Maintenance of academic standards is provided through the University’s governance structures, external and institutional examiner reports, annual teaching excellence group meetings with departments and periodic institutional teaching and learning reviews. At the course and module level scrutiny via the course and module approval process is designed to ensure that learning outcomes align to the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications and Subject Benchmark Statements, as outlined in the University’s Credit and Module Framework. A strategic Review of Assessment in 2018 along with opportunities to make greater use of digital tools for assessment, have produced continuous improvement in this area. Core principles of assessment – including assessment that is inclusive, transparent, proportionate, and for learning - were agreed upon through the Review and underpin the design of assessment strategies for programmes and modules. An Assessment Design and Diversification Toolkit and our programme and module approval processes help to embed these principles.

Policies and guidance aim to ensure that approaches to marking are robust, fair, and consistent. A standardised approach to marking is applied. The marking scale was reviewed with an updated approach implemented in 2023, and Moderation Guidance was refreshed in 2020. Where Level 6 courses are delivered in partnership with others the same approach to marking and classification is applied. In these cases, monitoring and review is overseen by the University’s Partnerships Committee and through collaborative course review.

External examiners are appointed to oversee the standards of assessment on all taught programmes, producing annual reports, which feed into the University’s quality assurance processes. An annual thematic report is produced and submitted to the Academic Quality & Standards Committee (AQSC) to highlight any recurring issues which may need addressing at the institutional level, and to identify good practice. Outcomes of reviews by Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PSRBs) also provide assurance on the standards of assessment. In addition, the University supports opportunities for academic staff to work as External Examiners and Advisors to enhance standardisation within the Higher Education sector. The expertise of our sector-leading academic staff has shaped the accreditation criteria of several PSRBs and the latest iteration of QAA Subject Benchmark Statements, thus ensuring qualifications hold their value in line with sector-recognised standards.

Policy and guidance on mitigating circumstances allows the fair consideration of students’ personal circumstances which may negatively impact on completing or submitting assessment on time.

Teaching Excellence Group (TEG) meetings take place annually with staff and student representatives in all departments and interdisciplinary programmes to review quantitative and qualitative programme data and agree on areas for enhancement in accordance with institutionally agreed priorities. Warwick’s Institutional Teaching and Learning Review (ITLR) facilitates a periodic quality review of all academic and student-facing professional service departments. ITLR in 2022/23 has provided assurance of academic standards across all areas of the University’s taught provision.

The Senate is the supreme academic authority of the University reporting to Warwick’s governing body the Council. The work of the Senate is supported through committees with specific areas of responsibility. Oversight of approaches to assessment design, policy, regulations and academic quality and standards sits within the academic governance structures reporting to the Senate. The AQSC oversees quality assurance and maintenance of academic standards and considers the annual report from Education Policy and Quality on degree outcome trends and the Degree Outcomes Statement. The Student Learning Experience and Engagement Committee (SLEEC) leads developments in pedagogy, including on assessment design, and the engagement of the student community in enhancement activities. Implementation and monitoring of measures to address attainment gaps in specific student groups, including in relation to Access and Participation Plan targets, is overseen by the Widening Participation Committee. These Committees report to the Education Committee which has overarching responsibility for Education Strategy, and which reports to the Senate. The University’s Council receives an annual report on the assurance of quality and academic standards across the University in the context of alignment to regulatory requirements.

From 2017/18, Senate delegated authority for the award of degrees to a Subgroup, enabling rigorous scrutiny of outcome trends over five years at the point of award. In 2020, the remit and membership of the Subgroup was extended to include the addition of an Institutional External Examiner to provide externality in the oversight of processes and outcomes at the institutional level.

An Academic Governance review is currently in progress in partnership with Advance HE. Advance HE’s review confirmed the effectiveness of the University’s academic governance. Any updates to Academic Governance resulting from this review are planned to come into effect from September 2024.

