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This is the programme handbook for the BA (Hons) Counselling with Brief Interventions
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BA (Hons) Counselling with Brief Interventions
Programme Handbook
2014 / 2015
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We have tried to make this handbook useful, user-friendly and accurate. It collects together
information much of which is available in more definitive form elsewhere. Thus in compiling this
handbook it is possible that inconsistencies or inaccuracies may have been introduced
inadvertently. If any of the information presented in this handbook conflicts with the formal policies
or regulations of Blackburn College or a relevant partner university, the latter will prevail. If you
discover any such problems in this handbook, or have ideas about how it can be improved, please
do let us know via your programme leader.
We appreciate that in order for this handbook to be fully accessible you may have a preference for
a specific font size or colour of text/paper. Accordingly, this handbook is available electronically.
You can also use Read and Write Gold software which is available on all UCBC’s student
computers. Within it there is a facility to select text in various fonts and sizes and to have the text
read back to you.
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Contents
A welcome from the head of school..................................................................................................1
A welcome from the programme leader............................................................................................2
Programme aims and objectives......................................................................................................3
Overall Aims...........................................................................................................................3
Educational Aims...................................................................................................................3
Programme management.................................................................................................................4
More about Your Teaching Team.......................................................................................6
Higher education awarding bodies...................................................................................................9
Study success.................................................................................................................................10
Get involved.........................................................................................................................10
Your personal tutor..............................................................................................................10
Attend all sessions...............................................................................................................10
Minimum attendance............................................................................................................10
Arrive on time.......................................................................................................................11
Considerate mobile phone use............................................................................................11
Use Moodle..........................................................................................................................11
The college email system and Moodle for UCBC communication..................................................12
You must check your college email account and Moodle pages daily.................................12
“I much prefer Gmail / Yahoo!, Hotmail - why is this necessary?“........................................12
If you experience difficulties with Moodle.............................................................................12
Microsoft Office 365 and storage space for students......................................................................14
Using email effectively....................................................................................................................15
Amendments to your study plan.....................................................................................................17
Equipment...................................................................................................................................... 18
Basic equipment checklist....................................................................................................18
Further equipment information.............................................................................................18
Programme events & enrichment...................................................................................................19
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Centre-wide events..............................................................................................................19
Programme events...............................................................................................................19
Learning, teaching and assessment strategy.................................................................................20
Online resources and Moodle.........................................................................................................21
E-books................................................................................................................................21
Using Moodle VLE for your learning and for communication...............................................22
Employability and transferable skills...............................................................................................24
Placements and work-based learning contact.....................................................................24
Programme structure......................................................................................................................25
Module information.........................................................................................................................26
Module synopses............................................................................................................................27
Dissertation..........................................................................................................................27
Contemporary Issues in Professional Practice....................................................................27
Group Dynamics and Group Process..................................................................................27
Brief Therapy with Children and Young People...................................................................28
Advanced Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (Option).............................................................28
List of types of assessment on the programme..............................................................................30
A guide to assessment...................................................................................................................32
Will there be lots of assessment?........................................................................................32
Who designs the assessments?..........................................................................................32
How long will I get to complete my assignments?................................................................33
How should I present my assignments?..............................................................................33
Will I get the assignments for all the modules that I am studying all at the same time?......34
What will I be assessed on?................................................................................................34
What are the modules’ learning outcomes?.........................................................................35
What if I would struggle with an assessment because of a disability, learning difficulty,
illness or injury?...................................................................................................................35
What kinds of assessment will there be?.............................................................................35
Can I work on my assignments with my fellow students?....................................................39
How should I prepare for assignments?...............................................................................39iv
What can I do if I think an assessment is just too hard for me?...........................................39
What if I’m struggling to meet deadlines?............................................................................40
What happens if I fail an assessment?................................................................................40
What if I don’t submit anything for the assessment of one of my modules?........................40
What do the numbers against each question mean in a Lancaster or Pearson BTEC exam
mean?..................................................................................................................................40
Quick-start guide to Harvard referencing........................................................................................41
A simple citation in your text................................................................................................41
A short direct quotation........................................................................................................41
A long direct quotation.........................................................................................................41
Word counts and quoted text...............................................................................................42
Referring to somebody’s work without quoting them directly...............................................42
Preparing a bibliography......................................................................................................42
Avoiding cheating, plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct.......................................44
Professional body and external reference points............................................................................46
Coursework submission, deadlines and extensions.......................................................................47
Additional “paper” submission?............................................................................................47
If you have problems submitting through Moodle................................................................48
Extensions........................................................................................................................... 48
Feedback, the ways you will receive it, and why it is important......................................................49
Centre-wide policy on feedback times for marks / grades...................................................49
Assignment support from your teaching team......................................................................50
“Mitigating circumstances” – when personal matters affect your assessment................................52
Appeals against assessment board decisions................................................................................53
Degree classifications.....................................................................................................................54
Student engagement......................................................................................................................55
Student surveys & module evaluations...........................................................................................56
National Student Survey (NSS)......................................................................................................57
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A welcome from the head of school
Choosing a programme that is right for you can be a difficult decision but we know you’ve made
the right choice and we are pleased to welcome you to the BA (Hons) degree in Counselling
with Brief Interventions at the University Centre at Blackburn College (UCBC).
