Pearson BTEC Higher National Qualifications

Pearson BTEC Higher National Qualifications

Annual Programme Monitoring Report (APMR)2015/2016

The Annual Programme Monitoring Report (APMR) has the following aims:

●to provide an essential review of the operation of the Pearson BTEC Higher National (HN) programmes during the previous academic year/session; and

●to identify any areas of concern in the operation of programme and any enhancements to be made, and to identify areas of good practice and strengths.

This should:

●provide a means of analysing and responding to key internal and external feedback on the programme (student feedback, entry and progression statistics, External Examiners' reports, etc.);

●identify areas for improvement requiring action in the shorter and longer term – these are condensed into an Action Plan; and

●to identify good practice and strengths within the provision so that these may be shared anonymously with others to identify outline plans for the programmes for the following year.

This could:

●trigger further enquiries or a visit from Pearson should any areas of concern become apparent from the information provided.

Part / Contents
1 / Programme Details
2 / Executive Summary
3 / Academic Standards and Quality Assurance
4 / Feedback from External Examiner Report/s
5 / Student Recruitment and Admissions
6 / Public Information
7 / Widening Participation
8 / Student Progression
9 / Student Experience and Enhancement
10 / Teaching and Learning
11 / Staff Development
12 / Resources
13 / Employer and Industry Engagement
14 / Action Plans and Updates
15 / Appendix List
Centre / Organisation Name: / Provider Type
Centre Number
Academic Year / 2015/16
Name of person completing the form:
Role of person completing the form:

1. Programme Details

HNC/HND / Programmes covered by this review / Mode of Delivery
E.g. Full time, Part Time
Face-to-face, Blended
Distance Learning (DL)
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Awarding Body: / Pearson

2. Programme Executive Summary

Provide a summary in no more than 750 words:
●brief outline of the process for completing an APMR including how your APMR has been informed by stakeholder feedback
●brief overview of the programme(s)
●involvement of students, employers and stakeholders in the APMR process
●key strengths/ innovations
●important curriculum developments and enhancements
●key issues and areas for improvement
●overview of future curriculum developments and enhancements
Summary:

3. Academic Standards

Please refer to the most recent quality assurance review of your Pearson BTEC Higher National delivery by a quality agency/organisation (excluding Pearson):
Name of agency/organisation:
Weblink to report:
Date(s):
Good Practice:
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Please provide details of how the essential actions/recommendations are being addressed
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Delete rows or add further rows as necessary

Please add to the report to the Appendix if you wish.

4. Feedback from External Examiner Reports

Were any of your HN programmes from the last Academic/ Teaching year deemed by the External Examiner not to have met the necessary academic standards i.e. were any quality blocks imposed?
Yes / No / Comments:
Please review the comments inyour external examiner report(s).
Strengths:
Please also indicate any areas where your HN provision was commended for good practice.
Areas for improvement:
Programme name / Action required / By Who / By When

5. Student Recruitment & Admissions

Please provide the information below in terms of your overall HN provision for the 2015/16 teaching year and highlight particular programmes where appropriate.Please append relevant policies/statements to the Appendix where applicable.
Do you have an attendance policy specifically related to Higher Nationals / HE? If no, please use the comments box to provide details. / Y / N / Comments:
Do you have an admissions policy specifically related to Higher Nationals/HE? If no, please use the comments box to provide details. / Y / N / Comments:
Do you have a policy on student recruitment specifically related to Higher Nationals/HE? If no, please use the comments box to provide details. / Y / N / Comments:
If a student does not meet the traditional entry requirements for your HN programmes, do you take steps to ensure that the student can cope with the rigour of the HNs? Please use the comments box to expand on your response. / Y / N / Comments:

6. Public Information

Please provide the information below in terms of your overall HN provision during the 2015/16 teaching year and highlight particular programmes where appropriate.Please append relevant policies/statements to the Appendix where applicable.
Was your HN programme public information up-to-date and correctly displayed on your website and/or marketing materials?
Yes / No
If no, please indicate what steps you took or will take to address this?
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Do you have a Public Information Policy?
Yes / No
If no, please indicate what steps you took or will take to address this?
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Do you have processes in place for complying with the Consumer Protection Act 2015, in terms of your HN provision?
Yes / No
If no, please indicate what steps you took or will take to address this?
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Please follow this link for guidance on how to comply with the Consumer Protection Act 2015 for Higher Education provision.
Have your HN students been made aware of your complaints process and their ability to submit a complaint to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator?
Yes / No
If no, please indicate what steps you took or will take to address this?
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Please follow this link for more information on the Office of the Independent Adjudicator.

