UNIVERSITY QUALITY OFFICE / STUDENTS’ UNION
Periodic Reviews
Information for student participants studying a University
programme delivered by a Partner Institution
Introduction
You will have been given a copy of this leaflet
by your college because you have been
invited to participate in a University of Hull
Periodic Review.
This leaflet has been written by the University
Quality Office in partnership with the Students’
Union. We welcome your feedback on
whether it has helped you understand the
process of periodic review and your role in it.
The purpose of Periodic Reviews
The University carries out an internal ‘Periodic
Review’ of each of its programmes of study
every six years. The purpose of the review is
to consider the way in which the University
department in question assures the quality
of the programmes delivered by your college
and maintains the standard of the
University’s awards (i.e. degrees, diplomas,
certificates etc). This means looking at how
the University department working with your
college, makes sure that what you are being
taught and assessed is suitable for the
programme you are studying, that you are
being provided with appropriate facilities to
help you learn, that you receive the support
which matches your needs, and that the
procedures for examining and deciding
progression and final award are fair and
rigorous. It is also concerned with the
opportunities you are provided with to give
feedback on your programme of study.
The review is not a review of your college but
of how the University department manages
the relationship with partner colleges and
oversees the delivery of provision which lead
to University of Hull awards.
The purpose of the review is not to tell the
University department or your college ‘how to
do its job’, but to help the University
department evaluate what it does, drawing on
the experience of staff from elsewhere in the
University and from outside the University,
and drawing comparisons with similar
provision in the Higher Education Sector.
The review does not involve any kind of
grading of the University department, your
college or individual staff but rather identifies
examples of good practice which can be
passed on to other University of Hull
departments, and also highlights areas for
further development.
Who conducts reviews?
The University Learning, Teaching and
Assessment Committee (ULTAC) appoints a
Review Panel to carry out each review. Each
panel typically comprises;
 a member of the ULTAC ‘Standing Panel’
as Chair
 two academic staff members from the
University of Hull (who are not from the
University department in question)
 one member of a partner institution (who
is not a member of any college delivering
the programmes in question)
 one external academic from another
University who is experienced in the
discipline in question
 one external ‘stakeholder’ such as an
employer or representative from a relevant
professional body
 one student representative (who will not
be studying in the department responsible
for the provision being reviewed or in a
college delivering the provision)
 two members of the University Quality
Office (one of whom will act as Secretary)
Stages of the review
The review takes place in a number of stages:
First, the University department is required to
write a Self-Evaluation Document (SED)
analysing the way it assures quality and
maintains standards, identifying its strengths
and areas it wants to develop.
Second, the Review Panel reads through
documents supplied by the University
Periodic Review – Leaflet for students studying a University Programme delivered by a PI
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department, including staff/student committee
minutes and student handbooks, to identify
possible items for discussion with the
department and examples of good practice.
(The Panel does not look at student work, nor
does it observe teaching).
Third, the Review Panel holds a full day of
meetings (sometimes split over two days) with
a range of staff from the University
department and its partner institutions, and a
representative sample of students studying for
University of Hull awards which are overseen
by the University department in question and
delivered at a partner college.
Fourth, at the end of the day the Panel
provides verbal feedback to the department.
Fifth, the Panel writes a detailed report, which
includes recommendations and examples of
good practice. This report is submitted to
ULTAC for final approval.
Your role
As indicated above, each Panel wants to meet
with a ‘representative sample’ of students
studying programmes delivered by partner
colleges which are overseen by the University
department in question. The meeting will
normally last between 60 and 90 minutes.
Members of the Panel will want to discuss a
range of topics with you, such as:
- The role of the University of Hull as the
awarding body and your rights in relation to
the University.
- What made you choose this
programme/college?
- Was the publicity information about the
programme useful and accurate?
- Was there an induction programme?
- Have you been provided with clear
information about your course?
- Are assessment tasks clear? Is feedback
helpful in planning forward?
- What libraries do you use? Are you clear
about which resources you can access at the
University?
- Do you know what to do if you had a
complaint about the programme?
- Do you understand what is meant by
plagiarism?
- How are your views on the programme
collected? Do you get feedback on action
taken or why action may not possible?
The meeting will be conducted in as informal
and friendly way as possible. It is not an
interview, and you will find that the Panel are
genuinely interested in your views (and
understand that you might be nervous).
Nothing you say will be quoted in the final
report, nor will you be identified in the report
or be identified in any way to your college or
the University department. It is important that
you feel confident that you are free to speak
openly and honestly at the meeting in a way
which will help the Panel understand your
experience of your programme of study.
The Report
As indicated above, a report is produced at
the end of the process by the Review Panel
and approved by the University Learning,
Teaching and Assessment Committee. The
University department, in consultation with
partner colleges delivering the programmes, is
required to produce an action plan setting out
how, and by when, it will address the
recommendations set out in the Panel’s
Report. A summary of the Panel’s Report and
the action plan will be published on the
University portal and both documents will be
provided to your college to share with you.
Issues arising from the Report will be
discussed at future Joint Board of Studies
meetings.
Feedback
You are encouraged to provide feedback to
the University both on this leaflet (for
example, did you find it helpful and accurate?)
and on your experience in taking part in the
review. The Quality Assurance Agency for
Higher Education (QAA) has commended the
University’s system of periodic reviews, and
we continue to work to make it even better for
everybody involved. You can either send
feedback to the University Quality Office
(email: d.igoe@hull.ac.uk) or to the Students’
Union Vice President Education
(email: huu-representation@hull.ac.uk).
The information contained in this leaflet is available in
alternative formats on request from the University Quality
Office
Periodic Review – Leaflet for students studying a University Programme delivered by a PI
Version 1 00 – July 11
QH:I2
Annexe 4b:2