Your programme handbook is an important reference for you as you undertake your studies.
You should use it in conjunction with your student organiser and other materials you’ll find on
Moodle – the college’s virtual classroom - and the student organiser is online at:
http://www.blackburn.ac.uk/higher-education/
These resources together with the programme team will guide you through your studies
ensuring that you have all the information and requirements you need to succeed.
Although you are undertaking your programme at UCBC you are also involved as a student of
Lancaster University.
We expect you to communicate regularly with the programme team and to engage with your
college email and Moodle. This is part of the learning community we foster and is a vital to your
academic success.
Finally, my colleagues and I look forward to working with you during your studies and will
endeavour to support and guide you throughout your learning journey. I hope your find the
programme handbook engaging and useful, but if you do have any problems or anxieties please
contact personal tutor in the first instance.
Ruth Baxter
Head of School
Education and Professional Studies
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A welcome from the programme leader
Welcome to the BA (Hons) degree in Counselling with Brief Interventions at the University
Centre at Blackburn College.
This is an exciting time for counsellor training at the University Centre. The foundation degree
and BA (Hons) degree are becoming established, we have a strong team of tutors and we are
building a strong network of placements across the county.
I am sure the step up from foundation degree to honours degree will be challenging – it ought to
be - but I’m confident there is enough support on offer at UCBC to ensure you meet those
challenges in a way that promotes further personal growth and professional development.
Your tutors are a committed team of dual professionals - therapists and teachers - working to
ensure you have every opportunity to develop personally and professionally over the next year.
Please make the most of the learning opportunities available on your honours degree by
attending all your lessons, completing your assignments and keeping your reflective journal up-
to-date. Please let the teaching team know how you are progressing and always ask for help
and additional feedback when you need it.
In your placements professionalism and adherence to the Ethical Framework of the British
Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) must define your approach. We will
equip you with the knowledge and skills to enable you to maintain the very highest standards.
Welcome aboard!
John Marsden
Programme Leader - [email protected]
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Programme aims and objectives
The BA (Hons) degree in Counselling with Brief Interventions is a top-up year that equips
students already in possession of a foundation degree in counselling to work as counsellors in
an agency setting, as part of a multi-disciplinary team or independently in private practice.
The course is not accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy
(BACP) so graduates will be required to take a proficiency test before they are allowed entry
onto the BACP Register of Counsellors.
The course includes a counselling placement in which students will complete a minimum of 50
supervised counselling hours.
These hours will count towards the 450 practice hours required for those applying for individual
accreditation as counsellors and psychotherapists with the BACP. Accreditation requirements
do change from time to time and whilst this is beyond our control the programme team are
satisfied that this foundation degree will equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to
practice as qualified counsellors working towards individual accreditation with the BACP.
The course is designed to provide a supportive learning environment which will maximise your
potential by addressing the following aims:
Overall AimsTo produce honours graduates with higher level skills and knowledge relevant to the needs of
the counselling profession and employers
Educational Aims To engage students in honours level analysis, synthesis, critical thinking, and evaluation
of key theories and practices within counselling To engage students in complex work-based problem solving tasks within the counselling
environment To facilitate further independent personal development planning and work–based
reflection To further develop professional skills and enable students to contribute to the provision of
safe, ethical, legal and efficient services for counselling service users To provide students with the opportunity to engage in contemporary debates on issues
relevant to contemporary counselling practice, as well has having a critical understanding of the historical development of the discipline
To further develop key transferable skills including team–work, communication, management and leadership skills.
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Programme management
At University Centre at Blackburn College (UCBC) you will have a head of school, a programme
leader and a personal tutor as well as all the other tutors who will teach you for specific
modules. Your head of school (who reports to the Dean of Higher Education) retains the overall
responsibility for your programme and your time at UCBC but the programme leader is
responsible for the running of the programme to ensure you get the best out of your time with
us. You will also have a personal tutor. In some cases your personal tutor may also be the
programme leader. Your personal tutor is your day to day contact during your time at UCBC.
They are on hand to support your academic development during your studies, as will be
explained in a later section.
The heads of school and the Head of Student Engagement are members of the higher
education management team led by Dr Janet Thompson, Dean of Higher Education.
The Programme Team are the members of staff with whom you will work most closely during
your studies. They are listed below, along with their posts and contact details.
The Programme Team
Name Post Contact
John Marsden Programme Leader &
Personal Tutor
Jill Bamber
Wendy Campbell
Module Leader
Module Leader
Paul Heald
Ian Townsend
Module Leader
Placement Tutor
UCBC is the part of Blackburn College and delivers higher education (level 4 and above).
