Introduction
A team of auditors from the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (the Agency) visited the University of Salford (the University) from 8 to 12 March 2004 to carry out an institutional audit. The purpose of the audit was to provide public information on the quality of the opportunities available to students and on the academic standards of the awards that the University offers.
To arrive at its conclusions the audit team spoke to members of staff throughout the University, to current students, and read a wide range of documents relating to the way the University manages the academic aspects of its provision.
The words 'academic standards' are used to describe the level of achievement that a student has to reach to gain an academic award (for example, a degree). It should be at a similar level across the UK.
Academic quality is a way of describing how well the learning opportunities available to students help them to achieve their award. It is about making sure that appropriate teaching, support, assessment and learning opportunities are provided for them.
In institutional audit, both academic standards and academic quality are reviewed.
Outcome of the audit
As a result of its investigations, the audit team's view of the University is that:
- broad confidence can be placed in the soundness of the University's current and likely future management of the quality of its programmes and the academic standards of awards.
Features of good practice
The audit team identified the following areas as being good practice:
- the establishment of the Academic Audit Committee and the work it has undertaken;
- the continuing positive contribution of the Education Development Unit in the support provided to both staff and students of the University; and
- the development of the School of Art and Design Virtual Office.
Recommendations for action
The audit team also recommends that the University should consider further action in a number of areas to ensure that the academic quality and standards of the awards it offers are maintained. The University is advised to:
- continue to develop its management information systems to ensure that progression and completion data for all types and groups of students of the University are standardised to facilitate consistent interpretation and to inform strategic planning;
- implement its developing plans for greater institutional oversight of external examiner processes including the appointment, induction and reports of external examiners at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels; and
- develop an integrated strategic approach, updating and establishing strategies, as appropriate, to enable it to fulfil its aspirations in key areas including collaborative provision, international activity and distance learning.
It would be desirable for the University to:
- adopt a coordinated approach to quality enhancement and the sharing and dissemination of good practice across the University;
- continue to develop its policies and procedures against the Code of practice for the assurance of academic quality and standards in higher education (Code of practice), published by the Agency, with particular reference to career education, information and guidance to ensure that these are appropriately aligned to the University's distinctive mission;
- ensure that the link between learning outcomes and assessment is made explicit for students in all parts of the University through the mapping of learning outcomes against assessment strategies, reflecting the University's commitment to student equity considerations; and
- give consideration to the development of a clear policy to progress the implementation of, and support for, the virtual learning environment such that it is embedded across all parts of the University.
Summary outcomes of discipline audit trails
The audit team also looked in some detail at several individual programmes in the five discipline areas of accounting, biosciences, design, management and social work to find out how well the University's systems and procedures were working at programme level. The University provided the team with documents, including student work and, here too, the team spoke to staff and students. As well as confirming the overall confidence statement given above, the team was able to state that the standard of student achievement in the programmes was appropriate to the title of the awards and their place in The framework for higher education qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (FHEQ) and that the quality of learning opportunities available was, in each case, suitable.
National reference points
To provide further evidence to support its findings, the audit team also investigated the use made by the University of the academic infrastructure which the Agency has developed on behalf of the whole of UK higher education. The academic infrastructure is a set of nationally agreed reference points that help to define both good practice and academic standards. The audit found that the University has responded appropriately to the FHEQ, subject benchmark statements, guidelines for programme specifications and the Code of practice.
From 2004, the institutional audit process includes a check on the reliability of the information about academic quality and standards that institutions will be required to publish, as listed in the Higher Education Funding Council for England's (HEFCE) document 02/15, Information on quality and standards in higher education and in HEFCE 03/51, Information on quality and standards in higher education: Final guidance. The audit found that the University was alert to the requirements of, and taking steps to fulfil its responsibilities with regard to, HEFCE 02/15 and HEFCE 03/51 and that the information published by the University about the quality of its programmes and the standards of its awards was reliable.
>> Main report
>> Findings
ISBN 1 84482 111 0
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