The New Access to HE Diploma

Certa Guidance January 2014

1. Introduction

This document is intended to give an overview of Diploma changes and actions to be taken by both Certa and providers. It is advised that for confirmation and more details the QAA website is accessed.

The reason for the changes described below is:

  • To ensure equity for students throughout the regions covered by AVAs;
  • To enable HEIs to compare results from Diploma achievement across AVAs and be confident in consistency and comparability;
  • To increase transparency and clarity in the requirements for the award of a Diploma for both HEIs and students, and hence improve fairness;
  • To increase standards through the consistent amount of academic content within all Diplomas.

In addition, the QAA wished to offer opportunities for flexibility in the shape and content of a Diploma to reflect local determination in terms of content, delivery and assessment.

2. The Diploma Concept

There is no change in terms of the purpose of the Diploma, namely, it is intended to prepare adults (19+) for study at higher education when they had left school lacking sufficient formal qualification to progress to that level.

The main structural scaffold remains the same as that used over the last three years.

The Access to HE Diploma:

  • Is recognised as a Level Three qualification;
  • Uses the construct of numbers of credits applied to units of learning;
  • Consists of only 60 credits;
  • May hold a minimum of 45 Level Three and a maximum of 15 Level Two credits;
  • Has the current grading model applied to units using the same descriptors;
  • Will have mandatory units, which can be academically or study skills based, as part of the Rules of Combination.

3. Changes to the Definition, Delivery and Achievement Requirements of anyNew Diploma

  • Students must register with the AVA (Certa) the units they will be covering on their Diploma within 12 weeks of starting their Diploma or the pre-UCAS deadline;
  • Students will only be allowed to register for units that yield just 60 credits and no more;
  • Only units yielding 45 credits @ Level Three will be graded;
  • Graded units must be concerned with academic content;
  • The remaining 15 credits of the total of 60 can be Level Two or ungraded Level Three, and cancover academic content or study skills;
  • Any unit in the Diploma can only yield 3, 6 or 9 credits;
  • Academic Units:
  1. Must be assessed by an expert in the subject;
  2. Must have the academic subject identified clearly on the unit template through coding/title;
  3. Cover knowledge/skills that relate directly to the Diploma title;
  4. Will not include those generic Maths and English units that are considered to be study skills but can include specialist and technical skills eg Maths for Engineers (L3), Development of the English Language (L3), Laboratory Skills for Biologists (L3);
  5. If assessed through a dissertation or major final project then the Learning Outcomes must not only cover knowledge that relates to the Diploma title but cannot be cross referenced from or to other Learning Outcomes of other academic units.
  • Students may ask for a Referral to be considered at any time during the delivery of the Diploma, decision to be made by the External Moderator;
  • The title of a Diploma cannot be Combined Studies and should indicate the main curriculum strands, e.g. Humanities combined with Social science.

4. Issues arising that must be considered by Certa and Providers

The majority of Diplomas approved by Certa as an AVA have a structure that fits the new Diploma; the majority of QAA changes have added a high degree of rigidity to that structure, removing flexibility, as follows:

  1. Students have to fix the choice of units in their Diploma at a very early stage of their course;
  2. Students cannot take extra units to have an opportunity to choose higher graded units for their Diploma at the end of the course;
  3. Providers appear to have no opportunity to change their planned unit delivery during a course run, should a tutor then not be available;
  4. Dissertation or extended project evidence is generated towards at the end of the course and is often at the highest level but currently falls under ‘Study Skills’ so cannot be graded;
  5. There is a danger that the students will see 15 ungraded units as having less achievement value as the graded units;
  6. Given that graded units come from the academic content, it appears that study skills have less importance in the new Diploma than previously, yet HEIs have always insisted that achievement of robust study skills are a good indicator for success on progression;
  7. Some Level Three units on offer to students for a specific Diploma will have to be coded twice, as graded and also ungraded to give flexibility in the design of a personal Diploma;
  8. Some flexibility has been introduced through the option to request a Referral during the run of a course rather than wait until the Awards Board; there is a danger of a lack of consistency in the application, through variability of processes and the ability for external moderators to respond at any time;
  9. Robust marketing efforts are needed to fully update HE Admissions Tutors to ensure clarity around the changes;

5. Actions in progress and undertaken by Certa

  • A reduction in the number of units by reviewing and deleting superfluous units covering the same curriculum knowledge/skills;
  • Consultation opportunities with specialist provider staff to reduce further or to rewrite academic and study skills units;
  • Through consultation arrive at an agreed range of titles for the Diplomas now approved by the AVA without compromising choice;
  • Working with subject specialists to develop benchmarked assignments;
  • Consultation with HEIs on appropriate progression routes for proposed Regional Diplomas;
  • Further development of Regional Diplomas based on those agreed titles (Regional Diplomas currently exist for Sport, Engineering and Art and Design);
  • Streamlined approval processes for providers who offer more than one Diploma; there will be a comprehensive Learning Programme Plan for the provider with appendices or sections dealing with the requirements of separate Diplomas eg specialist resources, different entry requirements and the main element of the curriculum plan with the related Rules of Combination;
  • Streamlined approval process for similar Diplomas from single Diploma providers;
  • Clear early timetabling of approval panels for the new Diplomas;
  • Provide further clarification of processes that cover items 1,3,4, and 8. in the list above;
  • CPD opportunities covering guidance on the implications for providers have already been available; guidance will be available throughout the year, through specifically designed events for any single provider on request or by contacting AVA staff directly, Jayne

6. Actions that providers should have already taken

  • Team discussions to contribute to the final decision on Diploma titles to be used from 2014/2015;
  • Check the credit size of units – remember 3, 6, or 9 credits only are allowed;
  • Review the units currently on offer and contribute to curriculum planning activity around future retention of units;
  • Consider the content of Rules of Combination to be used, in particular units that will be considered as mandatory, those units that will be available as both graded and ungraded;
  • Contribute to Team and AVA Review of the use of study skills within Diplomas;
  • Examine any current research project unit or dissertation unit in terms of future use given the constraints placed on such units by the changes described in Section 3;
  • Consult with AVA staff member, Jayne Bekadi r further clarification of any aspects of this document.
  • Consult the Access to HE website for the full Access to HE Diploma Specification 2013

The New Access to HE Diploma Guidance