Blackburn College is a large provider of further and higher education including sixth form
education.4
Before and during your studies at UCBC you will also have access to a range of support
services. These include student finance, disability services and the Blackburn College Students’
Union. These services are on hand to ensure your time at UCBC is both successful and
enjoyable.
Make a note of your key contacts here:
My head of school is Ruth Baxter
My programme leader is John Marsden
My personal tutor is John Marsden
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More about Your Teaching Team
John Marsden
John is the Programme Leader for FdA Counselling and BA (Hons) Counselling with
Brief Interventions (Top Up). He has worked as a counsellor since 2001 and as a
counselling supervisor since 2007. In addition to his teaching commitments John
runs an independent counselling practice in Blackburn. John holds a BSSc (Hons)
degree in Philosophy and Politics from Queen’s University, Belfast and a BPhil in English
Literature from the University of Manchester. He holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Education
and a Postgraduate Certificate in Forensic Sexology, both from the University of Central
Lancashire. His counselling qualifications include a CPCAB European Diploma in Therapeutic
Counselling and a Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling Studies from the University of Salford.
He is accredited as a counsellor and is a senior accredited supervisor of individuals with the
British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). John’s research interests
include: existential psychotherapy, group therapy, counselling research and post-traumatic
stress. John is currently studying for an MA in Philosophy and Mental Health. John is a member
of the British Association for the Person Centred Approach (BAPCA) and the Association for the
Development of the Person Centred Approach (ADPCA).
Jill Bamber
Jill is a Lecturer on the FdA Counselling and BA (Hons) Counselling with Brief
Interventions (Top Up) programmes. She is a practising Counsellor and
Counselling Supervisor, with experience of a variety of therapeutic approaches,
including person-centred, therapeutic play, online, CBT, mindfulness, and couples counselling.
Jill’s specialism is in working therapeutically with children and young people and her
qualifications include CPCAB Certificates in Clinical Supervision and Online Counselling, and a
Graduate Diploma in Counselling from the University of Central Lancashire. She also holds a
BA (Hons) in Social Sciences and Communications. Jill is a Registered Member of the British
Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and her research interests include the
use of online therapy with children and young people, and ethical practice in supervision.
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Wendy Campbell
Wendy is a lecturer on the FdA Counselling and BA (Hons) Counselling with
Brief Interventions (Top Up) programmes. She is a BACP accredited
practising counsellor and counselling supervisor. Wendy holds a BA (Hons) in
Psychology and Community Studies (Bolton) and a post-graduate Certificate
in Family Counselling (Manchester). She has a post-graduate certificate in Counselling Children
and Young People (Salford College) and a post-graduate certificate in Counselling Supervision
(Salford University). Wendy holds an MSc in Counselling from the University of Salford (2008).
Wendy specialises in therapeutic work with children and young people and was a child and
family counselling practitioner with Bolton Children’s Services from 2009-2011. She is
particularly interested in effective counselling in mainstream education for children with
emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and
currently working towards a post-graduate diploma in CBT.
Paul Heald
Paul Heald is a BACP accredited counsellor. He trained originally at UCLAN but
then went on to study a RELATE qualification at the University of East Anglia
whilst completing Couple Therapy in East Lancashire. He trained in CBT at the
Salford NHS Training Centre in 2009. He has worked with young people in
secondary and independent schools in East Lancashire and was a member of the innovative
and ground breaking Brook Advisory Service Counselling Team working across East
Lancashire in partnership with the Young Peoples Service (YPS) and the NHS for over 10
years. Currently working in Employer Assistance Programmes (EAP) and managing a private
counselling and supervision practice. He worked in the NHS IAPT programme with the Mental
Health Team in Accrington and Burnley. He has taught at UCLAN, the Art of Change along with
private training/consultancy commissions and projects which include CALM (Campaign Against
Living Miserably), Preston Parenting Project and Maundy Grange Young Peoples’ Counselling
Service (The Bridge). He has now completed over 7000 hours of therapeutic practice. Paul’s
research interests include: relationships, the effectiveness of therapy and existential philosophy.
Ian Townsend7
This year, Ian continues his role as Placement Liaison Tutor. He worked as a teacher for over
45 years, gaining qualifications in education (Certificate in Education - Victoria University,
Manchester, MA in Applied Educational Studies - York University, Postgraduate Diploma in
Educational Technology and more recently LeTTOL (Learning to Teach On-Line) certification
from the National Open College Network. His therapeutic practice (in education, and alternative
health) spans more than 30 years. He holds Postgraduate Diplomas in Professional Counselling
(University of Central Lancashire), Clinical Supervision (University of Derby) and Postgraduate
Certificates in Person-Centred Supervision and Person-Centred Group Facilitation. He is a
Fellow of both the Higher Education Academy and his professional body, the Society of
Homeopaths. He has written extensively about supervision and ethical challenges in practice,
and his interest lies in supporting individuals through the transition from student to practitioner.
