW DOES THE GREEN PAPER AFFECT ROYAL HOLLOWAY AND HOW MIGHT WE RESPOND?
Background
The Government has recently published a Green Paper called ‘Fulfilling our Potential: Teaching excellence, social mobility and student choice’. The Green Paper is being used
to consult with the higher education sector, and others, on proposed changes to a number of structures and processes that will affect the way we run our university and how
we engage with our students.
In summary, the Green Paper proposes:




The introduction of a teaching excellence framework
Objectives to improve access of socially disadvantaged students to higher education
Changes to the process and requirements governing entry of new providers into the higher education system
The way in which higher education providers are regulated.
The College will respond to the consultation, but to help us formulate that response we are seeking your views.
We are running our consultation in two parts.
In part 1, we summarise the main changes proposed in the Green Paper and seek views from departments and the Students’ Union on the overall Green Paper. Views on this
part will be gathered by Heads of Academic Departments and Professional Services.
In this part (part 2), we are seeking views from departments or individuals on how the Green Paper might directly affect Royal Holloway and how we should respond.
Responding to Part 2
If you or a group (department etc.) wishes to respond to this, part 2 of the consultation, please send comments on any or all of the questions asked below. There is a form at
the end of this document which can be completed. The response should be emailed to julia.roberts@royalholloway.ac.uk and received no later than 20 December 2015.
1
What the government wants to achieve
What it means for universities
How Royal Holloway might respond
1.
Teaching excellence will be rewarded with
reputational and financial incentives
Our current position:
NSS assessment & feedback – 75%
NSS teaching quality –84%
NSS learning resources – 74%
52% of staff with teaching qualifications
The government seeks:
Institutions will need to:
We can improve our performance by:
a.
a.
b.
1.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Drive up teaching standards
To improve the quality of the student academic
experience and student outcomes
To help students understand what they are getting
for their money and improve the value they derive
from their investment
To provide students with transparent information
about teaching quality, course content and
graduate outcomes for all students
To provide better signalling for employers as to
which HEIs can be trusted to produce highly skilled
graduates
To put in place a mechanism to ensure institutions
are recognised and rewarded for teaching
excellence in the same way as they are for
research excellence
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
Provide evidence of teaching quality
Provide evidence of a supportive teaching
environment
Provide evidence of student outcomes and
learning gain
Ensure all types of students are able to progress
successfully
Demonstrate that teaching is valued as much as
research
Ensure teaching and research are recognised as
mutually reinforcing activities
Provide opportunities for students to engage in
helping to shape their programmes of study
where appropriate
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Rewarding teaching excellence and providing
outstanding teachers with the same recognition
and opportunities for career and pay progression
as outstanding researchers
Stimulating greater linkages between teaching
and research and demonstrate the value of
research-led teaching
Highlighting and sharing exemplary teaching
practices
Engaging students with the curriculum and their
learning
Ensuring all students receive support in order to
achieve their educational and professional
potential
Ensuring that our provision reflects the diversity of
our students needs
Question 1a: Are there likely to be other implications in driving up teaching standards?
Question 1b: What other steps should we take to improve our teaching?
2
What the government wants to achieve
What it means for universities
How Royal Holloway might respond
2. Equipping students for the world of work
Institutions will need to teach students the
transferable and work readiness skills that
businesses require
Royal Holloway’s rates of graduate employability fall
well below that of our competitors – only 62.7% our
graduates are in graduate level jobs or further study
6 months after graduation
The government seeks:
Institutions will need to:
We can improve the employment chances of our
students by:
a.
a.
b.
To ensure the Higher Education sector delivers
lasting value to graduates and taxpayers
To improve the skills and 'job readiness' of the
graduate labour pool
Submit evidence on how they are with
employers, professional bodies etc. in terms of
course and curriculum design.
1.
2.
3.
Ensuring our courses, curriculum design and
teaching and assessment are effective in
developing student knowledge and skills
Involving employers and professional bodies in
curriculum design
Ensuring as many programmes as possible are
accredited by the relevant professional body
Question 2a: Are there likely to be other implications in equipping our students for the world of work?
Question 2b: What other steps should we take to further equip our students for the world of work?
3
What the government wants to achieve
What it means for universities
How Royal Holloway might respond
3.
