Key Information Sets (KIS)

This guidance is intended primarily for Course Leaders who are asked to coordinate returns (see Annexe 1)from Module Coordinators and add any additional course information (see Annexe 2) before returning to Lynne Bailey (Data Management Unit).

Context

  1. Over the past few years, a pressing need has been identified by governments, HEFCE and the QAA in providing accurate, accessible and comparable information about university courses to the public. Various attempts have been made to achieve such aims; most pertinently the National Student Survey.
  2. KIS are designed to meet the needs of prospective students and comprise the following[1] (most of which is already in the public domain):
  3. Results from specific NSS questions
  4. Proportion of time spent in various learning and teaching activities (by level)
  5. Mix of summative assessment methods (by level)
  6. Professional bodies that recognise the course
  7. Average annual costs of UW and private accommodation
  8. Financial support available from the University
  9. Fees per year for England domiciled applicants
  10. Graduate destinations (6 month survey); including:
  11. Proportion of graduates in managerial/professional jobs
  12. Salary data
  1. Further background, contextual information and reference points are detailed in Annexe 3 to this guidance.

Collecting information on the KIS

  1. HEFCE will collate the KIS in the first year, based on information contained in the National Student Survey, the Destinations of Leavers from HE (DLHE) survey, and returns submitted by universities and colleges. We will need to provide the required information to HEFCE by May 2012.
  2. In terms of our internal collation of data, much of this information is already held centrally on the Student Records system. The key item that is currently missing, which we will need to collate, is information on the proportion of time spent in learning and teaching activities. Specifically, we need to indicate the proportion of time students can expect to be engaged in:

•Scheduled L and T activities

•Placement or study abroad

•Work-based learning

•Guided independent learning

  1. We therefore need to update all of our module specifications to include a table detailing how the 150 student learning hours (for a 15 credit module) areallocated. However, given the imminent changes to the Undergraduate Modular Scheme, rather than require an update to each module specification at this point, we are asking for Course Leaders to return, a short table (see table in Annexe 1) to the Data Management Unit for entry onto the Student Records System.
  2. We expect that most of this information will need to be compiled by module coordinators in the first instance. We are therefore asking Course Leaders to coordinate and collate tables for each module and return these, by 24th February, to Lynne Bailey, in the Data Management Unit.
  3. Course Leaders are also asked to consider whether there is any other scheduled activity that a student is expected to attend that is not associated with a credit rated module. This might include, for example, academic tutorials or extended induction activity that is not embedded in a module (induction week activity is excluded from this calculation). This activity should be identified in Annexe 2. If there is no such activity, please return this table to Lynne Bailey as a ‘nil return’ (see instruction in Annexe 2).
  4. It may be that your Institute wishes to coordinate the return to the Data Management Unit. Clearly, in such cases, you should follow instructions issued by the Institute rather than returning these Annexes directly.
  5. Revised module specification templates, incorporating this table, will be made available for the process of reapproval to the revised undergraduate framework and for any courses beginning the process of approval during Semester 2 of the 2011/12 academic year.

Guidance on completing the table

  1. The total amount of time students are expected to spend studying is based on 10 learning hours per one academic credit unit (e.g. one 15 credit module = 150 learning hours).
  2. It can sometimes be difficult to determine the difference between Work-Based (WBL) and placement learning. The following definitions are therefore provided by HEFCE for the purposes of completing the KIS and should be considered prior to completing the table[2]:
  3. Work-based learning:

Structured learning that takes place in the workplace.

Work-based learning is a core feature of foundation degrees and may also occur in other programmes. Work-based learning is a structured academic programme, controlled by the higher or further education institution, and delivered in the workplace by academic staff of the institution, staff of the employer, or both.

Unlike work experience, which is one element of a course such as a sandwich placement (whether for the whole or part of a year), work-based learning is at the heart of a student's learning programme and must be subject to the same level of academic supervision and rigour as any other form of assessed learning. It includes:

  • the imparting of relevant knowledge and skills to students
  • opportunities for students to discuss knowledge and skills with their tutors
  • assessment of students' acquisition of knowledge and skills by the institution's academic staff, and perhaps jointly with an employer.

Work-based Learning should be regarded as substituting for learning that under other circumstances would normally take place within the institution. The inclusion of an element of work-based learning should, therefore, not extend the normal duration of a course.
Learning in the work place or other placements that do not meet the definition of work-based learning given above should be treated as placements for the purposes of the KIS.

  1. Placements:

Learning away from the institution that is neither a year abroad nor work based learning.

The term covers any learning, other than years abroad and work-based learning, that takes place through an organised work opportunity, rather than in a university or college setting, and includes managed placements. Some supervision or monitoring is likely be involved, and may be carried out either by a member of staff or a mentor within the host organisation. Due to the nature of the activity, placements are unlikely to take place virtually. Students might undertake placements individually or in groups, depending on the nature of the workplace and the learning involved.

