Glossary and Abbreviations

Below are listed some of the common terms and abbreviations used throughout the Quality and Standards website. These have been divided between terms in general use and those specifically used by the Modular Scheme.

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General

APL: Accreditation of Prior learning
APEL: Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning
Approval: A judgement made by AQSC on behalf of Academic Board as to whether a course is appropriate in terms of quality, standards and resources in order to lead to a Bath Spa University award.
AQSC: Academic Quality & Standards Committee.
ARC: Academic Registrars Council: ARC is a membership organisation made up of the Academic Registrars, or equivalent, of the United Kingdom's publically funded Higher Education (HE) institutions.
Assessment item: An individual assignment (eg an essay) which contributes to the assessment of a module.
AUA: Association of University Administrators. The professional body for higher education managers and administrators
Award: The qualification to which a student is entitled by virtue of successful completion of an approved programme of study. See Combined, Single, General and Specialised Award.
BSU: Bath Spa University.
CAT: Credit Accumulation and Transfer.
Course: A programme of study leading to an award outside the Modular Scheme. In the context of this website, the term 'programme' includes 'course' except where specified.
Coursework: All assessment items (see above) other than formal examination items contributing to the overall assessment for a module.
CPD: Continuing Professional Development
CVU: Council of Validating Universities
DCSF: Department for Children, Schools and Families
DEL: Department for Employment and Learning
Detailed Planning: Following Outline Planning approval being granted by the Vice-Chancellor, the proposer will then work on the production of a Student Handbook. This comprises the Detailed Planning part of the process.
DBIS: Department for Business Innovation and Skills
ECTS: European Credit Transfer System. A standard for comparing the study attainment and performance of students of higher education across the European Union and other collaborating European countries. For successfully completed studies, ECTS credits are awarded.
ECVETS: European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training
EHEA: European Higher Education Area - is the objective of the Bologna process - to create more comparable, compatible and coherent systems of higher education in Europe.
ENQA: European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education. Disseminates information, experiences and good practices in the field of quality assurance (QA) in higher education to European QA agencies, public authorities and higher education institutions.
EQF: European Qualifications Framework. Acts as a translation device to make national qualifications more readable across Europe, promoting workers' and learners' mobility between countries and facilitating their lifelong learning.
EU: European Union
EURASHE: European Association of Institutions in Higher Education
Examination: An assessment taken under formal and controlled conditions, usually a timed paper.
Examination Board: A Committee formally responsible on behalf of Academic Board for making recommendations about students' progress and awards. Should perhaps more properly be called an 'assessment board', since it deals with both coursework and examinations.
FDF: Foundation Degree Forward. A national body that supports the development and validation of high quality Foundation degrees. It is funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England to support employer engagement across higher education programmes generally and in relation to Foundation degrees specifically.
FHEQ: Framework for Higher Education Qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, which describes the achievement represented by higher education qualifications. They apply to degrees, diplomas, certificates and other academic awards granted by a HE provider with degree awarding powers. The Framework was revised in August 2008.
FDAP: Foundation Degree Awarding Powers
General Award: A General Award is an award which has been individually negotiated to meet the student's developmental or career needs, and does not name the subjects which have contributed to it (e.g. BA or BSc Combined Studies).
GUILD HE: The representative body for higher education colleges in England and Northern Ireland, promoting HE colleges to government employers and other professional organisations.
HEA: Higher Education Academy: helping institutions, discipline groups and all staff to provide the best possible learning experience for their students
HEFCE: Higher Education Funding Council (for England). Also responsible for Quality Assessment and the RAE.
HEIDI: Higher Education Information Database for Institutions
HEPI: Higher Education Policy Institute. Aiming to ensure as far as possible that higher education policy development in the UK is informed by research and by knowledge of the experience of others.
HERRG: Higher Education Regulation Review Group
HESA: Higher Education Statistics Agency
HETAC: Higher Education & Training Awards Council - the successor to the National Council for Educational Awards (NCEA). HETAC is the qualifications awarding body for third-level education and training institutions outside the university sector.
INQAAHE: International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education
IQER: Integrated Quality and Enhancement Review. A review method specially devised for higher education in further education colleges (HE in FECs) in England. It has replaced academic review of subjects which operated for the last time in 2006/7.
Institutional Review: QAA evidence based process carried out through peer review of policies, procedures and practices for quality assurance and enhancement.
ICT: Information and Communication Technology.
Internal Review: A process by which the quality and standards of an approved programme of study are considered for renewed approval.
ITT: Initial Teacher Training
Learning Outcome: Each programme, and each module, contains a number of objectives. Learning outcomes reflect the achievement of these objectives. In order to progress through the programme, particular learning outcomes must be met. Additionally, learning outcomes are based on the skills and attributes required to reach or exceed particular levels of a programme (see also Qualifications Framework).
LLN: Lifelong Learning Networks focus on progression into and through vocational education.
LSC: Learning & Skills Council. The Learning and Skills Council exists to make England better skilled and more competitive.