Ian came into the person-centred world through his earlier training in Humanistic Psychology
(completing foundation years in Psychosynthesis and Transpersonal Psychology) and studying
with John Heron at the Human Potential Research Project at the University of Surrey in the
1970s. He was fortunate to study with a pastoral counsellor who had worked with Carl Rogers,
and he has participated in several La Jolla (Centre for Studies of the Person, California)
intensive residential development groups in the UK, as well as experiencing similar programs in
the States. He is a member of ADPCA (Association for the Development of the Person-Centred
Approach) and BAPCA (the British Association for the Person-Centred Approach).
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Higher education awarding bodies
Blackburn College has formal partnership agreements with a
number of universities. This enables students to follow
programmes at Blackburn College which are approved by the
universities by a process known as validation. Some programmes
are designed by the partner university but are approved (through
the validation process) to be delivered at Blackburn College. Some are designed by Blackburn
College itself, with support from the university during the design process, and the resulting
programme again has to be approved by validation.
Our university partners are:
The University of Central Lancashire
The University of Cumbria
The University of Lancaster
The University of South Wales
The College also offers Pearson BTEC awards. Pearson BTEC is not a university but it is a
recognised higher education awarding body.
Thus although you are enrolled with Blackburn College and your course comes under UCBC,
your award is validated by The University of Lancaster. If you are successful you will graduate
and obtain an award and a certificate from The University of Lancaster.
It is important to understand that because of this you are bound by both the regulations of
Blackburn College and also the regulations of The University of Lancaster.
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Study success
Approximately one in five of our graduates achieved a sought-after first class honours degree at
UCBC in the past three academic years. We believe that your success is our success. We have
high expectations of all staff and students. Throughout your learning journey with us, to ensure
you too are successful, you'll need to:
Get involvedYou'll need to contribute to the classes, read around, engage with your subject and work closely
with the other people on the programme as well as your tutors. There are many other
opportunities that you might wish to get involved in. These could include travel, work experience
or placements, voluntary work or participation in clubs and societies. Getting involved will not
only make your time with UCBC more fun, it will also enrich your education, give you an edge in
the job market, and will make your CV more competitive too.
Your personal tutorAt the start of your course you will be allocated a personal tutor who will be your first point of
contact for advice and guidance. Personal tutors provide guidance regarding general academic
matters can help by signposting you towards other support and sources of information.
Read more about the role of the personal tutor in the student organiser at:
http://www.blackburn.ac.uk/higher-education
Attend all sessionsYou'll need to make sure you attend all your sessions so you don't fall behind with your work.
Full attendance is a vital part of achieving success. For successful completion of the
programme you will need regular contact with tutors. This is both expected and essential in
order to cope with this level of study and to prepare you for the world of work and higher level
careers.
Minimum attendanceIt is obvious that if you do not attend you classes your study will suffer and the commitment you
have made to your higher education will be wasted. We expect 100% attendance. The college
requires a basic minimum attendance of 90%. Any attendance below the minimum results in
remedial action established by the student engagement team. If the problem persists you risk
having your enrolment cancelled and you may be required to return monies provided to support
you.
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It is most important that you monitor your attendance just as we do and bring any issues or
concerns to the attention of your personal tutor or the student engagement team. You can
check your attendance on Moodle. You should do this regularly and if there are any
discrepancies, let your personal tutor know. Absences for things like illness, family crises,
medical or other appointments, educational visits, job interviews etc. all need to be notified as
soon as practical. Where a disability, medical condition, mental health issue or the effects of
medication are affecting your attendance or punctuality please discuss this with your personal
tutor or a disability advisor so that we can make reasonable adjustments if appropriate. You
should inform your personal tutor in the first instance when attendance is not possible.
Arrive on timePlease do not be late for timetabled sessions. If you do arrive late in class it will be disruptive for
those present especially if you interrupt during lectures and presentations. If there is a specific
and good reason why you might be struggling to attend sessions on time, please speak to your
personal tutor / programme leader for advice.
Considerate mobile phone useMobile phone conversations, texting and smart phone use can be extremely distracting in
certain circumstances. As trainee counsellors you are expected to be fully present and not
distracted by your mobile phone. Phones should normally be switched off in classes unless the
tutor decides the nature of the class is such that it is ok to have them on silent / vibrate. In
exceptional circumstances (a potential family emergency, for example) you might wish to make
the session tutor aware that you may be required to answer your mobile phone. Mobile phones
should never be used in examinations or during assessments and should be fully turned off at
these times. UCBC has a policy of excluding students from examinations and recording a zero
mark should a mobile phone ring while the examination is in progress.
Use MoodleMoodle allows you access to college information at a time that fits in with you and your life. It is
a web-based e-learning system used throughout the college (a Virtual Learning Environment –
VLE) and it brings together different forms of e-learning and includes valuable information about
your programme including lecture notes and additional learning resources as well as
discussions, quizzes and chat rooms.
