Academic review of UK higher education
Introduction
A Subject provision and overall aims
B Academic standards
Intended learning outcomes
Curricula
Assessment
Student achievementC Quality of learning opportunities
Teaching and learning
Student progression
Learning resourcesD Maintenance and enhancement of quality and standards
Summary of the main review outcomes
Subject provision and the overall aims
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (the Agency) helps to provide public assurance that the quality and standards of higher education are being safeguarded and enhanced by conducting academic reviews of higher education provision.
In developing its method for academic review, the Agency has published a wide range of materials designed to provide a background against which the reviews can take place. These are:
The Agency carries out reviews of individual subjects through service level agreements with the main higher education funding bodies. It also carries out institutional reviews of higher education institutions. The judgements made by the subject reviewers can contribute substantially to institutional review.
Subject review is a peer review process. It starts when institutions evaluate their provision in a subject in a self-evaluation document. This document is submitted to the Agency for use by a team of reviewers who gather evidence to enable them to report their judgements on the academic standards and the quality of learning opportunities. Review activities include meeting staff and students, scrutinising students' assessed work, reading relevant documents, and examining learning resources. Full details of the process of subject review can be found in the Handbook for academic review, QAA, 2000.
The range of judgements that reviewers may utilise when they have completed a subject review are summarised below.
To reach this judgement, reviewers look at:
Reviewers make one of the following judgements for each of three aspects of
learning opportunities:
The three aspects of quality of learning opportunities are:
Reviewers also report the degree of confidence they have in the institution's ability to maintain and enhance quality and standards in the subject under review.
1. This report presents the findings of a review of the academic standards achieved, and the quality of the learning opportunities provided, in law programmes at London Metropolitan University. The review was completed in the academic year 2003-04.
2. A merger of London Guildhall University (LGU) with the University of North London (UNL) created London Metropolitan University in 2000. The Department of Law, Governance and International Relations was created under a single Head of Department in August 2002 from the former Department of Law and subject fields of Politics and International Relations at LGU, and the former subject fields of Law, Governance, International Relations and European Studies from the Faculty of Environmental and Social Studies at UNL. About two-thirds of the law work is based at London City Campus (former LGU) and about one-third at London North Campus (former UNL). At the time of the review, over 1,830 full-time equivalent (FTE) students were enrolled on law programmes, with around 1,278 FTEs studying on the programmes under review. Approximately 80 staff teach on the law programmes.
3. The courses covered by the review are as follows:
City Campus
Undergraduate (courses of the former LGU):
Postgraduate:
North Campus
Undergraduate (courses of the former UNL):
Postgraduate:
From September 2003, the LLM in European Law is no longer offered at North Campus but will continue to be offered at the City Campus.
4. The overall aims of the Department's courses, consistent with the University's mission statement, are to provide:
The aims of the undergraduate courses and pathways have been designed with reference to the Subject benchmark statement for law, The framework for higher education qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (FHEQ), and the Joint Statement of the Professional Bodies on Qualifying Law Degrees.
The overall aims are to assist students to:
The aims of the postgraduate courses have been developed with reference to the FHEQ. The overall aims are to:
5. The reviewers confirm that the overall aims of the law provision are consistent with the University's mission statement. All undergraduate awards within the scope of the review have been successfully designed to comply with:
6. The postgraduate awards have been designed to reflect the FHEQ. The overall curricular content for all postgraduate awards is set at an appropriate level, although the comments below on some module specifications should be noted.
7. The aims and intended learning outcomes (ILOs) for undergraduate and postgraduate provision at City Campus and postgraduate provision at North Campus (including details of required knowledge and skills development) are clearly set out in course specifications. The details of undergraduate provision at North Campus need to be developed: current documentation reflects the requirement at the predecessor institution to map the LLB curriculum onto its own Capability Curriculum. In addition, the similarity of the course specifications for postgraduate programmes at City Campus should be revisited in order to emphasise more clearly the distinctive nature of each of the awards.
