At the beginning of this month, the University welcomed the Enhancement-led Review (ELIR) Team to the University to conduct their review on behalf of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. The ELIR takes place on a cyclical basis over four/five years – the ELIR method also includes annual meetings to ensure that the QAA has confidence that enhancement activity is ongoing.
The review confirmed that Edinburgh Napier has effective arrangements for managing academic standards and the student learning experience. This is a positive judgement, as it means that the University meets sector expectations in securing the academic standards of our awards and enhancing the quality of the student learning experience that we provide, currently and into the future.
This judgement confirms there can be public confidence in Edinburgh Napier University’s awards and in the quality of the learning experience it provides for its students. To put this in the context of the judgement system, there are three possible ELIR outcomes: effective; limited effectiveness and not effective, and as such a judgement of effective is the best possible outcome.
The review team made a number of commendations, including:
- Our sustained, strategic, systematic and evidence-based approach to widening participation and direct entry which is having a continued positive impact
- Our support for developing students’ skills in employability, enterprise and entrepreneurship.
- Our approach to monitoring postgraduate student academic progress
- Our enhancement of leadership in learning, teaching and research
- The clear partnership working between academic and professional services staff
- The variety of effective development opportunities for academic and support services staff
- The development of our institutional approach to the use of data, and its use to support the delivery of strategic and operational priorities and a wide range of purposes
The review team also identified a number of recommendations for us to work on, including:
- To ensure that there are clear student representative structures in place at all levels and that there are effective arrangements for the recruitment, training and support of student reps
- To continue to develop mechanisms to enhance student engagement and respond to the student voice
- To ensure a systematic and embedded approach to supporting our diverse student groups
- To continue enhancing the research community and sense of belonging for postgraduate students, and embed mandatory training for all postgraduate research students who teach. An institutional approach to the review of the wider research student experience should be considered
- To progress with revisions to the Institution Led Review process to provide greater oversight and consistency in considering outcomes and action plans
- To establish a systematic and timely mechanism for reviewing the contribution of the professional support services to the quality of the student experience
- To review the English language criteria and proficiency of students on TNE programmes
We receive the full ELIR outcome report and technical report in mid-February, which will be made available to all colleagues. This will inform the development of a detailed action plan for approval by Academic Board to ensure a coordinated approach as we take forward our work.
Thanks to everybody who has contributed to this very positive outcome, and in particular to those students and colleagues who participated in the ELIR preparations and meetings.
You can find out more about ELIR here.