See page 23 for more about Moodle.
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The college email system and Moodle for UCBC communication
You must check your college email account and Moodle pages dailyUse your college email account for UCBC communications. Do not write to any member of staff
about college matters from any another email address. By the same token, staff should write to
you from their @blackburn.ac.uk email account and not from a personal one. If you write to a
member of staff from an account other than your college account the member of staff should
simply reply by saying you need to re-send the message from your college account.
Moodle is also used as an important and secure way of communicating with you so you must
check it regularly. It also keeps you in touch with your peers and tutors.
“I much prefer Gmail / Yahoo!, Hotmail - why is this necessary?“First, it is for your safety. People can pretend to be you easily just by getting a Hotmail / Gmail /
Yahoo! account or similar and by then claiming to be you. They might do it for fun, or might
have a more sinister and malicious reason to impersonate you. We know your college account
is authentic as we created it from your enrolment details. If you have protected your password
(which you are required to) then communication will be safe. We can’t authenticate your
personal email accounts in the same way and we can’t keep track of everybody’s changes to
their email addresses.
Second, because we need to contact you easily, sometimes on very important matters. We can
address an email to you from the University Centre system very easily, but we can’t keep track
of your other email addresses reliably. If you don’t check your college email regularly you might
just be inconvenienced (like travelling in for a class that has had to be cancelled or relocated) or
you could suffer badly as as a result (for example, you might miss an important notification
about your assessment).
NB: These are safeguarding precautions. These steps to protect you won’t work unless you keep your login details secret, as you are absolutely required to.
If you experience difficulties with MoodleMoodle records all access and accurately tracks activity by date and time, this includes
assignment submissions.
If you have an issue whilst in the Moodle system, you can use the Moodle messaging system or
the Help Desk link from the menu at the top to report the fault.
12
In the event that the Moodle service is inaccessible or unavailable, the fault can be reported on
(01254) 292345 during normal working hours or via Twitter (@bbcollege) or Facebook (BBColl)
outside of normal working hours.
The staff responsible for Moodle’s operation endeavor to repair faults within 30 minutes of
notification although it can take longer during the night.
Please note that academic tutors are not able to provide any assistance with these kinds of
technical problem so please report the problems using the channels above only.
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Microsoft Office 365 and storage space for students
When you establish your Blackburn College email account you will have access to the following
facilities:
Microsoft OneDrive for Business - This will give you 25Gb of “cloud” storage for your files.
Access to Microsoft Office applications online – these are in effect scaled-down versions of
Microsoft Office 2013 applications such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft
Powerpoint. You can download and install office on your own PCs / iPads/ Macs from “Office
Pro Plus”. There is a limit of 5 such installations per user.
Please note: you will lose access all of these facilities automatically after you leave college so
be sure to backup your files before you leave.
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Using email effectively
Email is an important means by which tutors communicate with their students. However, high
volumes of unnecessary, inappropriate or ineffective email traffic can cause significant
difficulties for staff that can impact on the work they do for students in other ways. In order to
ensure email works well for everybody the following guidance points are offered. These follow
discussions between a group of interested staff and the Blackburn College Students’ Union.
1. Deciding whether to send an email. First of all, do you really need to send an email? Has the information already been provided (e.g. in class, in a handout, on Moodle)? Would it be better, and helpful to others in your group who might have the same or similar question, if the question was raised with your personal tutor in tutor groups or in a class instead? It is very inefficient for tutors to have to write individually to students about broadly the same matter, or about something that has already been covered in class or elsewhere.
2. Which email account should you use? Use your Blackburn College email account to communicate with your tutors. The programme handbook explains why this is very important and what can go wrong if you do not follow this advice.
3. How soon you can you expect a response? Tutors will endeavor to respond to emails promptly but are not expected to reply straight away nor in the evenings or weekends (although they may choose to do so). Students can expect to receive a reply within three working days of sending their email but usually they will receive a reply much sooner. The three day target will have to be adjusted because of staff holidays, staff working away from college, staff being part-time etc. and we encourage tutors to indicate to students where this is so. If you do not get a reply within these bounds, check your “sent mail” folder and check you have the correct address. For example, some UCBC staff have email addresses starting with a full first name, for others it is only an initial.
4. Write using a business-like style. Please write your email using formal business-like language, using proper sentences and paragraphs, and with correct punctuation and capitalisation. Avoid “txt speak” (LOL, IMHO, and emoticons etc.) and slang. We advise that you write as you would be expected to within professional employment (for which such communications are good preparation) and in doing so avoid sexist, racist, vulgar, obscene, threatening or aggressive writing and anything which would be in breach of college policies regarding equal opportunities, diversity, bullying and harassment and safeguarding.