8. Students at both campuses acknowledge the relevance of the undergraduate and postgraduate curricula to their actual or intended career pathways. In this connection, tutors should consider whether the statements in the Undergraduate Handbook at the City Campus make it sufficiently clear that, for the award of a qualifying law degree, full and part-time students must complete their studies within a shorter period than the University's own maximum of seven years.
9. Much work has been done to unify and develop the undergraduate curriculum of the LLB between the two predecessor institutions. For example, modules which could previously be studied at either level 5 or 6 at City Campus have been fixed at one level; modules relating to subjects historically offered at both predecessor institutions have been reviewed in order to create module specifications common to both campuses.
10. In general, the curricula for the undergraduate awards include clear progression pathways through the courses in terms of knowledge acquisition and skills development. The new University Undergraduate Scheme explains that personal development planning and progress files are to be phased in between 2004 and 2007. The reviewers noted, and explored in some detail, the inclusion of administrative law, generally acknowledged to be a challenging area of legal study, as part of the curriculum at level 4. Consideration of the recent low success rate in this module led the reviewers to draw attention to the need to ensure that adequate teaching resources are in place across the University as a whole, in order to provide the requisite degree of student support.
11. Students on both campuses reported that ILOs and assessment criteria for all modules, at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, are clearly communicated to them by means of module handbooks, and most tutors supplement the basic module information with additional handout material and references to on-line databases. First-year students at North Campus, however, felt that more might be done by way of academic advice to familiarise students with the aims and outcomes of the degree generally, and the content of option modules prior to making their choices. Second and third-year students expressed satisfaction with this aspect of their learning experience.
12. Regarding the appropriateness of ILOs and assessment patterns in postgraduate modules at City Campus, it might be desirable for the Department to revisit the design of those modules where the stated ILOs do not reflect the required postgraduate level of student attainment. In some cases, this is because the ILOs require students simply to appreciate and/or understand the subject matter. In others, it is because of the omission of ILOs reflecting explicitly the importance at this level for students to develop and demonstrate skills of critical evaluation. It may be that the ILOs of some modules need to be recalibrated in terms of the FHEQ.
13. A related issue is the availability of a dissertation on City Campus postgraduate courses. Although stated to be optional, students reported that they are not encouraged by tutors to engage in study for the dissertation, as only 'exceptional' students should undertake this module. Additionally, the timing of the required submission of dissertation plans for approval to the appropriate panel of law tutors, several weeks into the teaching semester, clearly militates against students taking the dissertation module. Overall, the reviewers question the extent to which the dissertation is genuinely optional in these circumstances and, consequently, whether the programme aim regarding the ability to produce a substantial piece of independent written work is realised in all cases.
14. The Department's realisation of its aim for flexibility in delivery, in order to meet the diverse needs of its varied student population, may need further attention in terms of curricular design and delivery. Several postgraduate mature students with work and/or family commitments reported that their learning experience has been adversely affected by a perceived lack of flexibility in timetabling, which could effectively prevent them from taking modules of their choice.
15. The University is engaged in an ongoing process of review of the relationship between assessment and ILOs. At City Campus, the scrutiny process is intended to ensure that all assessments are checked against the ILOs of each module. In some instances, the ILOs expressed in unit handbooks are not appropriate to the level at which the unit is offered in the curriculum. In other instances, a large number of learning outcomes are specified in the unit handbooks, but not all are assessed. The reviewers recommend that the Department continue to review the relationship between ILOs and assessment.
16. A number of skills outcomes are not currently assessed at every level, or are only assessed in elective modules. However, there is an ongoing process of consultation with regard to the development of the curriculum for the new LLB programme to be offered from September 2004, to ensure that skills such as oral communication, teamwork and numeracy will be assessed at all levels. The reviewers recommend that the assessment of benchmark skills in the new curriculum be kept under careful review.
17. It is clear from external examiners' reports that there is a general level of satisfaction with the information provided to external examiners in the form of guidelines on the module assessments provided in advance, and feedback on the assessed work. The practice of sending marking guidelines to external examiners has been inconsistent, but the current policy is that marking guidelines are sent to external examiners for all modules. A policy is also in place that module handbooks for each unit should be sent to the external examiners. The reviewers recommend that the Department take steps to ensure that this policy is implemented for all modules.
