There was cause of celebration in SMS last week when Maths and Statistics was awarded an impressive 23 points by the Quality Assurance Agency review panel.
For the benefit of those (increasingly rare) members of the University who are unacquainted with the workings of the Quality Assurance Agency, its reviews are the higher education equivalent of school Ofsted inspections, and are part of a nationwide government inspection of university education that will eventually include every subject at every institution. The assessment is a thorough process, examining the quality of the student experience. It involves a team of five reviewers coming to the University for four days to observe lectures, interview students, faculty and support staff, examine course handouts and inspect reams of documentation. The review is rated on a four point scale for six different aspects of teaching.
The grades awarded to Mathematics and Statistics are:
| curriculum content and organisation | 4 |
| teaching, learning and assessment | 3 |
| student progression and achievement | 4 |
| student support and guidance | 4 |
| learning resources | 4 |
| quality management and
enhancement | 4 |
The review panel gave oral feedback at the end of the inspection and among its commendations were:
high quality teaching and some very high quality learning, especially the workshops and exercise classes
the high level of attainment of students in the final year of the programmes
the employment record of graduates
the excellent relations between staff and students and the exceptional level of support from the school administrative and secretarial staff
Receiving the news of the outcome of the inspection, Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alasdair Smith commented, "These QAA scores are very important for Mathematics and Statistics and will help it in attracting students. It is also important for the University because they are used increasingly widely in league tables and elsewhere as indicators of an institution'
s performance. I am grateful to the Dean, faculty, students and support staff for achieving these excellent results."