5. Be concise and to the point. In order to ensure your tutor can quickly understand what it is you wish to say, write clearly and concisely and be precise about any request you are making as part of your message. Think carefully about what you need to say and how best to say it and exactly what you are trying to achieve. This will make the communication between you and your tutor more efficient and effective.
6. Don’t be accidentally anonymous. Please write your full name at the end of the email so that your tutor knows who you are. This is because college student email addresses are use numbers rather than names.
7. Word your subject carefully. Please ensure that you use the “subject:” field at the start of your email as effectively as possible by giving a short, clear indication of what your message is about. Do not leave it blank. Do not use “reply” to an old message as a quick way of getting an email address without first removing the old subject and the old text.
8. Be thoughtful about copying people in. Do not “CC” other people into your message unless there is a definite and justifiable need to do so. For example, it would be appropriate to do so if you were working with a group of students on whose behalf you were writing to your tutor about, but it would not be appropriate to include lots of people in your email because you want to publicise your anger about something.
9. Use only one addressee. Please put only one address in the “To” field unless you expect a reply from each person in the “To” field and this is reasonable and appropriate. Do not request the same information of multiple tutors as the tutors may be unsure who will or should reply and you may get multiple responses that differ in the case of an open question, for example. It is also most inappropriate and unreasonable to make the same request to multiple people without them each being aware.
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16
A fictitious email from a student to a tutor illustrating some of the points above
17
From: [email protected]
Sent: 13 November 2013 10:02
Subject: Media choice for the pair design task
Dear Alan
Tracy West ([email protected]) and I have started the pair design task following your guidance in tutorial today. We discussed using monochromatic sepia images on a canvas base with you, but since then we have realized we want to use a more contemporary medium. Is it ok to follow the same brief but use etched Perspex instead?
Please advise.
Many thanks.
Yours sincerely,
Aisha Sutcliffe – Group B
Blackburn College account
Fellow group member – so it is
relevant to them
Clear subject
Decide whether “Dear” and first
name is appropriate
Message is clearly written, to the
point, and so is the request
Full name
Amendments to your study plan
Each student at UCBC has a study plan individual to them. If you wish to amend any of the
following listed below, an ‘Amendment to Study Plan’ should be completed and submitted to
your programme leader. The form should be used for the following purposes:
To change pathway or stream (within the first two months of commencement of
programme of study)
To amend attendance pattern (full-time, part-time, etc.)
To change your selection of any optional modules
To apply for an extension to period of study (not exceeding one additional year from date
of first enrolment)
Forms are available from your personal tutor.
Please note that changes to study plan are subject to approval and the rules that apply may not
allow certain types of changes.
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Equipment
Successful study means coming to class prepared. You should make sure you always have the
equipment needed for your session.
Basic equipment checklist
Pens (eg fountain pen) pencils, ruler, eraser, highlighters, pencil
sharpener
Pads of A4 paper
Ring binders (one per module)
Dividers and plastic sleeves
Handy packs of paper tissues
USB storage device
CD-R and CD-RWs for handing in audio/video assessments
Digital Voice Recorder or Smartphone with voice recording
capability and digital camera for use with Evernote
Computer and printer
Access to the Internet from home
Access to your Evernote account
Further equipment informationPlease see your student organiser for information about general UCBC facilities. Software that
is especially useful for students with disabilities is available on machines within the library.
Additional aids to assist students in accessing the facilities are also available for example a
CCTV screen, hand held scanner, specialist keyboards etc. Please ask the library staff for
assistance.
Disability Services have access to various types of accessibility equipment which is available for
loan during the academic year.
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Programme events & enrichment
Centre-wide events
Please get involved in the student union and the many events staged at the University Centre:
from live local bands to visits and competitions.
Programme events
Your fellow students are a great resource! To enrich your learning we encourage you to team
up with your peers and form study groups. You will have opportunities to attend conferences at
UCBC and hear guest speakers – recent speakers have included Professor Colin Feltham on
the person centred approach and Dr Val Todd presenting her research on eating disorders.
Counsellors and psychotherapists from across East Lancashire will be dropping in to talk about
the challenges of client work. Members of the programme team organise trips to conferences
each year.
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Fleur Vickery (L) and Jeanette Chambers (R) meet Jerold Bozarth at the ADPCA Conference in Nottingham (2014)
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Learning, teaching and assessment strategy
The learning and teaching strategies for the counselling programme are designed to support the
transfer of learning between the different modules and the integration of theory with work based
practice. Teaching, learning and assessment will consistently address the learning outcomes
for the programme and each individual module. Key themes of the strategy are:
An explicit emphasis on the significance of work based learning, including dedicated tutor
support, clinical supervision and practice placement mentoring
The planned and effective development of the ability to professionally transfer academic
and practical skills to the work place
An on-going commitment to continuous assessment and feedback
Effective and on-going support through the use of targeted and open door tutorials
The use of flexible and appropriate learning methods: lectures and workshops, portfolios,
the reflective journal, projects, self-directed study, individual and peer reflection, small
group work, on-line and blending learning
Assessment strategies will include essays and reports, case studies, audio and video
recordings of skills work, presentations and an e-portfolio documenting work based
learning and containing critical reflections on self-development, client work and
supervision
Use of inclusive learning methods which will accommodate the diversity of all learners
whilst not affecting the academic rigour of the programme.
