The Annual Monitoring and Programme Review process is a key aspect of the University’s overall procedures for monitoring and evaluation. The purpose of a yearly review is to enable reflection on the operation of programmes which provides assurances regarding the academic standards of University awarded provision and leads, where possible, to the enhancement of the student learning experience. The Annual Monitoring and Programme Review process has been designed to meet the national expectations articulated by the UK Quality Code.
The Annual Monitoring and review helps the University to identify areas of best practice, opportunities for enhancement and areas requiring further attention for continous improvement at programme, Faculty/Institute and University level.
Regular programme monitoring and review are intrinsic to the quality enhancement culture at the University. Programme monitoring allows the programme teams time to reflect in a timely and collective manner, utilising input from sources such as student feedback and programme statistics. This provides an opportunity to consider what has worked well and areas that may need to be addressed in the future. Primarily, it is a process that if carefully followed should be forward-focussed, providing enhancement benefits for the individual programmes where appropriate through the implementation of the programme enhancement plan (PEP).
The key principles of Annual Monitoring and Review
- Programme Review is ongoing and continues throughout the year. The report itself is not the process; rather it is an important outcome of the evaluation and review process. It is the vehicle of an evaluation of the health of the programme as a whole, at a given moment in time. However, it is not a self-contained annual exercise, rather a continual process which keeps the effectiveness of the programmes and schools under permanent review.
- Programme teams should discuss and progress their programme enhancement plan (PEP) with students and representatives at programme team meetings and student staff programme forums throughout the academic year.
- The process should be owned by programme teams collectively, through staff meetings, F/IADCs and student staff programme forums; fostering the notion that quality assurance is done by staff, rather than to, or for, them.
- The process supports engagement with students, External Examiners, support staff and academic staff across Faculty/Institutes, via student staff programme forums.
- Programme review provides the opportunity to reflect with respect. The capacity for critical evaluation is in a blame free environment where reflection is shared across the Faculty/Institute, via Enhancement Plan. The recognition of strengths is equally important as the noting of issues.
- An opportunity for Head of Departments and Deans/Directors to reflect on the outcomes of the report
- This critical evaluation does not just rest at programme and Faculty/Institute level, but continues with the development of an Annual Instutional Statement and also informs the production of the TEF submission and Annual Provider Review reporting requirements from Office for Students(OfS).
- The process is democratic; all is shared – problems and innovations.
- Effective Programme Review draws on a variety of sources of information about the operation and performance of the programme that sit within its structure. This includes feedback from students (NSS, PTES, module evaluation etc) and analysis of key indicators in the context of Programme, Faculty/Institute, and the University.
Key guidance and more information
The Programme Review guidance captures the following information for staff to refer to as a key guide and support the drafting of the Programme Review report:
- The purpose of Annual Monitoring and Programme Review
- The key principles of Monitoring and Evaluation
- Procedures for Monitoring and Evaluation
- Data and availability of data (via E-Vision and Power BI)
- The Annual Monitoring and Programme Review report
- Key timelines
- Consideration of Programme Reviews by Committees - Programme Reviews should be considered by Faculty/Institute Academic Development Committees (F/IADC) prior to being sent through to the Quality and Standards Office.
View the Programme Review Guidance
Key deadlines for Programme Reviews
- All undergraduate Programme Reviews should be submitted to Quality and Standards team qateam@stmarys.ac.uk typically by the end of November; a deadline and method of submission is confirmed every year by the Associate Dean of Student Experience and Quality and Standards.
- Postgraduate and Collaborative Programme Reviews should be submitted by the end of February, following Faculty level scrutiny.
Templates
The templates for writing the Programme Review reports are available here:
If you have any queries not answered by the guidance, please contact the Quality and Standards team qateam@stmarys.ac.uk
Previous Annual Monitoring Reports
These are available on request from the Quality and Standards team.
Data availability
For reporting on the current academic year, specific and relevant data is available to programme teams via Power BI. The Strategic Planning team are the primary data owners. This data is self-serve and available to all academics responsible for Programme Reviews.
Once circulated by Quality and Standards, if you have any specific queries about the data for your programme, please contact the Strategic Planning directly on planning@stmarys.ac.uk in the first instance.
Further advice and guidance
Faculties, Institutes and Collaborative programmes have a dedicated Quality and Standards Managers who are able to provide support related to Annual Monitoring and Review process. Please contact the team qateam@stmarys.ac.uk with any queries.