CONTENTS

Welcome to the Scheme3

SECTION 1 – BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Introduction to the scheme partners4

Background to HE Endorsement in the sports development sector 4

Purpose of the scheme4

Aims of the scheme5

Benefits of endorsement5

Sectors6

Home nations6

Website6

How to contact us6

Employability in higher education 7

SECTION 2 – SUBMISSION PROCESS

Process overview8

Stage 18

Stage 28

Evaluation8

Endorsement decisions8

Endorsement timeline9

Eligibility9

Costs9

Length of endorsement9

Mid Term review9

Governance10

Appeals and complaints 10

Logos 10

SECTION 3 – SPECIFIC CRITERIA FOR

SPORTS COACH EDUCATION

Principles11

Endorsement criteria12

Sports development – Endorsement criteria12

Subject matter12

Staffing14

Facilities14

Specific criteria relating to the endorsement of Foundation Degrees14

Quality assurance of endorsed courses15

Application of endorsement criteria to minor routes in Sports Development 15

SECTION 4 – SUBMISSION DOCUMENTS16

Course and institution information17

Stage 1 core criteria20

Sports Development content mapping 23

Self-check list28

Notes29
Welcome to the Active Endorsement HE Endorsement Scheme for Sports Development

Thank you for your expression of interest to submit your degree course for endorsement within the Endorsement Scheme for Higher Education in the strand of Sports Development.

This endorsement scheme was piloted during late 2010 and early 2011 and the lessons learnt have informed the development of the criteria and processes which you will find in this document.

We believe this HE endorsement scheme for the sports development sector will make a positive impact on both the provision of higher education in sports development and the professionalism within the sport and active leisure sector as a whole. All of the information you require to complete your application is provided in this document.

We look forward to working with you.

Ben Gittus

SkillsActive

Steve McQuaid

Sports Coach UK

Gary Evans

On behalf of IMSPA

SECTION 1 – Background information

Introduction to the Scheme Partners

The Active Endorsement Scheme for Higher Education has been developed jointly by the leading national organisations in the sport and active leisure sector. The scheme is being administered by SkillsActive, the Sector Skills Council for Active Leisure, Learning and Wellbeing. SkillsActive is backed by government and tasked to work on behalf of employers to lead the development of the workforce across the sport and active leisure sectors. The SkillsActive vision is More People, Better Skilled, Better Qualified.

The scheme has been developed by SkillsActive in conjunction with the Institute for the Management of Sports and Physical Activity (IMSPA) and sports coach UK. The Scheme is a joint venture between all three organisations.

Background to HE Endorsement in the Sports Development Sector

The appearance of undergraduate degree programmes in sports development has been a feature of the growth in sport related degrees seen in UK universities over the past 20 years. As sports development has been established as an area of the sports workforce in the UK it has also been established as an academic field of study.

Many lecturers who teach on sports development degrees have a background in industry and realise the importance of linking higher education to work related outcomes. Several years ago a higher education committee linked to the now defunct agency the National Association for Sports Development drafted an endorsement process for undergraduate degrees. This scheme builds on that work and takes it forward with the new professional body IMSPA. It is hoped that this scheme will benefit both students and higher education Institutions and will in particular have a positive effect on the sports development workforce of the future. Only with an educated and committed workforce can sports development as a sector make the case for sport at political levels and ensure sport continues to affect the lives of millions of people in a positive way.

Purpose of the Scheme

The purpose of the scheme is to assess and endorse HE courses of study in sports development. The scheme will play a part in the development of the workforce and will provide clarity to students, parents and employers on the relevance of HE courses that are most likely to enhance employability and result in employment within the sport and active leisure industry.

Aims of the scheme

  • To provide a profession-led endorsement scheme for the sports development sector.
  • To enable prospective students to make more informed decisions when choosing their courses

of study.

  • To help HEIs ensure their courses of study have currency and relevance to industry.
  • To produce educated and employable graduates in the sector.
  • To help define and promote the concept of graduateness in the sector.

Benefits of Endorsement

Benefits of the HE Endorsement Scheme can be divided into generic benefits to the higher education Institution, employers and students, and a range of more tangible benefits which are being developed by the scheme partners and will be exclusive to HEIs involved in the scheme.

Generic

Generic benefits of the scheme include the following:

  • Endorsement will demonstrate to employers that students have studied a course that has been recognised by the Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity and the industry’s Sector Skills Council.
  • Employers, potential students, and parents will be able to see which courses can demonstrate links to industry standards and employability.
  • Endorsement can be linked to the HE employability agenda which is prevalent across the UK.
  • The scheme partners will promote the scheme to employers of staff, deployers of volunteers and national governing bodies and work to ensure recognition of the scheme in employment practices.
  • Endorsement can be used as evidence of employability within curriculum development and review, validation and revalidation.
  • Endorsed HEIs will be part of a network of good practice.

