I have been designing HE courses for over a decade, working with several major universities across the country to produce programmes and modules that provide a careful balance of academic rigour, professional training and creative engagement for the student. While individual institutions have their own approaches to creating or reworking courses, I have found there are universal standards and procedures that underpin all good course design. I can advise on all stages of Foundation, Honours and Masters course design, including iInitial course concepts - aims and objectives, compliance with subject appropriate QAA benchmarks and FHEQ descriptors, a consideration of course structure by level (including skills progression from academic, professional and creative perspectives), Programme Learning Outcome design, Module Learning Outcome design, assessment guidelines and assignment briefs, and level-specific strategies towards the delivery of content.

In my experience, FE providers wanting to develop HE will fall into two categories – for schools and academies, students will likely come from their existing cohorts as direct Level 3 progression. FE Colleges and Institutions will likely wish to appeal to the same progressing students (if suitable programmes exist in their portfolio) and/or wish to attract local or regional Non-Traditional Learners (adults with or without formal academic qualifications) to provide further training within Inclusive Learning and Lifelong Learning remits. The design of programmes should ALWAYS take into account the potential cohort’s demographic as it will directly influence course philosophy, content and structure.

HE provision does not automatically equate to three or even four year programmes. One of the biggest changes in HE over the last ten years has been the expansion of Foundation Degrees (with or without a single year Honours top-up), Access to HE courses (which are strictly speaking Level 3 but offered by an increasingly wide variety of FE Institutions to feed their own HE provision or prepare students for nearby providers) and off-the-shelf prescribed courses (HNC/HND). I feel it is best to consider HE provision in levels of learning. It is important to understand one level does NOT necessarily equal one year – differing modes of delivery, from part-time to compressed, means it does not – and does not HAVE to – work that way. Flexibility of delivery is often as important as the programme structure itself and, again, thought has to be given to the nature of the cohort that may be attracted.