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Online resources and Moodle
We subscribe to a number of electronic databases, e-journals and e-books. These are available
through the college virtual learning environment (Moodle). Access to these is through logging
into Moodle and searching for materials, the results of your search can then be saved, printed
off or shared with others on your programme.
Databases
These can offer thousands of articles, case studies, legal documents, datasets, newspaper
articles, film and audio clips that can be used to help with your studies. They are updated daily
and are very high quality academic resources.
E-journals
These are very current and relevant to your research and studies. The journals that are
available through EBSCO offer full text articles that can be saved or printed.
The subjects that we have online journals for include:
Education Medicine and Health
Fine Arts Psychology
Geography Politics
History Social science
Language and literature Science
Law Technology
E-booksE-books are becoming a more and more important part of our collection of learning resources
available to you to support your study. E-book readers enable you to personalise, read online,
download, and copy and paste text from sources into your study notes. Be sure to record the
bibliographic details there and then (see the material on referencing starting below) alongside
the text in case you need to refer to such source material in your assignments. This is a great
time-saving tip. Access e-books is unlimited and there are additional tools that can be used with
the Ebrary platform allowing links to other resources in Google, YouTube and Wikipedia.
Dynamic Learning also has video content and assessment materials that you can access. The
types of books vary from key texts for a particular programme to general subject reading.
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Using Moodle VLE for your learning and for communicationInformation on the Moodle Virtual Learning Environment e-learning platform might take the form
of videos, additional presentations, websites, online lectures and specific resources that will add
value to your programme. Information on Moodle will help reinforce what you have learnt face to
face.
Moodle is also used to communicate with you on important official matters. Thus it is most
important that you check your Moodle pages regularly
Soon after you have enrolled you'll have the opportunity to take part in Moodle induction so you
know how to make the most of the resources that are available. You are required to submit your
written coursework work via Moodle and also you will use it to share resources with your tutor
group. Don't worry if you feel a little daunted about using IT or websites as a learning resource,
your tutors will help and guide you.
Moodle is organised to give you ready access to information you need as a student of
Blackburn College. There are programme areas where you tutor will put all of the materials you
will need, these are organised into areas. Your programme leader will give you specific
instructions to gain access to these areas. You will need your college username and password.
The general areas of Moodle contain links to your student email account, the online library
resources, information about the college services, policies and news. There is also an area
called My Moodle that you can personalise.
Moodle offers many opportunities for you to learn at your own pace outside of the time you
spend in class. This means Moodle can be used as part of your independent study away from
class.
Moodle is an e-learning system which provides students and tutors with a flexible and easy way
to interact with each other outside of the classroom. It also provides a platform to develop and
deliver a range of online and blended learning programmes.
Many Moodle users love to use the activity modules (such as forums, databases and wikis) to
build richly collaborative communities of learning around their subject matter (in the social
constructionist tradition). Here at the University Centre at Blackburn College teachers use
Moodle as a way to deliver content to students and assess learning using assignments.
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MOODLE includes some of the following features:
• Create and manage information;
• Social networking capabilities such as forums, messaging and chat;
• Quizzes and tests;
• Assignment management with plagiarism detection system access;
• Timetables and schedules;
• News and information.
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Employability and transferable skills
At University Centre at Blackburn College developing students’ employability by building
opportunities into programmes is a vital feature. When we say ‘employability’ we use a simple
and personalised definition – we aim to give each and every one of our students the best
possible chance of joining and sustaining their chosen career path. You should read our
employability statement at www.blackburn.ac.uk/employability.
If you are not in employment undertaking a placement or voluntary work provides an excellent
opportunity for you to develop vital employability skills. Family contacts often help in this
respect, and your tutors can advise and guide you.
All students are able to access additional support in accessing employer-led research projects,
work placements and work-based learning opportunities by contacting the Research
Employability and International Hub within the University Centre.
If you are undertaking a work placement that is an integral part of your programme you will be
asked to contribute to the preparation of a risk assessment.