Tangible

The tangible benefits package for the scheme includes the following:

  • Endorsed courses can be advertised as endorsed by the industry and professional agencies and permission will be given to use a logo which will incorporate all the scheme partners.
  • A discount to student membership of IMSPA will be available to students on endorsed programmes
  • A discount on IMSPA courses will be available to institutions who have endorsed programmes
  • Endorsed courses will be showcased on the SkillsActive website.
  • HEIs with endorsed courses will be able to request involvement from the scheme partners in validation and course review events.

Sectors

In addition to this scheme in Sports Development, HE Endorsement is also available in sports coach education, sports/leisure management and fitness. The scheme is also being expanded to the outdoors and playwork.

Home Nations

This scheme is open to HEIs from across the UK

Website

The web pages for the scheme including a list of endorsed degrees can be found at

How to contact us

SkillsActive is taking responsibility for the administration of the scheme and should be the initial point of contact for all queries and comments as well as the contact point for making payment and making an actual submission.

All correspondence and submissions should be sent to

HE Endorsement

SkillsActive

Castlewood House, 77-91 New Oxford Street

London

WC1A 1DG

0207 632 2000

Employability in Higher Education

Employability relates to a wide range of learning, activities and experience which develops students to be capable of gaining and keeping fulfilling work. This depends on:

a.the graduate worker's employability assets - knowledge (what they know), skills (what they do with what they know) and attitudes (how they do it). Merely being in possession of employer-relevant knowledge, skills and attitudes is not enough for an individual to either ‘move self-sufficiently’ in the modern labour market or ‘realise their potential’. People also need the capability to exploit their assets, to market them and sell them.

b.the ability to deploy the skills - self-awareness, awareness of thelabour market, skills in decision-makingand job searching, and a willingness to be occupationally and locationally mobile.

c. how they present themselves to employers- (CVs, references and testimonies, interview technique and work experience/track record)

d. how they handle the context, both of personal circumstances (eg caring responsibilities, disabilities, and household status) and the labour market (the pattern and level of job openings in their labour market,matters ofregulation, benefit rules, or professional body requirements; and employer recruitment and selection behaviour).

[Based on Hillage, J. and Pollard ,E. (1998) Employability: developing a framework for policy analysis RR85 Dept for Education and Employment, London].

Thus this endorsement process will ask HEIs or franchised colleges to show how they embed these elements in their graduate courses, so that graduates will come to prospective employers fit for their job role, once they have undergone normal job and organisational induction, and learned about that organisation's working culture. Employability also requires students to map their own learning and development.

SECTION 2 – Submission process

Process Overview

The submission process consists of two stages. Stage 1 involves a paper based application against generic and sector specific criteria and the submission of documentary evidence in support of the application. The Stage 1 application is then evaluated with the aim of the application proceeding to Stage 2 which involves a visit to the Institution by the lead evaluator to meet staff, students and employers. Trained evaluators will assess the Stage 1 application and conduct the site visit. Following the visit a recommended endorsement decision by the evaluators will be made to the IMSPA Education, Training and Professional Development Committee.

There are no submission deadlines; submissions can be received by SkillsActive on a rolling basis.

Stage 1

The Stage 1 paper based application involves the submission of four key documents and additional documentary evidence. The four documents are 1) Course and Institution Information, 2) Stage 1 Core Requirements, 3) Sector Specific Mapping for Sports Development, and 4) Submission Self-Check List. All of these documents can be found in Section 4 of this paper. The Stage 1 Core Requirements give the Institution the opportunity to demonstrate how the course meets the requirements for endorsement. The Sector Specific Mapping document maps to relevant National Occupational Standards and allows the HEI to demonstrate that the course content is vocationally relevant.

Stage 2

Stage 2 is the site visit which will be carried out by an evaluator. Some general topics will be covered by evaluators at the site visits, but the majority of time will be spent examining issues on a case by case basis. Evaluators will be expecting to meet course tutors, students, and employers. An agreed action plan will be drawn up for the visit and sent to the Institution in advance.

Evaluation

HE endorsement evaluators have been appointed to assist with the HE Endorsement Scheme. Evaluators have mainly been appointed from higher education and will also have current knowledge of employment issues in the sector. Stage 1 applications will be assessed by two evaluators (primary and secondary) who will complete an evaluation report and make recommendations on proceeding to Stage 2. The Stage 2 visit will be carried out by the primary evaluator. Final recommendations on endorsement will then be made to the IMSPA Education, Training and Professional Development Committee.

Endorsement decisions

During Stage 1 submissions will either ‘fail’ or ‘proceed’, with possible ‘minor conditions’ accompanying a ‘proceed’. These minor conditions will allow HEIs the opportunity to make document amendments where necessary, and will form the agenda to be covered by the evaluator carrying out the Stage 2 visit. Evaluators will complete template evaluator forms for both stages and full feedback will be provided to the Institution.

Endorsement Timeline

There is a 12 week endorsement process, plus time for consideration and ratification of decisions at relevant committee meetings involved in the governance process.

