Programme Specifications

7. The UK Quality Code for Higher Education 2024 requires degree awarding bodies to provide definitive information about their awards. See Principle 7 Designing, developing, approving and modifying programmes, Key practice 7b A definitive set of documents are produced from the design, development, approval and modification processes, which are held securely and act as the primary source of information about each programme.

This is provided in the programme specification, which provides details of the knowledge, understanding, skills and other attributes that students will have developed on successful completion and the teaching and assessment activities that support their learning.

8. Academic Registry is responsible for maintaining programme specifications online, and departments are expected to review these annually; programme specifications are also subject to scrutiny as part of review and revalidation of schemes. A template is provided for their initial development and approval. For schemes with an integrated year in industry or year studying abroad, a separate template is provided which includes generic learning outcomes. These are published in Section 2.14 of the AQH. Guidance on writing programme specifications is published by the HEA: (https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/system/files/new_writing_programme_specification.pdf).