Higher Education in Wales shaping the future
The Higher Education sector in Wales has embarked on a process of reconfiguration, taking a new and innovative approach to maximise the benefits of research, teaching and learning for students, stakeholders and the wider economy.
This seeks to improve even further on the outstanding quality of research, teaching and student satisfaction already being achieved in Wales.
Higher Education Wales (HEW), the body comprising the Vice-Chancellors of Wales’s universities, has said:
“The positive impact of universities in Wales – contributing £2.2bn a year to the Welsh economy - is strong and growing, but the challenges facing higher education are of an unprecedented nature. We have to move fast in order to meet these challenges and deliver transformational change for Wales…
“In this context a strategic approach from the higher education sector in Wales is essential... This approach will address key national priorities for Wales in relation to economic renewal and social justice.
“We are clear that this new strategic approach will require further reconfiguration of the university sector and will be of all round benefit. The gains for Wales of fewer but stronger and more successful universities working collaboratively with the Welsh Government will be substantial...”
There are currently 10 universities recruiting international students into Wales as well as the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (the national Conservatoire).
As the university sector looks towards further reconfiguration, current and potential students will be the first consideration.
There will be no campus closures and any developments will prioritise the strength, quality and global value of degrees and other awards.
In addition to the 10 universities recruiting students into Wales, the University of Wales delivers teaching through overseas validation.
This has recently generated feedback from the Quality Assurance Agency which is being addressed as a matter of urgency. It is important to understand however that the standards and quality of awards in Wales are not in question.
The universities in Wales are independent in their governance, management, research, teaching and delivery. Students applying to study at universities in Wales are applying to institutions that are assessed under the UK Government Research Assessment Exercise for research (http://www.rae.ac.uk/) and by the UK Quality Assurance Agency for their teaching (http://www.qaa.ac.uk/Pages/default.aspx).
According to the most recent UK Government Research Assessment Exercise, a number of nationally and internationally leading research specialisations are based in Wales.
These include the UK’s leading Civil Engineering department, the leading Optometry & Vision Sciences department, the leading Architecture School, two of the top rated Psychology Schools, one of the leading International Politics departments, one of the top Materials Technology departments, three of the top Theology and Religious Studies schools and the highest-ranked Accounting and Finance department.
The last Research Assessment Exercise also saw strong performances in Wales over a range of subjects from art and design to physics, with world-class achievement in a number of areas including civil engineering, electrical and electronic engineering, computer science and informatics, psychiatry and neuroscience, psychology, allied health professions, business and management, politics and international studies, town and country planning and Celtic studies.
Universities in Wales are also assessed by a range of independent surveys for the quality of the student experience, including the i-graduate International Student Barometer (http://www.i-graduate.org/services/student_insight--student_barometer.html) and the National Student Satisfaction Survey, the aim of which is to gather feedback on the quality of students' courses in order to contribute to public accountability as well as to help inform the choices of future applicants (http://www.hefce.ac.uk/learning/nss/).
Results from the sixth annual National Student Survey, which took account of the views of more than 13,000 students studying at Welsh universities, show that more than four in five of Wales’s students continue to be satisfied with their university course.
The questions covered many aspects around a student’s course, and highlighted course strengths, as well as areas for improvement - to which universities in Wales are very open; they continue to tackle the needs of the modern student population in innovative ways.
University courses in Wales also achieve a high level of recognition from national and professional bodies such as the Royal Aeronautical Society, Royal Institute of British Architects, Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, Government Charter Mark, and Queen’s Awards as a few examples.
Individual universities in Wales have the primary responsibility for protecting and enhancing the academic standards and quality of their awards, and students holding any degree from a university in Wales can have full confidence in the management of the academic standards, the quality of learning opportunities available and in the excellence of the student experience on offer.
The latest Institutional Review outcomes published by the Quality Assurance Agency have found confidence in all universities in Wales (http://www.qaa.ac.uk/InstitutionReports/Pages/institutions-by-region.aspx#Wales).
The Wales International Consortium is an association all of universities in Wales which co-ordinates collaborative projects internationally and is a unique example of an entire sector working together to achieve shared benefits for Wales.