The University conducted a review of classification algorithms and rules for award in 2019 to simplify and harmonise practice. These Rules for Award apply to students entering from 2021/22. The first cohort will be awarded via these rules in July 2024. For students entering before 2021/22 the University operates the following approach to degree classification with only limited variation permitted where required for external accreditation by PSRBs or specific disciplinary reasons. Both classification algorithms (pre and post 2021/22) use an arithmetic mean of all module marks, weighted to take account of the module credit weighting and the stage of study. Where marks from a stage of study contribute to the final classification, all module marks are used in the calculation of the mean including any fail marks. Where a module has been passed on resit, a mark of 40% will be used in calculation of the mean. Course regulations specify the relative weightings attached to different stages in calculating the degree classification. Any variation in the weighting of stages of study towards the final classification calculation reflects signature pedagogies developed through the 2017 Institutional Teaching and Learning Review. Variations to weightings of stages of study are scrutinised through course approval, to ensure approaches are consistent with cognate disciplines and appropriate for the course structure. In all cases the contribution of a stage of study to the final classification places emphasis on the higher levels of study.

Regulations set out requirements to remedy failure in assessment and modules within defined limits. The maximum mark that can be achieved following resit or resubmission is 40% for undergraduate courses. Students may apply for the consideration of mitigating circumstances, which if approved may permit the student to be offered a further first attempt without penalty.

As a result of the Review of Assessment in 2018 the following have been harmonised: resit opportunities, borderline algorithms, criteria for progression between years of study and the award of degrees. Where students have exhausted all resit opportunities, exit qualifications may be awarded to reflect learning outcomes and credit achieved.

The Education Strategy provides a framework for transforming the University’s education provision. Significant development of the leadership team at the institutional level has provided the capacity to ensure that objectives are driven forward with priorities being updated annually. The University’s current Education Strategy published in 2018 has strengthened the quality of a Warwick education and the student learning experience. This has been recognised nationally with the Sunday Times award ‘University of the Year for Teaching Quality’ in 2022 and the Office for Students awarding us Gold in all aspects of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) 2023.

The Warwick International Higher Education Academy (WIHEA), together with the Institute for Advanced Teaching and Learning (IATL), support a range of pedagogical enhancement activities to improve the learning experience of students and thereby their outcomes. These are supplemented by support for pedagogical professional development by the Academic Development Centre. Key recent enhancement developments include redevelopment of study and social learning spaces, the University’s policies on peer dialogue (peer review and observation of teaching), and module evaluation and personal tutoring through our research-based, co-created approach.

A comprehensive Review of Assessment in 2018 included the following areas of activity:

• Establishing principles of assessment design and developing supporting guidance, with a view to diversifying assessment methods.
• Reviewing progression requirements and introducing the right to one attempt to retake all failed modules with late summer resit opportunities for all undergraduate students.
• Reviewing mitigating circumstances policy and guidance, self-certification policy and introducing the opportunity to defer assessment periods.
• Enhancing digital systems to support exam board operations and reviewing the approach to treatment of borderline cases.
• Reviewing approaches to academic integrity.

Good practice is identified through the University’s annual monitoring and review procedures, including the TEG and the ITLR. A showcase of Education Excellence celebrating good practice identified through the Institutional Teaching and Learning Review 2023 and the Teaching Excellence Framework 2023 was launched this academic year. Enhancement mechanisms, such as the WIHEA Learning Circles develop areas of good practice. Dissemination is undertaken through a range of methods including workshops, online information, and formal governance structures.

Warwick Awards for Teaching Excellence and Warwick Awards for Personal Tutoring Excellence also recognise and disseminate good practice.

Following the implementation of the Rules for Award in 2021/22 and its potential impact on student outcomes, the University will review outcomes for this cohort against the previous five years. A review of Academic Regulations is also scheduled to commence in 2024/25 which aims to build upon reviews of Assessment, Mitigating Circumstances and Rules for Award referenced above.

Warwick is now developing its new Education and Student Experience Strategy setting out the University’s ambitions to 2030. This partners with work to renew the University’s Access and Participation Plan. More information on this will be available in the next Degree Outcomes Statement.