  • Once a submission is received the course will be evaluated, and the Institution will receive the stage
    1 summary within 4 weeks
  • Stage 2 Institution visits will take place within 6 weeks of the Institution receiving the stage 1 report
  • After the stage 2 visit, the Institution will receive provisional recommendations from their evaluators within 2 weeks
  • The recommendations will then go to the relevant committees for ratification before confirmation of endorsement (including giving scheme logo)

This timeline guarantees a 12 week period from submission to receiving the endorsement recommendation.

Eligibility

The scheme is open to Foundation Degrees and Honours Degrees in sports development. A variety of delivery models and course structures (single Honours/ Joint) will be considered in the scheme. HEIs should consider carefully whether to submit a Joint Honours programme as the full sports development criteria will need to be met in the credit allocated to the sports development part of the degree alone. HEIs wishing to submit a Joint Honours Degree should contact SkillsActive first for a discussion.

Courses must have been in existence long enough to see one full cohort of students go through the course to graduation. Wholly new courses can receive provisional endorsement on completion of the Stage 1 documents until one cohort of students has passed through the course to graduation. Where a new course is developed from a previous course at the same Institution and where the content and structure is largely similar this will not count as a ‘new’ course.

Courses which are subject to franchise arrangements are permissible within the endorsement scheme. The process for franchised degrees would involve one Stage 1 submission with visits to each centre delivering the course. Contact SkillsActive for bespoke submission fees for franchised courses.

Costs

The submission fee to take part in the endorsement scheme is £3000 which covers the five year endorsement period (£600 per year). A payment plan may be available on request to SkillsActive. £3000 is payable with the Stage 1 submission. VAT is not charged on submissions. Where a submission fails at Stage 1, does not proceed to a visit and is therefore not endorsed a £1500 refund will be available to the HEI. There may be a fee to review course changes which may take place during the length of endorsement. The course fees cover the cost of running the scheme including the evaluator fees and scheme officer salary.

Length of endorsement

Courses will be endorsed for five years. If major alterations are made to a course, for example at revalidation then SkillsActive should be made aware of these changes. If the changes fundamentally alter the course it may be necessary to evaluate any additions or major alterations at a cost to the Institution.

Mid Term Review

All endorsed programmes will receive a mid term review questionnaire that must be completed and returned to SkillsActive in order to be continually endorsed for the remaining period.

Governance

Ben Gittus, Senior Programme Manager for National Standards and Higher Education in SkillsActive is the Scheme Manager. A Development Group made up of the scheme partners (SkillsActive, sports coach UK and IMSPA) and academics from the sector has developed this document.

Endorsement recommendations are considered and final endorsement decisions are made by the IMSPA Education, Training and Professional Development Committee. Decisions are also reported to the SkillsActive Board who retain overall responsibility for all areas of work in SkillsActive.

All evaluators will sign a confidentiality agreement

Appeals and Complaints

Appeals: it is our aim to treat each submission fairly and consistently. However, if an Institution disagrees with a decision that has been made regarding their submission, they can appeal against it. All appeals need to be made in writing to Ben Gittus, the scheme manager.

Complaints: whilst we try to ensure that SkillsActive staff and evaluators carry out their duties in a professional and responsible manner, there may be exceptional instances when a submitting Institution is unhappy with the service they receive.

All complaints need to be made in writing to Ben Gittus, the scheme manager. You can expect to receive an acknowledgement within 7 working days. The outlined course of action will be sent to you within 28 days.

Logos

Institutions with endorsed degrees will be given an endorsement logo for use in promotional materials related to the course. The logo will incorporate SkillsActive and IMSPA company logos. A logo usage policy will be applied to the use of the endorsement logo.

SECTION 3 - Specific criteria for sports development

Principles

There are principles that underpin and shape the endorsement criteria for sports development courses delivered in HE and FE. These principles aim to enshrine the values, philosophy and aspirations that determine the specific endorsement criteria. Each principle addresses a particular aspect of the endorsement criteria but taken together they provide the vision and context for the design, development and delivery of sports development courses across the HE and FE sector.

Principle 1

Named courses in sports development at foundation degree level and at single, major and joint honours level should enable students to develop the knowledge and understanding of theories and concepts that are relevant to sports development.

Principle 2

The endorsement criteria will be aligned to, and complement, existing external reference points such as FHEQ, SkillsActive Foundation Degree Framework fdf endorsement criteria (for Fds only), QAA benchmark statements, QAA precepts (for example the precept on work-based and placement learning) and National Occupational Standards.

Principle 3

The endorsement criteria and endorsement process will be clear, transparent and fair, and whilst providing a substantive reference point the endorsement criteria are not intended to create a single curriculum nor constrain or prohibit the purpose of academic inquiry, invention and critical analysis that is applied to sports development. In this regard the endorsement criteria fully respect the autonomy and power of Institutions to award their own degrees.