Result of the 1998 Teaching Quality Assessment of the Engineering Department

A team of 14 Assessors from the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education carried out a Teaching Quality Assessment of the Engineering Department over the four days January 19-22, 1998. The Assessors award numerical points under six different 'aspects of provision' to generate a graded profile intended to show the extent to which student learning experience and student achievement demonstrate that the aims and objectives of the Department are being met. Under each aspect, points are awarded from 1 to 4 in ascending order of merit. The points awarded to the Engineering Department were:

        Curriculum Design, Content and Organisation             4
        Teaching, Learning and Assessment                       4
        Student Progress and Achievement                        4
        Student Support and Guidance                            4
        Learning Resources                                      4
        Quality Assurance and Enhancement                       3

No department in the University has scored higher. During their visit, the Assessors observed 56 individual teaching sessions. Their separate rating of these produced an exceptionally high level of grades. After the announcement of the result of the Assessment, the Vice-Chancellor, Sir Alec Broers, congratulated members of the Department on a splendid achievement. At a staff meeting on January 23rd, Professor David Newland, Head of Department, thanked all his colleagues for their magnificent contribution to a most complex assessment exercise. Engineering is the largest department in Cambridge and its assessment involved a very large group of assessors and departmental staff in many different activities. Professor Newland referred particularly to the huge amount of planning and preparatory work carried out by the Deputy Head (Teaching), Ken Wallace, Director of Undergraduate Education, Richard Prager, and Secretary of Teaching Committees, Clare Drummond. Without their help and that of the Principal Assistant Registrary, Graeme Rennie, he said that this excellent result could not have been achieved.

Updated on 23rd January, 1998

tpl@eng.cam.ac.uk