The Green Paper acknowledges that a grade point
average system will not tackle 'grade inflation' but
universities will need to show , as part of their
evidence of teaching excellence, how they are
addressing issues of grade inflation
Royal Holloway is currently ranked 36th for ‘good
honours’ in the Time Good University Guide (% of
students achieving 1st & 2:1s)
The government seeks:
Institutions will need to:
We will need to respond by:
a.
a.
1.
b.
c.
Changes to the degree classification system
To improve the consistency of degree
classification across the sector
To provide businesses with a classification system
that will help them distinguish between graduates
and identify the best applicants
To provide students with degree classifications
that are a currency carrying prestige and that hold
value
Adopt a Grade Point Average (GPA) system that
will provide a more granular account of student
achievement
2.
3.
Having documented standards of performance
that relate to our marking and classification
systems
Adopting, at an early stage, a grade point average
(GPA) system, that will allow parallel running with
the degree classification scheme so as to help us
better understand the GPA system
Taking measures to promote better understanding
of the GPA and degree classification systems.
Question 3a: Are there likely to be other implications in moving to a grade point average system?
Question 3b: What other steps should we take to respond to the government wish to change the degree classification system?
4
What the government wants to achieve
What it means for universities
How Royal Holloway might respond
4. Changing the regulatory system to create an
Office for Students
Provide transparency so that students, employers
and tax payers have the information to hold
institutions accountable
Consider the relationship between the College and
its students
The government seeks:
Institutions will need to:
We will need to respond by:
a.
a.
1.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Create a single organisation to champion the
needs of students and increase transparency,
reduce bureaucracy and save public money
To promote the interest of students, employers
and tax payers to ensure value for money in their
investment in education
To empower students to make the best choices
through improved access to information
To ensure the rights of students to hold providers
to account and to focus on the protection of
students
To protect institutional autonomy and academic
freedom
To operate the TEF
b.
Become accountable to the new Office for
Students
Manage the loss of HEFCE as a mediator
between government and universities
2.
3.
Clearly demonstrating our students receive value
for money
Considering the extent to which our students are
customers or partners
Considering how we hear the voice of our students
Question 4a: Are there likely to be other implications resulting from the creation of an Office for Students?
Question 4b: What other steps should we take as a result of the creation of the Office for Students and the implications it has on the relationship between the
College and its students?
5
What the government wants to achieve
What it means for universities
How Royal Holloway might respond
5.
Potential that research quality will be increasingly
assessed through metrics such as research grant
income, number of citations, number of research
students per FTE
Royal Holloway is currently ranked 42nd for research
grant income per academic FTE with only 5
departments in the upper quartile
The government seeks:
Institutions will need to:
We will need to respond by:
a.
a.
1.
b.
c.
d.
Simplification of the system for distributing
research funding
To reduce complexity and bureaucracy in overall
research overall funding
To retain dual funding streams of block grant and
research council funding
To explore options to streamline and reduce
burdens in the design of future REF
To consider making greater use of metrics, using
both peer review and metrics to identify emerging
and sustained research excellence
Provide evidence of research quality in a more
streamlined and cost-effective manner
2.
3.
4.
Considering how the burden of the REF could be
reduced
Considering the implications on each discipline of
the introduction of a metrics-based REF
Considering what metrics might be most
appropriate
Ensuring that we perform as well as we can on
likely metrics
Question 5a: Are there likely to be other implications of simplification of the research funding distribution system?
Question 5b: What other steps should we take to respond to changes in REF and the research funding distribution system?
6
Royal Holloway, University of London
Response to Consultation- Part 2
Name (department, group etc.)
Person to contact if we have any follow-up questions
Questions
Response
Question 1a: Are there likely to be other implications in
driving up teaching standards?
Question 1b: What other steps should we take to
improve our teaching?
Question 2a: Are there likely to be other implications in
equipping our students for the world of work?
Question 2b: What other steps should we take to
further equip our students for the world of work?
Question 3a: Are there likely to be other implications in
moving to a grade point average system?
Question 3b: What other steps should we take to
respond to the government wish to change the degree
classification system?
Question 4a: Are there likely to be other implications
resulting from the creation of an Office for Students?
Question 4b: What other steps should we take as a
result of the creation of the Office for Students and the
implications it has on the relationship between the
College and its students?
Question 5a: Are there likely to be other implications of
simplification of the research funding distribution
system?
7
Questions
Response
Question 5b: What other steps should we take to
respond to changes in REF and the research funding
distribution system?
8