MEG: Metadata for Education Group. Formed following a meeting of key UK stakeholders, the Metadata for Education Group (MEG) serves as an open forum for debating the description and provision of educational resources at all educational levels across the United Kingdom.
Minor Modifications: An alteration or an addition to a programme of study that does not entail any resource implications.
Mode of Study: A student's mode of study may be associate, part-time or full-time. Associate Students are registered for individual modules rather than an award. Part-time students following a particular programme must comply with all its regulations and requirements, with the sole exception of those relating to mode of attendance.
NOCN: National Open College Network
NSS: National Student Survey. The survey provides students with an opportunity to make their opinions on their higher education student experience count at a national level.
Outline Plan: The initial stage of the approval process by which the proposer outlines the basis on which their proposal for new provision will be made. The stage of the process is concerned mainly with resource issues. (See also Detailed Planning)
OBHE: The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education. Provides strategic information to enable institutional leaders and policy makers to make informed decisions relevant to their existing and/or future transnational higher education initiatives.
OECD: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
Ofsted: Office for Standards in Education. An official body which regularly inspects all the schools in England which are mainly or wholly state funded.
PDP: Personal Development Planning/Personal Development . The University has a policy for personal development planning.
PGCE : Postgraduate Certificate in Education
PMP: Professional Masters Programme
Postgraduate or Post-Experience Modules: Postgraduate or Post-experience modules are normally validated at Level M, and normally form part of PGCert, PGDip and MA/MSc awards. In certain circumstances, however, they may be taken by students as part of their undergraduate studies.
Pre-requisites: Specific requirements demanded of a student before entry into a module or unit.
Progamme Specification: This is a description of the course which is contained in the student handbook, couched in terms of the aims and learning outcomes that will be acquired by students during the course of their study. The programme specification not only indicates taught content, but also includes transferable and cognitive skills.
PSRB: Professional Statutory Regulatory Body
QAA: - Quality Assurance Agency responsible for assessing the quality of higher education in the United Kingdom.
QALT: Quality Assessment, Learning & Teaching
QAFRG: Quality Assurance Framework Review
QCDA: Qualifications & Curriculum Development Agency - Maintains and develops the national curriculum and associated assessments, tests and examinations.
QIA: Quality Improvement Agency
QTS: Qualified Teacher Status.
RAE: Research Assessment Exercise. Four/five yearly assessment by HEFCE panels of quality of research output, which determines levels of funding.
RDA: Regional Development Agency
SCQF: Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework. The Framework promotes lifelong learning in Scotland.
SEDA: Staff and Educational Development Agency. The professional association for staff and educational developers in the UK, promoting innovation and good practice in higher education.
Specialised Award: A Specialised Award is an award where the programme of study is not divided into Subjects which can be named in the award title, and/or; the programme of study is subject to the demands of external professional accreditation, and/or; the nature of the discipline requires that a greater proportion of the student's time is spent in dedicated study than the scheme normally allows, and/or; the general regulations of the Modular Scheme are replaced by regulations specific to the award. (Specialised Awards allow students to follow a single subject (eg BA (Honours) Music) or a related group of subjects (eg BA (Honours) Creative Arts)).
SSCs: Sector Skills Councils - Represent sectors which are either economically or strategically significant. They are developed by groups of influential employers, and are designed to tackle skills and productivity needs in the UK. In return they receive public investment and government dialogue.
Shell Framework
Sub-Board: A Committee formally responsible for making recommendations about students' progress and awards to an Examination Board. Typically, sub-boards will consist of all those responsible for teaching a programme.
Subject Benchmark Statements: These are descriptors of provision, written by a panel of subject specialists, which outline the way in which courses in each subject should look. They also include the minimum (or threshold) and modal (expected) achievements that students should reach in order to gain an award.
Subject Review: The method used by the QAA for the assessment of the quality of education between 1995 and 2001
TDA: Training and Development Agency for Schools
TEEP: The Teacher Effectiveness Programme. Set up in 2002 by the Gatsby Charity Foundation to develop a model of effective teaching and learning drawn from research and best practice.
TNE: Teachers for a New Era. An initiative designed to strengthen K-12 teaching by developing state-of-the-art programs at schools of education.
UCAS: Universities and Colleges Admissions Service
UKCES: UK Commission for Employment and Skills
UNISTATS: Website bringing together authoritative, official information about universities and colleges in the UK.
UVAC: University Vocational Awards Council. >UVAC is the higher and further education sector's voice on matters relating to higher vocational learning.
UUK: Universities UK. The representative body for the executive heads of UK universities. Together with Higher Education Wales and Universities Scotland, it works to advance the interests of universities, and to spread good practice throughout the higher education sector.
UWE: University of the West of England, Bristol.
WBL: Work based or placement learning. The University has a policy for work based or placement learning.
157 GROUP: The 157 Group was established in March 2006, in response to the recommendation of Sir Andrew Foster in his report 'Realising the Potential'. The 157 Group focuses on a number of key areas, including business development, employer engagement, 14-19 development, international links, improving quality and self-regulation, with a view to effecting positive change and continual improvement.

