The College’s Quality Assurance/Enhancement Code of Practice 2010/11

This code of practice sets out the areas in which Departments and Schools should recognise priorities and establish procedures necessary to monitor and assure academic quality and standards in respect of degree programmes  (full-time, part-time, network and distance learning) and of teaching and learning. Examples cited are illustrative and not necessarily applicable in every discipline.  Therefore local variations in detailed practice which fulfil the general principles of this code are not only expected by the College but are regarded as necessary to the development of quality assurance/enhancement.

In the case of interdisciplinary programmes, that run across Departments within the same School or between different Schools, it should be understood that while Departments/Schools and their teaching staff are responsible for the quality of teaching they provide, aspects of quality assurance and enhancement which relate to the programme as a whole are necessarily the responsibility of the relevant interdisciplinary Programme Director or team, in partnership with appropriate Departments and Schools.

This code of practice refers to undergraduate and postgraduate taught degree programmes (Certificate/Diploma of Higher Education, Foundation degrees, BA, BSc, LLB, Graduate Certificates, Graduates Diplomas, Postgraduate Certificates, Postgraduate Diplomas, LLM, MA, MSc, MA/MSc by research, MRes), including those delivered by collaborative provision and flexible and distributed learning (including distance and e-Learning).   

Research degrees (MPhil/PhD) are covered by the ‘Postgraduate Training and Research for the MPhil and PhD Degrees College Code of Practice’  this sets out the framework of requirements and expectations of all Departments/Schools in the College who are concerned with the admission and supervision of students studying for research degrees.  The Code of Practice is concerned with the following aspects of postgraduate training and research: the role of the Birkbeck Graduate Research School (previously College Research School); Schools’ structures and responsibilities; supervisors' responsibilities; research students' responsibilities; final examinations for MPhil and PhD degrees.

Throughout the document 'Department' is used to mean the academic unit or section concerned with a particular subject area.  The term ‘School’ may be given to indicate responsibilities at this level or those concerning programmes held not by Departments but at the School level.

Please use the links on the left-hand side to select particular sections of the code.  Alternatively you can download the College's Quality Assurance/Enhancement Code of Practice 2010/2011 here.