Foundation Degrees

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www.lmu.ac.uk/foundation4success
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The Consortium Story

• Dr Alan Maybury
• Foundation for Success

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Consortium Members

• Leeds Metropolitan University
• Park Lane College
• Shipley College
• Thomas Danby
• University of Bradford
• University of Huddersfield
• Wakefield College
• Various employers

• Bradford College
• Calderdale College
• Dewsbury College
• Huddersfield College
• Joseph Priestley College
• Keighley College
• Leeds College of Building
• Leeds College of Technology

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CONSORTIUM STRATEGIC AIMS

• provide the resource for a consortium of 3
  Universities, 12 FE colleges, employer
  representatives and other regional drivers e.g.
  RDA to tackle the education and skills needs in
  the region
• will be a major delivery mechanism for the
  Workforce Development Strategy for West
  Yorkshires Learning and Skills Council
• to enable a close relationship between employers
  and educational providers

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CONSORTIUM STRATEGIC AIMS

• provides, for the sub region, a comprehensive
  post 16 education and training resource which
  mirrors and complements the establishment of the
  Learning and Skills council and the Small
  Business Service in the sub region it has
  delivery points for training across the whole
  geographic area of the sub-region which enables
  it to effectively meet market needs by using its
  combined resources at the point of need
• present an alternative to competition both within
  and between the two sectors in the region and
  maximise the use of scarce resources.
• focus on widening participation in HE by
  targeting under represented groups, particularly
  those identified in the Workforce Development
  Strategy of the Learning and Skills Council for
  the sub-region.

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Key Points

• 2000
• June YHUA decide to put sub regional bids for
  prototype foundation degrees.
• July Prospectus published.
• July Three W. Yorks. HEIs decide to work
  together on bid and FEC partners contacted
• Sept. Briefing of HE and FE partners.
• Oct Bid made to HEFCE for prototype funding
• Nov. Bid accepted
• 2001
• Jan Employer partners briefed
• Jan Consortium Office established
• Feb Consortium Board formed
• April Overall structure accepted
• July Three prototype fds developed and validated
• Sept Students enrolled onto Programmes
• 2002
• Feb Approval and funding to deliver four new
  programmes.

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Consortium Board

• 6 HE Representatives
• 4 FE Representatives (One from each District)
• 3 Employer Representatives
• Consortium Manager

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Consortium Structure
Consortium Council
Consortium Board
Consortium Office
Marketing Group
Quality Assurance Systems Group
Core Skills Working Group
Programme Planning Group
Programme Development Team (Bradford)
Programme Development Team (LMU)
Programme Development Team (Huddersfield)
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Quality Group - Principles

• Assure and enhance the quality of the learning
  experience for students according to the
  principles of equity and comparability.
• Quality assurance and regulatory arrangements is
  based on a shared, over-arching framework, which
  ensures that the issues of quality assurance and
  enhancement are applied at an appropriate level
  of operation.

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Quality GroupFramework documentation was written
to

• set out the quality assurance principles agreed
  by the Consortium Board and the appropriate
  committees within each HEI
• provide evidence about the approach to quality
  assurance for the Foundation Degrees, which will
  inform the HEFCEs monitoring and Academic Review
  by the QAAHE
• provide information for those people who will
  design, co-ordinate, offer learning
  opportunities, administer and monitor foundation
  degrees. This information enables them to operate
  within the agreed quality assurance framework.

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Overall Framework of the Foundation Degree
Level 1
Level 2
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Core Skills Working Group

• This was a short life working group which
  consisted of HEI, FEC and Employer
  representatives who developed the core skills
  elements of the Foundation Degrees offered within
  the scope of the Consortium.

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Programme Development Teams

• Three teams consisting of members from HEIs, FE
  and Industry.
• They developed the module content, work-based
  learning requirements and decided on the staffing
  requirements, learning methodologies, assessment,
  student support and programme documents for
  accreditation as well as the delivery centres and
  the modules they will deliver.

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Courses

• Business, Finance and Law
• (University of Huddersfield)
• Health and Social Care
• (University of Bradford)
• Health-Related Exercise and Fitness
• (Leeds Metropolitan University)

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How courses are delivered

• Foundation degrees will be delivered in a variety
  of ways, such as
• part-time
• full-time
• work-based
• distance learning
• web-based
• The exact mix will depend on each specific
  subject and the place offering the course.

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