Insight brief examines factors that affect the quality of higher education

The OfS has published an Insight brief setting out findings from its recent quality assessments. The briefing draws out thematic issues from the assessments, identifying four main areas which can affect the quality of higher education. It also explains why the OfS chose business and management courses and computing courses for assessment, and how the OfS selected individual providers to assess. The briefing sets out the process followed by independent academic experts throughout the assessment process.

Four important factors which can affect the quality of higher education are identified in the brief:

• Delivery of courses and resources: The assessment reports highlighted examples of effective teaching practice. Some institutions have robust and effective systems in place to ensure teaching staff have the necessary knowledge and skills required, and tailor their course content and delivery to students who may have been juggling their studies with work or caring responsibilities. Some reports identified concerns about teaching quality, with instances of institutions not providing students with enough opportunities to interact with each other or to develop their ideas and knowledge. The brief also sets out differences in the skills of teaching staff, with some staff not sufficiently up to date with teaching skills, or lacking appropriate teaching experience. While some institutions effectively tailored course delivery, others made little allowance for those students who could not attend lectures during the working day.
• Academic support and student engagement with courses: Concerns were raised about the capacity of teaching staff, with heavy workloads meaning some staff were not able to effectively support students. The brief identifies instances where central support and non-teaching staff playing a role in effectively monitoring and acting on student engagement information, often with teaching staff maintaining clear oversight.
• Assessment of learning: Some assessment reports highlighted positive examples of students receiving timely and useful feedback. At other providers concerns were raised, including feedback not effectively explaining how work could be improved, or being provided late or in inaccessible language.
• Academic leadership and oversight: Assessment teams found that clarity over roles, together with oversight by senior staff, were more likely to lead to positive experiences and outcomes for students. The brief includes an example of an institution adopting a coordinated approach to ensuring the curriculum prepared students for employment.

For each of the four themes, the Insight brief sets out a number of points for all institutions to consider when thinking about how to improve the quality of their courses.

Jean Arnold, Deputy Director of Quality at the OfS, said:

‘We know that many universities and colleges provide high quality courses which exceed our minimum requirements. Many already have good policies and practices in place to ensure teaching is high quality, assessment effective, and that students receive the support they need to succeed.

‘This brief sets out examples of what our teams, led by academic experts, have found in their assessments of some business and management courses and computing courses. It identifies positive points, which reflects the fact that four of the assessment reports found no concerns. The brief also explains some of the concerns the teams found, and we find common threads through a number of assessments. There is also wider learning for other institutions as they seek to understand the effectiveness of their approach, and consider how they might continue to improve.

‘It is also important that we show our working, so we have explained in the report why we chose to focus on business and management courses and computing courses, as well as information about the process we have followed. Future quality assessments will take into account feedback we have received about the process to ensure that our work in this area helps to improve the quality of courses across the sector.’

Notes

1. Read the assessment reports into the quality of business and management courses and computing courses.