18. External examiners generally comment favourably on the security and integrity of the assessment process. In the majority of modules, there is evidence of second-marking or internal moderation of marking. However, there have been instances where moderation of scripts has not taken place. Inconsistency in the marking standards between modules has occurred in some cases, leading to a marked disparity in the Pass rates between modules at the same level. Department staff provided evidence of an emerging strategy to address the problem of inconsistency of marking standards. This includes: holding a Fair Assessment workshop at City Campus; engaging in discussions with unit leaders; running workshops; and introducing a more consistent regime of second-marking and marking moderation at North Campus. The reviewers recommend that activities such as the Fair Assessment workshop should be held on a regular basis.
19. Clear, explicit information on the assessment process is provided in student handbooks. It includes robust regulations about cheating and plagiarism, and examples of the activities that would be considered cheating, plagiarism or collusion. Clear strategies are also in place for preventing and detecting plagiarism.
20. The University's Undergraduate Regulatory Framework, to be implemented from June 2004, will include a significant change to the assessment regulations. The effect of the new regulation is that a student who fails an assessment and is reassessed shall be awarded the mark achieved in place of the original mark. However, a student shall not be entitled to resit or retake a module for which a Pass mark has been awarded. The reviewers recommend that the University carry out an ongoing review of the consequences of this change to the assessment regulations, giving particular consideration to the potential unfairness to students with borderline passes in modules.
21. An appropriate range of assessment methods used, and external examiners have commented on innovative and imaginative assessments in some modules. For example, in postgraduate courses at City Campus, seen examination questions are used as a method of assessing students' legal research skills.
22. Steps are being taken to improve the feedback given to students on their work. There is now a policy that students should be given formative work and feedback in tutorials, and that unit leaders should provide students with copies of essays of differing standards so that they are aware of the standards expected. An excellent feedback sheet has been developed to provide standardised feedback on student work, although it is not consistently used.
23. The relevant external reference points for student achievement in the undergraduate programmes are appropriately and comprehensively matched within course specifications. Individual LLB modules at North Campus were calibrated against the former Capability Curriculum. For the LLM courses and the MA Advice and Paralegal Work, the main external reference point (the FHEQ) is clearly met in these programmes in terms of its broad expectations for student achievement and the grading of student work, although articulation of this in the course specifications could be clearer. All LLM courses at City Campus qualify for Law Society continuing professional development (CPD) points, although take-up is low; additionally, all LLM courses at North Campus qualify for Law Society CPD points.
24. The LLB course handbook lists the subject benchmark statement standards, as well as the requirements for a qualifying law degree. Individual subject benchmark statement elements are identified for different modules. The subject benchmark feedback forms, in common use for both coursework and examinations, make it easy to verify the achievement of subject benchmark statement standards on the LLB. However, as numeracy and teamwork skills are developed only in options, it is not possible to demonstrate that all LLB students achieve outcomes in these skills. The LLB syllabus satisfies the requirements for a qualifying law degree.
25. External examiners are generally complimentary and are satisfied that the standard for undergraduate awards is appropriate and in line with national norms. The reviewers' scrutiny of a range of student work confirmed that appropriate standards are being set and achieved.
26. Student achievement on the LLM programmes is also commended by external examiners, who are generally complimentary and are satisfied that academic standards compare well with standards on similar programmes. However, some external examiners have expressed concern about the standard of English of some LLM students, although staff confirmed that non-native speakers of English are assessed according to the same standards as native speakers of English.
27. As noted above, the ILOs of individual LLM modules do not always take sufficient account of the FHEQ. The ILOs for some modules require students to demonstrate knowledge, but not higher order intellectual skills, such as analysis and evaluation. However, samples of student work show that students do achieve the level of intellectual skill envisaged by the FHEQ. Although the LLM course specifications at the City Campus state that the programme will develop teamworking and oral communicative skills, it appears that this does not occur in practice, or is not assessed.