The Wales International Consortium shares news about international students graduating this summer in Wales http://www.walesinternationalconsortium.com/news/Graduation2011.shtml
In the film Why Wales? Current international students explain why they chose to come to Wales http://www.walesinternationalconsortium.com/students/Why_Wales_film.shtml
This seeks to improve even further on the outstanding quality of research, teaching and student satisfaction already being achieved in Wales.
Higher Education Wales (HEW), the body comprising the Vice-Chancellors of Wales’s universities, has said:
“The positive impact of universities in Wales – contributing £2.2bn a year to the Welsh economy - is strong and growing, but the challenges facing higher education are of an unprecedented nature. We have to move fast in order to meet these challenges and deliver transformational change for Wales…
“In this context a strategic approach from the higher education sector in Wales is essential... This approach will address key national priorities for Wales in relation to economic renewal and social justice.
“We are clear that this new strategic approach will require further reconfiguration of the university sector and will be of all round benefit. The gains for Wales of fewer but stronger and more successful universities working collaboratively with the Welsh Government will be substantial...”
There are currently 10 universities recruiting international students into Wales as well as the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama (the national Conservatoire).
As the university sector looks towards further reconfiguration, current and potential students will be the first consideration.
There will be no campus closures and any developments will prioritise the strength, quality and global value of degrees and other awards.
In addition to the 10 universities recruiting students into Wales, the University of Wales delivers teaching through overseas validation.
This has recently generated feedback from the Quality Assurance Agency which is being addressed as a matter of urgency. It is important to understand however that the standards and quality of awards in Wales are not in question.
The universities in Wales are independent in their governance, management, research, teaching and delivery. Students applying to study at universities in Wales are applying to institutions that are assessed under the UK Government Research Assessment Exercise for research (http://www.rae.ac.uk/) and by the UK Quality Assurance Agency for their teaching (http://www.qaa.ac.uk/Pages/default.aspx).
According to the most recent UK Government Research Assessment Exercise, a number of nationally and internationally leading research specialisations are based in Wales.
These include the UK’s leading Civil Engineering department, the leading Optometry & Vision Sciences department, the leading Architecture School, two of the top rated Psychology Schools, one of the leading International Politics departments, one of the top Materials Technology departments, three of the top Theology and Religious Studies schools and the highest-ranked Accounting and Finance department.
The last Research Assessment Exercise also saw strong performances in Wales over a range of subjects from art and design to physics, with world-class achievement in a number of areas including civil engineering, electrical and electronic engineering, computer science and informatics, psychiatry and neuroscience, psychology, allied health professions, business and management, politics and international studies, town and country planning and Celtic studies.
Universities in Wales are also assessed by a range of independent surveys for the quality of the student experience, including the i-graduate International Student Barometer (http://www.i-graduate.org/services/student_insight--student_barometer.html) and the National Student Satisfaction Survey, the aim of which is to gather feedback on the quality of students' courses in order to contribute to public accountability as well as to help inform the choices of future applicants (http://www.hefce.ac.uk/learning/nss/).
Results from the sixth annual National Student Survey, which took account of the views of more than 13,000 students studying at Welsh universities, show that more than four in five of Wales’s students continue to be satisfied with their university course.
The questions covered many aspects around a student’s course, and highlighted course strengths, as well as areas for improvement - to which universities in Wales are very open; they continue to tackle the needs of the modern student population in innovative ways.
University courses in Wales also achieve a high level of recognition from national and professional bodies such as the Royal Aeronautical Society, Royal Institute of British Architects, Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply, Government Charter Mark, and Queen’s Awards as a few examples.
Individual universities in Wales have the primary responsibility for protecting and enhancing the academic standards and quality of their awards, and students holding any degree from a university in Wales can have full confidence in the management of the academic standards, the quality of learning opportunities available and in the excellence of the student experience on offer.
The latest Institutional Review outcomes published by the Quality Assurance Agency have found confidence in all universities in Wales (http://www.qaa.ac.uk/InstitutionReports/Pages/institutions-by-region.aspx#Wales).
The Wales International Consortium is an association all of universities in Wales which co-ordinates collaborative projects internationally and is a unique example of an entire sector working together to achieve shared benefits for Wales.
The Wales International Consortium shares news about international students graduating this summer in Wales http://www.walesinternationalconsortium.com/news/Graduation2011.shtml
In the film Why Wales? Current international students explain why they chose to come to Wales http://www.walesinternationalconsortium.com/students/Why_Wales_film.shtml
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