7. Widening Participation

Please provide the information below in terms of your overall HN provision during the 2015/16 teaching year and highlight particular programmes where appropriate. Please append relevant policies/statements to the Appendix where applicable.
Do you have a strategy on Widening Participation? / Yes / No / Comments:
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Have you encountered any particular issues in terms of widening participation on HNs (e.g. in terms of gender/age/or other characteristics)?
If yes, please indicate what steps you have/will take in order to address these issues. / Yes/No / Comments:
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Comments:
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Have you experienced any specific issues with students’ levels of English and their ability to cope with the HNs?
If yes, please indicate the approach that was adopted or will be adopted to address this issue. / Yes / No / Comments:
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Comments:
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Have you experienced any specific issues with students’ levels of Mathematics and their ability to cope with the HNs?
If yes, please indicate the approach that was adopted or will be adopted to address this issue. / Yes / No / Comments:
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Comments:
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8. Student Progression

Is student progression on your HN programmes satisfactory? / Yes / No
Please provide details below:
Do you have minimum full completion/pass rates for your HN/HE provision?
If yes, please state the figure(s).
Are your HN full completion/pass rates satisfactory for 2015/16? / Yes / No
____% minimum full completion ____% minimum pass rate
Yes / No
Please provide details:
Do you have a minimum attendance rate for your HN provision? If yes, please state the figure. / Yes / No
____% minimum attendance
If yes, was the minimum figure met for the 2015/16 teaching year? / Yes / No
Please provide details:

9. Student Experience and Enhancement

Please relate to specific programmes if appropriate and append relevant policies where applicable.

What has worked well in terms of student support during the 2015/16 teaching period? / ●
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What methods did you use to collect student feedback? / ●
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Were there any areas of support for your HN students that you felt could be improved? / Yes / No
Comments:
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If HN specific issues did arise in 2015/16, how did you/will you address them? / ●
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Do you have processes in place to communicate to your HN students what will/has been done as a result of their feedback?
If yes, please indicate how you know that these processes are working effectively.
If no what do you plan to do to address this? / Yes / No
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During the 2015/16 teaching period please indicate how your HN students have engaged in the design, improvement and enhancement of the HN student journey. / ●
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Do you have a student engagement / enhancement policy? / Yes / No

10. Teaching and Learning

Do you have a policy/policies relating to Learning and Teaching? / Yes / No / Comments:
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Append relevant policies where applicable

11. Staff Development

Do you have a policy/policies relating to Staff Development?
Yes / No / Comments:
Have any particular learning and teaching issues arisen in respect of your HN provision in relation to further staff development/training? / Yes / No
If yes, please indicate below what the issues were:
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Please indicate below how you plan to address each of the issues described above:
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Please relate to specific programmes if appropriate and append relevant policies where applicable.

12. Resources

Please relate to specific programmes if appropriate and append relevant policies where applicable.

Provide a brief summary of your Learning and Resource Centre and online resources. Please include any issues / strengths, regarding updating current resources (please state if applicable which programmes your comments relate to).
Summary:
Strengths:
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● / Areas for improvement:
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Provide a brief summary of your physical resources to meet qualification delivery; do they meet current industry requirements including any issues / strengths, regarding updating current resources. (please state if applicable which programmes these relate to).
Summary:
Strengths:
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What is your strategy for ensuring your resources remain up to date for the 2016/17 teaching year?
Please provide details:
Do you have an e-learning policy?
If no, please states how you ensure you have a current and appropriate learning platform. / Yes / No
Comment:

13. Employer and Industry Engagement

Please summarise how employers are involved in the development, delivery and assessment of your HN programme(s) and how your programmes prepare students for the workplace.
Examples could include having an Employer Engagement policy, holding employer forums, meetings with employers, work experience/placements for students, employer events.
Summary:
Examples of employer engagement on your HN programmes: / ●
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Have there been any specific positive outcomes from your employer engagement? / Yes / No
If yes, please provide details:
Do you have a policy on work experience?
If no, please state how you ensure there is a consistent approach to conducting work placements? / Yes / No
Comments:

14. Action Plans and Updates

Update on Actions Identified in Previous APMR (not relevant if first year of completion)

Issue
Taken from previous APMR / Action Taken
The action taken to resolve or minimise the issue / Evaluation of Action Taken
What has been the impact? / Action by
Whom
Person who carried out the action / Action by
When
When was this achieved? / Completion Update
Add or delete rows as necessary

Programme Action Plan - Main Key Strengths / Innovations and Area(s) for Improvement N.B. Please indicate how you intend to evaluate the impact of the proposed actions.

Key Strength / Innovation(please add the name of the programme to which the strength/innovation relates to) / Evidence / Action to both sustain and share best practice / Action by Whom? / Action by when? / How the impact of the action will be evaluated?
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3 / Delete rows or add further rows as necessary
Area(s) for Improvement (please add the name of the programme to which the area for improvement relates to) / Proposed Action / Action by Whom? / Action by When? / How the impact will be evaluated?
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3 / Delete rows or add further rows as necessary

15. Appendix List

Policy /document name / Please check this box if a policy has been attached ‘X’
HE Staff Organisational Chart
Teaching and Learning Policy
Staff Development Policy
Admissions / Student Recruitment Policy
Attendance Policy
Widening Participation Policy
Student handbook
HE Curriculum Quality Calendar
Student Recruitment / Admissions / Widening Participation policy
Student Complaints policy
Work Placement Policy
Public Information policy
Collaborative Partnership policy
Employer Engagement Policy
QAA report (if applicable)
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Pearson Annual Programme Monitoring Report

Prepared by Higher Education Qualifications /August 2016 / v.1.0