28. At the City and North Campuses, 9 per cent and 5 per cent (respectively) of undergraduates, in failing to complete the second year of the LLB, go on to receive interim qualifications (Cert HE, DipHE, University Diploma). This represents about one in four of students not completing level 2 at the City Campus, and about one in three of those not completing level 2 at the North Campus. Students who fail to complete level 3, qualify for the DipHE. The reviewers find some justification in the University's view that such qualifications may represent a substantial achievement for many of these students.
29. At City Campus, 9 per cent of students graduate with a law degree that is not a qualifying law degree. There are various reasons for this, including being out of time or the repeated failure of foundation units. The University has recently noted disparities between proportions of degree classes and the bunching of degree classes at both campuses, and is investigating this. Very few LLM and masters students exit without a degree.
30. With respect to academic standards, the reviewers conclude that:
31. At present, students are taught on their 'own' campus by their 'own' staff. In future, students will continue to be taught at either the North or City Campus, but staff may teach on both campuses in a limited number of cases. The staff in post are appropriately qualified, and well-established induction and mentoring schemes are in place. Staff development is subject to a clear policy statement, and there is evidence of the scope of the provision and that financial support for such development is available to both hourly-paid and permanent staff. Staff development is undertaken at an individual level and through general staff training events, which may be selected in light of issues highlighted in annual monitoring reports. Staff take-up is monitored through the appraisal process.
32. Effective team teaching and peer-review schemes operate at both campuses. Good practice arising from peer observation is noted in module and course monitoring reports.
33. The teaching is appropriate to the curricular content and programme aims and is subject to a high-level of student satisfaction, although students inevitably make some minor critical comments. Staff are well-matched to modules (particularly at postgraduate level), allowing their research and professional activities to inform their teaching.
34. Module handbooks supplied to students provide a synopsis of the module, material for study and questions for self or tutorial study. Some handbooks also provide core materials, past examination questions and other useful references. These module handbooks are an important aid to student learning. In addition to the module-specific handbooks, there are several useful guides to study providing practical information about the structure of degree programmes (for example, The Redbook at City Campus) and general handbooks for the undergraduate and postgraduate programmes (City Campus).
35. Students progress through the undergraduate programmes in accordance with a predetermined route, which ensures that they do not study an excessive number of modules at any one time. The modules at North Campus carefully set out the number of hours of required student effort, and modules broadly require the same amount of effort. Workloads are also monitored through student questionnaires.
36. A clear teaching and learning strategy identifies immediate and future action points. On both campuses there is clear evidence that the pace and breadth of teaching are generally appropriate, although there are some modules that students find particularly challenging.
37. A good variety of teaching and learning methods is used, with lectures, tutorials and seminars being the usual modes at undergraduate level, and seminars predominating at postgraduate level. All students undertake some form of research project, and individual modules may use oral presentations and teamwork exercises. Web-based learning is being developed through modules supporting web sites, and WebCT and IOLIS (a computer-assisted learning package for law students) are in general use.
38. The provision contributes substantially to the achievement of the intended outcomes, with most elements demonstrating good practice.
The quality of teaching and learning is commendable.
39. The Department meets fully the University's mission to extend access to higher education (HE) as widely as possible in the community. High proportions of students have non-traditional entry qualifications, and there are also high proportions of ethnic minority students at both campuses (North, 75 per cent; City, 80 per cent). There are particular challenges in the induction of such a diverse range of students into an HE environment and in ensuring appropriate support for their learning, particularly in the first year of study.
40. A significant proportion of the students entered through an access course or with no formal qualifications (16 per cent at North and 12 per cent at City). This is in line with the University's mission. City Campus statistics show that these students do less well than other groups, although this is not the case for students from similar backgrounds studying part-time.
41. The Board of Studies at City Campus decided to treat students with non-traditional entry qualifications in the same way as other students with difficulties, in order not to stigmatise them. In view of the limited success in addressing the poor retention rates for first-year students, the reviewers recommend that this decision be reviewed.
