The Credit Issues Development Group: scope, progress and plans

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The Credit Issues Development Group scope,
progress and plans

• Professor Muriel Robinson
• Principal,
• Bishop Grosseteste University College Lincoln
• and Chair, CIDG

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Our remit

• The CIDG should
• consider the recommendations contained in the
  report of the Burgess Group, proposals for
  national arrangements for the use of academic
  credit in higher education in England

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Relevant recommendations from Burgess

• By the start of academic year 2009/10 English
  higher education institutions should have
  credit-rated their main provision in line with
  the guidance prepared for the framework, and
  thereafter should start to include the credit
  value in a published description of each of the
  programmes they offer.

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Our remit

• The CIDG should
• in consultation with key stakeholders, make the
  framework operational by identifying and
  addressing the key anomalies and issues which
  remain
• in consultation with key stakeholders, develop
  guidance to support the framework

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Relevant recommendations from Burgess

• National credit arrangements for higher education
  in England should be structured as a framework
  that is linked to the Framework for Higher
  Education Qualifications (FHEQ). This will not be
  a one-way process. The FHEQ will require some
  general revision in due course in response to the
  national credit framework developments.

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Draft national credit framework for England
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Relevant recommendations from Burgess

• Guidance should be drawn up. This should be
  broad, overarching and advisory, allowing
  institutions to adopt and adapt elements as
  appropriate to their needs and circumstances.
• The guidance should indicate
• a set of total credit values on the credit
  normally associated with the main higher
  education awards in England
• expectations about the number of credits, within
  the overall total, normally associated with the
  level of the award.

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Our remit

• The CIDG should
• consider the interface and potential integration
  with other frameworks in further education and
  other parts of the UK and beyond and interface
  with the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS)
  and European requirements
• have completed this work no later than the start
  of academic year 2008/09.

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Relevant recommendations from Burgess

• the summary NICATS (Northern Ireland Credit
  Accumulation and Transfer System) descriptors
  should be included within the guidance as should
  the Dublin descriptors of the Framework for
  Qualifications of the European Higher Education
  Area, which should be adopted as an additional
  reference point to the FHEQ.

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Relevant recommendations from Burgess

• the relevant bodies, led by the Europe Unit,
  should continue to monitor and inform about
  European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credit
  developments, with the purpose of providing clear
  guidance on articulation between ECTS and the UK
  credit systems to the CIDG

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A reminder

• 3 discrete strands of related work, much of which
  is beyond the CIDG remit
• Revisions to framework and production of guidance
  (CIDG)
• Review and revision of the FHEQ (FHEQ group)
• Self-certification of FHEQ to EHEA-QF (QAA)

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Other related activity

• to support this activity, the current FHEQ levels
  C, I, H, M and D should be renumbered as levels
  4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 respectively.

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FHEQ and CIDG
FHEQ (E,W,NI) is a qualifications framework,
based upon the outcomes represented by the main
qualification titles. It is not a credit
framework, nor is it dependent on the use of
credit. FHEQ (EWNI) Advisory group and CIDG are
considering the most appropriate ways to
represent the relationship between FHEQ (EWNI)
and a national credit framework for HE in England


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Draft national credit framework for England
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Timescales

• By start of 2008-9 academic year
• Credit framework to be finalised
• Guidance to support implementation of framework
  developed
• Revisions to FHEQ (E,W,NI) completed
• By start of 2009-10 (recommendation not
  requirement)
• All main HE provision to be credit rated
• Credit values included in HEIs published
  information

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Draft timetable of activities
self-certification of FHEQ v2 to EHEA-QF complete
FHEQ roundtable meetings with HE sector
FHEQ v2 published
Burgess report published
4th FHEQ meeting
Series 1
Series 2
1st FHEQ meeting
Ministerial remit for self-cert to EHEA-QF
undertake EHEA-QF self-certification
3rd FHEQ meeting
2nd FHEQ meeting
Dec 06
Mar 07
Apr / May
June
Sept
Dec 08
Jan 08
Mar/Apr
Feb
Nov
Dec
1st CIDG meeting
2nd CIDG meeting
4th CIDG meeting
CIDG established
3rd CIDG meeting
CIDG guidelines published
FHEQ review Advisory group established
Formal consultation FHEQ v2
Bologna stocktaking exercise
Draft proposed revisions to FHEQ
CIDG roundtable meetings
FHEQ self-certification sub-group established
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So what will we be doing?

• Creating a set of guidelines to be compatible
  with the Burgess Report
• Revisiting and revising the table of normal
  credit associated with awards
• Providing additional guidance re ECTS and Bologna
• Providing additional information about different
  credit systems eg SEEC, NICATS
• Linking with the group reviewing the FHEQ
• Ensuring our guidance will mesh with the academic
  infrastructure and simple guide to credit

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What have we done so far?

• One meeting of group
• Considerable progress around a revised version of
  the framework
• Additional work commissioned from the Europe Unit
  and QAA around areas of uncertainty
• Draft guidance to come to next meeting

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Next steps

• Other meeting dates set
• Next meeting in November to consider draft
  guidance and finalise consultation arrangements
• Round table events and consultations on draft
  guidance to take place in the spring
• Final guidance to institutions in time for
  September 2008

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What are we NOT doing?

• Trespassing on institutional autonomy or the
  academic infrastructure by
• Offering guidelines on compensation and
  condonement
• Offering guidance on credit shelf life
• Making a decision about which credit descriptors
  should be used

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What are we NOT doing?

• Attempting to include every possible HE award
  within the framework table
• Attempting to force alignment with the QCF
• Making decisions about the FHEQ including
  nomenclature

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Outcome position

• The national credit arrangements should be owned
  by the English higher education sector and
  maintained by QAA on its behalf.
• To facilitate this Universities UK and GuildHE
  should be charged with joint responsibility for
  overseeing the framework.

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Contact details

• Professor Muriel Robinson
• m.robinson_at_bishopg.ac.uk
• Bishop Grosseteste
• University College,
• Lincoln
• LN1 3DY

• Or Jayne Mitchell
• j.mitchell_at_qaa.ac.uk
• Southgate House,
• Southgate Street,
• Gloucester
• GL1 1UB

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