Okay why do I need to know about this?

As a rep, you’ll be raised a lot of concerns – and a few of these can be about the quality of your education – this is what standards the Uni is held to about these.

What are they?

Okay so, there is this thing called the Office for Students (OfS) – they are the Government’s regulator for higher education. To keep accepting students, award degrees etc, the University has to prove to the Government that they are fulfilling conditions set by the OfS. These conditions cover what is a good, basic function of what a university should do.

As a rep, B conditions are your friend – they cover quality, reliable standards, and positive outcomes for all students, and are split into four.

B1 – A high quality academic experience

B2 – High quality resources and support

B3 – Positive outcomes

B4 – Effective, reliable, and credible assessment

B1: A high quality academic experience

This is all about what happens on your course – like how you are taught.

Courses have to be

• Up to date – they should reflect the current thinking, practices, and work in your subject
• Challenging – Simply put, it shouldn’t be too hard or too easy
• Coherent ­– You should be learning the basics before you get into the deeper and more complex stuff, and be able to specialise as you progress through your degree
• Effectively delivered – You should have a range of learning activities that are engaging, be able to interact with teaching staff, be regularly and effectively supervised when doing research, and anything that is professional or practice based should clearly be linked and integrated with your academic studies
• Teach you relevant skills – You should be able to develop and demonstrate skills like evaluating evidence, making an argument, solving problems etc, and these should be relevant to your subject or profession

Not sure what this means? Think about:

• Are lecturers (or other teaching staff!) good at explaining their content? Is it engaging?
• Are you challenged to make your best work? Is it too overwhelming? Is it a breeze?
• Do you get to apply theories and concepts you’ve learned about?
• How much does your course build on what you have already learnt?
• Is your course content up to date?
• Are you developing knowledge and skills that will help you in the future?

B2: High quality resources and support

This B condition is about the resources and support that help you do your best, as well as feedback!

It covers

• Good staff – Enough for the size of your class, who have experience and expertise in the subject, are trained and qualified, and (if you’re a research student) are currently undertaking research at the forefront of the discipline
• Learning resources – You should be able to fully access course content, have access to good tech, have access to appropriate study spaces. It also means you should be able to get help to use tech or equipment.
• Academic support – Support from staff with course content, to identify and address gaps in your knowledge or skills, and to help you with future decisions
• Academic integrity – You should be taught on how to avoid academic misconduct – like how to cite and reference your sources
• Careers support – Info, advice, and guidance to identify where you shine, which careers seem good for you, and support on how to apply for them successfully
• Feedback and engagement – you should be given a range of opportunities to feedback on your course and the way it is delivered – this can be individually or through academic reps !

You might want to ask questions like

• How easy is It contact staff?
• How well organised I my course?
• Are changes to my course clearly communicated?
• Can I access learning resources ? Do they support my learning?
• Can I readily give feedback?
• Does my opinion feel valued?
• Is it clear that feedback is being acted on?

B3: Student outcomes

Okay so this sounds like that scary question of “what do you want to do after you graduate”, but there is a little bit more to uncover here, and it is spread over three words

Continue – are students getting past first year and into second year?

Complete – are students finishing their results and getting a result at the end?

Progress – are students getting into employment or further study?

This condition is usually left with the officers who sit on a lot of boards who look at the big data on this, but we still would adore to know if you spot people not continuing, completing, or progressing, so we can bug the University about it!

B4: Assessment and Awards

This condition is about how you are assessed and making sure it is fair, valid, and reliable.

It focuses on

• Effective Assessment are you being assessed in a way that tests your skills and stuff you’ve been taught?
• Avoiding misconduct basically, are we making sure people don’t cheat and that they are caught when they do?
• Valid and reliable Do you get consistent marks across different assessment types? Are you being assessed on what you’ve been taught?
• Credible the amount of results we award is reflective of y’alls performance
• English technical proficiency in English in a way that is relevant and reflective of your course level and content

You might want to ask questions like:

• How clear is my marking criteria?
• How fair is the marking and assessment on my course?
• Is feedback on time?
• Does feedback help me improve?
• If I have something unexpected happen, do the rules that help me have longer to submit or give me more attempts make sense, and are they fair?