42. City Campus has good statistical information on progression rates. The statistical data from North Campus less good, but this is being addressed under the merger procedures. In 2001-02, 50 per cent of first-year students proceeded to the second year (full-time level 1 LLB Single Honours at North Campus and LLB Single Honours Early Specialist at City Campus). This conceals a failure rate of 45 per cent for students repeating the first year. Excluding these, the progression rate for first-time entrants is 67 per cent. Most of the withdrawals were of students who did not formally register their withdrawal. The corresponding figures for 2002-03 did not appear in the annual course monitoring report for 2002-03; however, the report noted that first-year retention remained an issue, although the rate had improved slightly.
43. There appears to be a worsening rate of conditional, as opposed to unconditional, progress from the first-year, largely due to a drop in the pass rates of two classes, Law of Contract II and Administrative Law. Semester 1 results for January 2004 show an improved result.
44. Cohort analyses of the September 1999 and September 2000 intakes to the full-time LLB programmes at City Campus show broadly similar patterns. By February 2004, 56 per cent of the 1999 intake had graduated (39 per cent with honours, 3 per cent with a Pass degree and 4 per cent with a DipHE, and 10 per cent with a CertHE); 4 per cent were registered for further study. A relatively small number of students withdrew without completing level 2 and without obtaining a CertHE. The major loss of students occurred in the first year: 34 per cent failed to proceed to the second year. Of the 2000 intake, 49 per cent had graduated (40 per cent with honours, 2 per cent with a Pass degree,7 per cent with a CertHE) and 10 per cent were registered for further study; 42 per cent failed to progress to level 2 (18 per cent withdrew, 14 per cent failed). It is valuable to recognise the achievements of students who do not progress to degree-level but achieve interim qualifications.
45. At institutional-level, the University has recognised non-continuation rates for first-year students as an issue across all programmes, and commissioned an independent report on retention. The Law Department has acknowledged the issue of non-continuation from the first-year, which has been a continuing problem for some years, and the self-evaluation document (SED) is commendably open regarding the poor progression of students from the first-year. The Department has identified a range of actions to improve retention and progression in response to the University's Retention, Progression and Achievement Group. These include a closer correlation between UCAS offers and what the University accepts in clearing; the need to nurture students from the offer stage; the need to develop a more active 'buddy' programme; easier access to information and advice for students; and a more streamlined administration system.
46. In discussion with staff at North Campus, a number of other strategies to improve retention were identified: additional induction classes for late entrants in weeks one and two; shifting additional resources to level 1 teaching; holding a staff-student liaison meeting early in semester 1; more small-group work in tutorials; and meetings between personal tutors and students who do not attend regularly. It is clear that retention, and in particular the non-continuation of first-year students, remains a significant issue. However, the University and the Department have acknowledged this and continue to address the issue at both institutional and departmental-level. The University needs to ensure that the post-merger provision for student induction and support is effectively implemented.
47. Early specialist students at City Campus take an induction course which includes sessions on study techniques, library familiarisation and IOLIS training. The Department provides an excellent induction programme and the librarian at North Campus provides a guide to finding legal materials in the library. The Department has identified late-entry at the North Campus as problematic. This has been recognised as a university issue on which further action is required.
48. The Learning Development Unit (LDU) at City Campus provides short courses on study skills. The Unit's records show that 73 law students have attended courses or individual sessions at the LDU since October 2003. Study-skills support at North Campus is provided by the learning centre. This is available on a drop-in basis and by attending programmes. The Students' Union offers a mentoring and peer-support system on a subject basis. This drop-in service is widely advertised on the Students' Union web site, on noticeboards and in the Student Handbook. No data are available on the level of use of these services.
49. At City Campus, all students have a personal tutor. In discussion with the reviewers, students said that all but one of the personal tutors are good. They were positive about the induction programmes and the quality of support provided for student learning. An academic tutor system operates at North Campus. Students said that the programme planners provide very useful information and support, which complements the academic tutor system.