Teaching placements in medical and nursing courses should be treated as placements.

Where the total number of hours on placement exceeds 10 hours per credit, the total number of hours should be capped at 10 hours per credit.

If a course requires students to undertake one of two placements the two placements should be treated as if they were a single module. It may be appropriate to adopt the same approach where other modules are offered in a way that means students must take one, and only one, module out of a choice of many. In these cases it will normally be appropriate to only include the most popular of these modules.

  1. Similarly, HEFCE provide a guide as to what should be classified as Guided Independent Study[3]:
  2. Guided independent study

Higher education is distinguished from general and secondary education by its focus on independent learning. Scheduled learning and teaching activities typically feature alongside time in which students are expected to study independently, which may itself be 'guided'.

Guided independent study might include preparation for scheduled sessions, follow-up work, wider reading or practice, completion of assessment tasks, revision, etc. The relative amounts of time that students are expected to spend engaged in scheduled activities and guided independent study varies between courses.

In all cases, students are expected to be responsible for their own learning, with appropriate support being provided by the institution. Such support can be via a variety of means, including, for example, through the provision of study skills training, feedback on assessed work, access to libraries and learning spaces, language skills training, etc.

Distance learning will generally be guided independent study.

For UW Independent Study modules, time should be allocated as follows:

  • Hours of supervision student is entitled to (typically 4 per student) plus any other formally scheduled activity placed in the ‘taught sessions’ column.
  • Remaining hours will be guidedindependent study.
  1. Further information on contact hours can be accessed via the QAA document explaining contact hours: Guidance for institutions providing public information about higher education in the UK[4]

1

Annexe 1: KIS L&T Activity Table

Course Leader Name:
Award/Subject:
Module Coordinator:
Module Code:
Module Name:
Using the convention that 1 credit = 10 hours of learning, set out as precisely as possible the learning and teaching methods for the module ensuring that total hours equal 150 for a 15 credit module, 300 for a 30 credit module, etc.
Taught sessions include all scheduled face to face and virtual teaching/learning activity including tutorials and project supervision.
Edit the table below to provide the required information:
Activity type / Number of weeks and hours / Total
Taught sessions / 0
Work based learning / 0
Placement / 0
Guided independent study / 0
TOTAL / 150
If the module is delivered in more than one mode, for example it is delivered in intensive weekend mode as well as scheduled weekly delivery, then two tables, one for each mode of delivery, are required. Please note this under ‘Module Name’ above, where applicable.

Annexe 2: Course Level Information

Please use this table to record any scheduled course-related activity that is not embedded within a credit-bearing module (and will not, therefore, be recorded in Annexe 1). This might include, for example, academic tutorials or extended induction activity. Please note that normal induction week activity should not be included.

If there is no such activity to record, please complete only your name and award/subject and return to Lynne Bailey. This will avoid the need for the DMU to follow-up with you later in the year.

Course Leader Name:
Award/Subject:
Scheduled course level activity not associated with credit-bearing module[5]: / Activity/Activities / Number of weeks and hours / Total

Annexe 3: Background and Context

Background

  1. The priority given to providing public information is heightened given the changes to university funding which come into effect from September 2012. Access to robust, reliable information is seen as particularly important for prospective students who are making decisions about where to apply amid greater demand for places and the expectation that they will personally pay more for their education. It is within this context that the idea and implementation of a Key Information Set (KIS) has been developed with the main aim of providing a nationwide system of comparable sets of standardised information.

Who does this apply to?

  1. There will be a Key Information Set for all undergraduate courses (including part-time) planned for 2013-14 onwards, on which students are registered. The only exceptions are short courses (one year full-time equivalent or less), postgraduate courses, any delivered wholly overseas and closed courses (ie. those restricted to pre-defined cohorts from, for example, a particular employer).
  2. These requirements apply to all publicly funded HEIs, FECs with undergraduate provision, and private providers who subscribe to the QAA. They apply to both full and part time awards.
  3. For UW, we will need to collect information on all undergraduate courses running this year (including any new courses that last at least 1 year) and partner/off-site courses. Partners with directly-funded provision are responsible for their own KIS, though we will liaise with them through the Head of Collaborative Programmes (Sue Cuthbert).

Reference Points

  1. Further information can be accessed through the following links:
  • Summary:
  • Content of the KIS and additional context from the national consultation: ‘Provision of information about higher education: Outcomes of consultation and next steps
  • QAA Guidance on Contact Hours:

1

[1]Full details of the contents of the KIS can be seen in Table 1 (p.12) of the HEFCE publication: ‘Provision of information about higher education:Outcomes of consultation and next steps ( – a brief outline of the purpose and function can be seen here:

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[2]

[3]ibid

[4]