Guidance on Approval and Publication of Course Specifications
October 2008
1. What are course specifications?
Course specifications (known nationally as programme specifications) have been a feature of English HE for a number of years. They were introduced following a recommendation in the Dearing Report (1997), and, in line with recommendations in the Cooke Report (2002) QAA have expected them to be published. QAA’s Guidelines for preparing programme specifications (2006) define them as follows:
A programme specification is a concise description of the intended learning outcomes of an HE programme, and the means by which the outcomes are achieved and demonstrated. (page 2)
2. Course specifications at Warwick
Since 2004 Warwick has used an online database to collect and publish course specifications (www.warwick.ac.uk/go/coursespecs). To date, this is the only part of the course approval process to be computerised centrally: departments proposing new or significantly revised courses are expected to enter the specification directly onto the database (via a web interface), and print* a copy to accompany the other forms required in the course approval process as they proceed through the committee structure.
3. Which courses need a course specification?
Most taught courses need a course specification. Modules do not need course specs.
§ Taught degrees (Foundation Degrees, Bachelors, taught Masters) need course specifications.
§ Free-standing PGCerts and PGDips which are not subsets of specific taught Masters degreesneed separate course specifications.
§ Masters degrees by research do not need course specifications. This is because they are not taught courses.
§ PhDs do not need course specifications, because they are not taught courses.
§ PGAs donot need course specifications.
§ PGCerts and PGDips which are subsets of specific taught Masters degrees do not need separate course specifications at the time of course approval, but a course specification should be added after approval. The course proposal form should specify which learning outcomes do not apply to the PGCert/PGDip.
§ Other certificate and diploma courses(eg open studies certificates and diplomas) need course specifications.
A new course specification is required for new courses and for restructured courses.
4. Creating course specifications and obtaining committee approval
If a course specification is required (see above), the course proposal form must, at the time it is submitted to the appropriateFaculty Committee for approval,be accompanied by a printed* course specification.
The course specification should be created by the department in the course specifications database (www.warwick.ac.uk/go/coursespecs). Once the department is happy with the details in the database, the course specification should be printed* as a PDF, using the 'printer friendly PDF' option in the database. The department should then click the 'submit for approval' option, so that the specification is ready to be published in the database by the Teaching Quality section, once the course proposal and specification have been approved through the committeesystem.
Departments can find guidance on drafting course specifications and using the database at www.warwick.ac.uk/go/coursespecs. Departmental contacts will need access rights to create or amend a course specification. Permission can be obtained by e-mailing and providing the member of staff’s name, user ID and department.
The guidance on course specifications includes an exemplar specification and a Word template to assist departments when developing specifications. The final specification must be entered into the online database and printed* as a PDF document before it is submitted for committee approval.
When a Faculty Committee Secretary receives a new or restructured course proposal, he or she should check the online database to ensure that the course specification has been entered by the department[1]. If it has not, the Secretary should contact the department and explain that the specification must be entered before the committee meets to consider the proposal. At the meeting, Faculty Committee Secretaries should inform the Committee if the specification has not been entered into the database and the Committee should not approve the course proposal.
5. Publishing course specifications
At the end of each term, the Teaching Quality section will review the list of new and revised courses approved by the Boards of Graduate/Undergraduate Studies and will publish course specifications awaiting approval in the online database. It is therefore important that Faculty Committees only recommend to BUGS/BGS that a course be approved if the course proposal is accompanied by a printed course specification and the Committee Secretary can confirm that the specification has been entered into the online database.
In the case of Open Studies Certificates, which are approved at Faculty Committee level, the Teaching Quality section will liaise with the Director of Academic Studies in the Centre for Lifelong Learning to obtain a list of Open Studies Certificates put forward for approval during the term.
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[1]* If the Faculty Committee Secretary collects electronic copies of papers for consideration by the Committee, the department should save a PDF version of the course specification from the online database and email it to the Secretary.
To view course specifications that are not yet published (ie course specs entered into the database but not yet approved), Faculty Committee Secretaries should go to www.warwick.ac.uk/go/coursespecs, choose ‘log into the course specifications database’, then choose ‘view, but not change, any course specification’ and select the relevant department.