50. In the post-merger provision, new procedures are in place for HE orientation under the University Undergraduate Modular Scheme (UUMS), Studying Law. A diagnostic scheme to detect students with special needs will operate; details have not yet been finalised under the UUMS. Academic support will be provided by personal academic advisers (PAAs). These academic posts will be housed in undergraduate centres. Law students are likely to have a PAA who is a member of the academic staff in law. Personal development planning is currently being piloted in one module (LA101).
51. In the predecessor institutions, students were expected to take responsibility for seeking support for their learning. The problem of non-continuation and, in particular, the informal withdrawals of first-year students, suggest that this strategy requires review by the University. The UUMS recognises that accessing information, resources and support cannot be made solely the students' responsibility. It will be important to ensure that the structured arrangements for student support that emerge from the UUMS are effectively implemented and carefully monitored.
52. The provision enables the intended outcomes to be achieved, but improvement is needed to overcome weaknesses.
The quality of student progression is approved, but
53. The Department based at City Campus is housed in a new, pleasant, purpose-built building containing well-equipped teaching accommodation, meeting rooms and staff and administrative offices. There is also specialist accommodation, including mock courts. The Department based at North Campus is housed in older accommodation which is largely satisfactory and of suitable quality to support delivery of the various programmes. On both sites, tutors' offices are located close to teaching accommodation, which assists students' access to tutors.
54. Students have access to an adequate number of PCs, which are well-used. There are no difficulties with off-campus access to the University's electronic databases. Although there are currently difficulties with the printing facilities at both sites, there are plans to introduce a new and merged system.
55. The library stock generally meets curricular requirements well, and library staff at both sites are closely involved with the delivery of academic programmes. Members of the teaching staff and students are appreciative of the efforts of library staff at both sites to support the learning process. The library stock is kept under effective review, including through the annual monitoring process. This has successfully identified areas of strength and weakness and there are examples of remedial action being taken, for example, in relation to immigration law, child law, French law, trademarks and brand names. Students make good use of off-campus access to databases. Provision of other materials, such as monographs and textbooks, is more variable and is stronger in some areas than others.
56. The library at North Campus is less able to support students' research work, particularly for dissertation students at masters level. These students frequently take advantage of the UK Libraries Plus scheme to access other specialist libraries in London. This reliance is mainly because there are a large number of specialist libraries within a small radius of the University and students, owing to their own personal circumstances, find it more convenient to access libraries elsewhere. However, in some cases students rely on the UK Libraries Plus system, as they do not find the resources adequate for dissertation research. This applies particularly to the LLM European and International Law. However, the recent merger will improve access to library resources at North Campus through the creation, in September 2004, of a unified cataloguing system. It is recommended that the library resources at North Campus continue to be kept under review following the introduction of the unified cataloguing system, to ensure that there are adequate resources to support dissertation research in all areas at masters level.
57. The virtual-learning environment, WebCT and information technology learning packages successfully support learning and have proved popular with students. Plans are in place to extend the use of WebCT over a wider area of the Department's provision.
58. The provision contributes substantially to the achievement of the intended outcomes, with most elements demonstrating good practice.
The quality of learning resources is commendable.
59. The reviewers judge that considerable progress has been made in setting up and embedding quality assurance mechanisms across the merged institution. The main instrument for harmonising processes across the predecessor universities is the Quality Assurance Handbook (QAH), published in September 2003. This document spells out clearly and precisely the different layers and processes of review and action-planning for the maintenance and enhancement of standards and quality. Good progress is being made to ensure that the provision under review will be fully subject to these new procedures. In particular, the Department has a departmental quality committee (DQC) with centrally determined terms of reference, chaired by the Department's Associate Head (Quality Management). The DQC is responsible for ensuring that the processes laid down in the QAH are adhered to, and advises the Head of Department on all quality issues concerning law provision across the two campuses.
60. The scrutiny of progression data by the Standards Board at City Campus, pre-merger, identified some poor pass rates, for example in LA106. This led to some remedial action, including the introduction of an internet-based learning package with self-assessment opportunities, changes to the assessment system, more class tests and more feedback on coursework, examinations and class tests.
