These guidance notes are intended to assist in writing a programme specification and relate to the sections of the programme specification template.
The subject title of the programme, e.g. "MSci Geography", BSc Philosophy and Economics", "MA in Legal Studies", "LLM Public Law".
If filling out a programme specification for an award which has stages within it (e.g. a 360 credit point degree programme which has a 240 credit point diploma and a 120 credit point certificate built into it) please state all possible awards.
This is only for undergraduate programmes and is the Joint Academic Coding System (JACS) Code relating to the programme, e.g. "F803", "LV13".
Give the title of the degree or other award in abbreviated form, e.g. MA, MSci, BSc, DipHE.
As with 1, please state all awards within the programme, e.g. MA, Postgraduate Diploma and Postgraduate Certificate.
The name of the member of staff responsible for the programme.
Please state the department that manages the programme. For joint programmes please state the department that manages the programme first then all other departments involved in the teaching of this programme.
Please state the Faculty that owns the programme (if necessary state lead faculty first followed by other faculties involved).
This will normally be "The University of Bristol".
This will normally be "The University of Bristol" but could also be an external organisation or institution responsible for teaching the programme (e.g. Wesley College). please note that if an external organisation or institution is involved this will be an educational partnership and the relevant agreements etc must be developed (see guidance on educational partnerships).
This is any professional or statutory body that accredits the programme, e.g. "The Law Society", "Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons".
Please state the relevant QAA Benchmarking statement (see http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/benchmark/). If no benchmarking statement exists for the programme please state "not applicable".
State the different modes of study e.g. full-time, part-time, distance learning, year abroad
For the above modes of study indicate the expected length of study for the main award, part time versions of the main award and any subsidiary awards.
State the date this programme specification was written or revised.
This programme aims to develop the student's interest in and knowledge and understanding of .....
Specify the broad aims of the programme. This could be the same as an entry in your programme handbook.
These aims should reflect the subject benchmark, university aims and individual unit aims. In writing aims you should consider the way in which the programme addresses the interests of students, employers, sponsors and professional bodies.
If producing a programme specification for a joint honours programme the two departments involved may wish to write separate aims and learning outcomes which will then appear under the relevant subject in the on-line programme catalogue.
In the first column specify the learning outcomes for the programme(s). Reference points should include the subject benchmark (if one exists), qualification descriptors (see the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications at http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/FHEQ/), professional body requirements etc.
The column is split into three sections.
Knowledge and Understanding
Intellectual Skills and Attributes
Other Skills/Attributes
You may feel that the final section could be split into sections such as Professional Skills or Transferable skills. If this is the case please put your sections within the boxes provided.
In the second column, state the learning and teaching methods used to enable students to achieve these outcomes. You may want to highlight which outcomes are achieved by which methods.
Also in the second column, state the assessment methods used to test that a student has achieved these outcomes. Again you may wish to highlight which outcomes are measured by each type of assessment.
Whilst looking at learning, teaching and assessment methods, and especially if revising your programme as part of this process, you may wish to consider the following:
How the learning and teaching methods in the programme relate to the School/Department's and the University's learning and teaching strategies.
Whether the programme embeds elements of teamwork, peer assessment, oral presentation and other skills alongside acquisition of subject knowledge and understanding.
The assessment pattern from level to level, e.g. which marks will contribute to the final result, marking schemes and pass marks.
Details of assessment, e.g. length of projects, type of examination etc.
Study abroad and work placements, how student progress is monitored and how these aspects contribute to the programme overall.
As above, if producing a programme specification for a joint honours programme the two departments involved may wish to write separate aims and learning outcomes which will then appear under the relevant subject in the on-line programme catalogue.
This section is designed to show the progression of student learning through the programme. You should indicate by level the building blocks used for the students to gain the necessary skills to graduate. This should include:
how the programme fosters independent student learning progressively, e.g. through the levels of study.
how the programme encourages autonomous thinking and activity and how this is built on.
how certain work/topics are introduced at key stages to develop skills, e.g. dissertation, research skills.
What the requirements are for passing each level to enable progression to the next level.
Where other exit qualifications can be awarded.
Please see the University's credit framework for details of minimum and maximum amounts of credit at each level.
The table has been split into stages rather than years so that you can show full and part-time aspects of a programme in the same table.
Show ALL units relevant to the programme. State unit code, unit title, credit points and whether a unit is mandatory or optional for each unit. Where students can choose optional units from a defined unit list (e.g. BIOL1, LANG2) please state the name of the list and the amount of credit points the student can take from that list.
Please make sure you indicate in the Progression Requirements column the Unit pass marks required for a student to progress (and the mark that constitutes a fail), for each year of study.
Where students are able to take open units as part of their programme please state this and indicate the number of credit points that may be obtained from open units.
In the shaded boxes at the end of each stage show any awards which can be made at this point (e.g. Certificate)
This should include any information on study abroad, placements and pre or co-requisites for the programme. Please also use this space for any further information you would like to include.
This may simply be you departmental web reference or the person to contact in the department.