Modular Scheme Definitions

Acceptable Module: One which may be borrowed from another Subject, and counts as equivalent to the receiving Subject's own modules.
Assessment Item: An individual assignment (eg an essay) which contributes to the assessment of a module.
Co-Requisites: Must be studied in the same academic year.
Combined Award: A student taking a Combined Award studies two Subjects at levels 4, 5 and 6. A limited number of elective modules are also taken. The title of the award reflects the balance of studies taken - Joint or Major/Minor - and names the Subjects which have contributed to it, e.g. BA (Honours) Cultural Studies and History, BSc (Honours) Geography with Sociology.
Compulsory or Mandatory Module: A compulsory or mandatory module is one which must be taken to satisfy certain route requirements.
Core Module: A core module must be taken to satisfy certain route requirements.
Double Module: A double module represents one-third of a student's workload for a full-time year of study. It is worth 40 credits under the University's Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme
Elective or Free Choice Modules: Each award specifies the minimum number of modules which must be studied in each Subject at each level. Additionally, students may choose a specified number of elective or 'free choice' modules. Subject to availability and any rules about prerequisite study, electives may be chosen within or outside the Subject(s) for which a student is registered.
Level: Introductory modules are validated at level 4 and are generally taken as part of a student's first year of full-time undergraduate study (or part time equivalent). Advanced modules are validated at levels 5 and 5 and are generally taken as part of a student's second and third year of full-time undergraduate study (or part-time equivalent).
Mode of study: May be associate, part-time or full-time. Associate students are registered for individual modules rather than an award. Part-time students following a particular course must comply with all its regulations and requirements, with the sole exception of those relating to mode of assistance.
Modular Scheme: The structural framework for all BSU programmes, with the exceptions of those leading to Art and Design awards.
Module: A discrete unit of study with a designated level, objectives and outcomes, prerequisites, syllabus and scheme of achievement.
Non-Requisites: Non-requisite modules may not be combined eg 'In taking EN321 you may not take EN322'.
Optional Module: An optional module is one which may be selected from the range of modules offered by the Subject.
Pathway: A grouping of modules within a Subject. A pathway may be Single, Major, Joint or Minor, depending upon the range of modules offered by the relevant Subject (eg English Literature Major). Pathways are combined to form routes.
Pre-requisites: Specific requirements demanded of a student before entry into a module. They may consist of named modules or their equivalent, eg 'before taking EN601 you must take EN5001.
Route: A particular combination of pathways for which students are registered, and which leads to an award (e.g. BA English Literature and History (a pairing of Joint pathways), BSc Geography with Psychology (a pairing of a Major pathway in Geography with a Minor pathway in Psychology).
Single Award: A student taking a single award is initially registered for two subjects at level 4, but subsequently concentrates upon a single subject at levels 5 and 6. A limited number of elective modules are also taken. The title of the award names the single subject, eg BA (Honours) History.
Single Module: A single module represents one-sixth of a student's workload for a full-time year of study. It is worth 20 credits under the University's Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme.
Specialised Award: Where a programme of study is not divided into subjects which can be named in the award title, and/or
the programme of study is subject to the professional accreditation, and/or
the nature of the discipline requires that a greater proportion of the student's time is spent in dedicated study than the scheme normally allows, and/or the general regulations of the Modular Scheme are replaced by regulations specific to the award.
Subject: An area of study that can offer a range of modules at all levels, and can appear as at least a Minor Subject in a Combined Award title.
Unattached Module: An unattached module is not located within any specific Subject, but may be taken as an elective. Occasionally, an unattached module may be specified as core by the regulations for a particular award.