61. Retention and completion rates have been identified as problematical in a number of subject areas in the merged University, and a university-wide Retention, Progression and Achievement Group was set up in 2003. A special survey was commissioned and the report was circulated to all departments in the autumn term 2003, with a request for each department to submit its own action plan. In the law provision there have been particular problems with progression from level 1 LLB in both predecessor institutions. The Law Department's action plan identified some of the reasons that were felt to cause retention problems, and identified remedial action and targets for retention in the future. The Department is making a concerted and reasoned effort to combat poor retention within the University's admission and recruitment policies, aimed as they are at widening participation, but it is too early to judge whether the identified strategies are having any real impact.
62. The procedures for course-level monitoring are generally followed scrupulously, and the annual monitoring processes and reporting, which are at the heart of these processes, are resulting in the rigorous review and monitoring of the quality of courses. Generally, external examiners' comments and recommendations are properly considered and acted upon, and there is an effective system of recording actions in response to external examiners' reports at both course and university level.
63. At City Campus, annual monitoring relies heavily and appropriately on the process of module monitoring, which is the responsibility of module leaders. Module reports, completed at the end of every assessment cycle, include data on student achievement as well as qualitative evaluation from students. This system will now be implemented at North Campus, where module reports have, until now, formed the basis of discussion at assessment board meetings, as well as being part of the evidence base for annual monitoring.
64. Effective systems are in place for establishing a department-wide perspective on quality and standards, ensuring that appropriate action is taken across the law provision. Each year a departmental overview report identifies issues that require such action. For example, actions have been taken following external examiners' comments on the proper use of the subject benchmark form and double-marking checklist by internal markers. Similarly, the action plan for undergraduate law programmes at the City Campus, presented to the Board of Studies in May 2004, contains a number of carefully considered responses to issues that had been identified in monitoring reports, including the need for more formative written work and associated feedback to students.
65. Students' views are sought in a number of ways. They comment on the quality of modules through module evaluation questionnaires, they sit on course committees and they provide informal feedback to tutors. Students met by the reviewers were generally content that their views are listened to, and gave some examples of changes that have been made as result of feedback, both formal and informal. However, the general feeling among both undergraduate and postgraduate students at the North Campus was that the system of representation on committees is ineffective.
66. The reviewers judge the SED to be an extremely helpful and evaluative document, which served the review process well. Of particular assistance was the clear sense of self-critical analysis, with weaknesses as well as strengths discussed, and the comprehensive set of references provided. Both these, and subsequent material provide by the University and Department through the internet-based Livelink facility, were invaluable in securing a valid and credible evidence base for the review.
67. The reviewers come to the overall conclusion that the University has the capacity to maintain and enhance standards and quality in law programmes in the future, provided that the systems which have recently been established are fully and effectively implemented across both campuses.
Law programmes at London Metropolitan University were reviewed in the academic year 2003-04. Judgements were made about the academic standards achieved and the quality of the learning opportunities provided.
The review covered the following programmes:
City Campus
Undergraduate (courses of the former London Guildhall University):
Postgraduate:
North Campus
Undergraduate (courses of the former University of North London):
Postgraduate:
Academic standards
Overall, the reviewers have confidence in the academic standards achieved by the programmes in law at London Metropolitan University.
Strengths include:
Issues include:
Quality of learning opportunities
Teaching and learning
The quality of teaching and learning is commendable:
Student progression
The quality of student progression is approved, but:
Strengths include:
Learning resources
The quality of learning resources is commendable:
Issues include:
Maintenance and enhancement of quality and standards
The reviewers judge that considerable progress has been made in setting up and embedding quality assurance mechanisms across the merged institution. Good progress is being made to ensure that the provision under review will be fully subject to these new procedures. The reviewers come to the overall conclusion that the University has the capacity to maintain and enhance standards and quality in law programmes in the future, provided that the systems which have recently been established are fully and effectively implemented across both campuses.