Placements and work-based learning contact Nick Hall 01254 292848 [email protected]
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Programme structure
Full-time Route
Semester A Semester BDissertation (40 credits)
Contemporary Issues in Professional Practice (20 credits)Group Dynamics and Group Process (20 credits)
Brief Therapy with Children and Young People (20 credits)Students will choose one option from:
Advanced Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (20 credits)The Solution Focused Approach : Extending Theory and Practice (20
credits)
Part-time Route
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Module information
Module Credits Code ScheduledTeachingHours
Independent StudyHours
Total Student Learning Hours
ModuleTutor
Dissertation 40 EH30022 90 310 400 John Marsden
Contemporary Issues in Professional Practice
20 EH30023 60 140 200 Jill Bamber
Group Dynamics and Group Process
20 EH30024 60 140 200 Paul Heald
Brief Therapy with Children and Young People
20 EH30025 60 140 200 Jill Bamber
Advanced Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (Option)
20 EH30026 120 80 200 TBC
The Solution Focused Approach: Extending Theory and Practice (Option)
20 EH30027 120 80 200 John Marsden
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Module synopses
DissertationThe focus for this module is on the development of independent learners and the acquisition of
honours level academic, vocational and transferable skills. The main emphasis is on the further
development of higher academic and vocational skills of analysis, synthesis, critical evaluation,
critical application of conflicting theories to practice, challenging theoretical models and
concepts and complex problem-solving.
Students will have an appreciation of the ethical challenges of conducting research in this field
from their level five research project. The dissertation module will encourage them to be
creative, flexible and enquiring in their selection of a topic relating to brief therapies and an
appropriate methodology. The strict ethics policy and governance procedures at UCBC will be
applied and students will be required to develop a detailed rationale, methodology and ethical
exploration of the topic prior to pursuing the development of the dissertation. It further
incorporates and extends a student’s ability to pursue an area of research in brief therapy and
supports the practitioner-researcher model advocated by the BACP.
Contemporary Issues in Professional Practice This module endeavours to address issues currently engaging the counselling profession in
order to enable students to progress professional practice. It has three main strands: ‘Relational
Depth’ critically revisits the core model (person-centred practice) in the light of students’
experience of practising brief therapy within their placements. Managing Professional Dilemmas
offers a platform for critically approaching the ethical and legal perspectives of the moment. It
provides an opportunity for students to engage critically with current debates shaping the future
of brief therapy and the counselling profession as a whole. Finally, the Social and Political
Context of Counselling offers opportunities to engage with current issues relating to society and
politics.
Group Dynamics and Group ProcessIn addition to offering individual brief therapy, counsellors can be expected to work in a group
environment, offering support and therapeutic activities in a time-limited fashion with client
groups. The ability to work in a group setting is therefore an important skills set, increasing the
therapist’s flexibility and promoting employability. This module organises around the three
strands of participation (membership), facilitation (leadership) and underpinning knowledge
(theory).
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Brief Therapy with Children and Young PeopleIn the first semester this module critically examines child development, attachment and the
impact of early negative experiences on children. This provides a theoretical framework with
which to critically appreciate disorganised attachment and developmental trauma and their
effect on children, young people and adults across the life course. Students will critically
evaluate the key theories of attachment, drawing on the work of Bowlby and Ainsworth, and
assess the impact of different attachment modes on the development of children and young
people. Students will also explore the impact of attachment issues on adults and how
attachment styles can develop.In the second semester this appreciation will underpin an
exploration and critical evaluation of creative approaches to brief therapy with children and
young people.
Advanced Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (Option)This module extends and deepens the learning achieved on the level five modules Introduction
to Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (Theory) and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Skills. Those
modules introduced learners to CBT and low intensity work with clients experiencing low to mild
anxiety and depression. This module provides learners with a critical understanding of CBT as a
brief therapy in high intensity work with clients experiencing moderate distress and more
complex needs. The module will give learners a thorough grounding in recognising and referring
clients with more severe presentations. To that end a critical appreciation of mental health and
psychopharmacology are module components.
The module includes a critical exploration of the cognitive-behavioural approach to complex
mental health issues, such as post-traumatic stress, addictions, obsessions and compulsions; it
critically examines the use of brief CBT with specific client groups including children, young
people and older people with and without dementia. It considers CBT as a brief therapy
approach with individuals and groups.
The Solution Focused Approach: Extending Theory and Practice (Option)
This optional module extends and deepens the knowledge and skills learnt by students on the
level five module Solution Focused Interventions. It is suited to learners who prefer an
alternative to humanistic or cognitive approaches to counselling with brief interventions. The
module enables students to develop a critical understanding of the solution focused approach
and its application to a range of presenting concerns and clients (individuals and groups)
including young people and individuals living with drug and alcohol problems. The module
extends learning from level five by exploring clinical work with more complex and enduring
mental health cases. It critically examines the efficacy of the brief solution focused approach in
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more complex work, evaluating the research base supporting work with moderate to moderately
severe cases. It takes the learning achieved on level five and deepens it by using audio taped
client sessions to critically reflect on the quality of the student’s solution focused interventions,
creating a community of advanced practitioners, providing social support and constructive
developmental feedback in the student’s chosen specialism.
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List of types of assessment on the programme
The table below gives a summary of the assessment methods used in each module
Module Title Credits
Coursework Type Length
Dissertation 40 1 x 10,000 word in-depth research
dissertation in an area of practice
relative to the study of counselling.
(100%)
Coursework 10,000 words
Contemporary Issues
in Professional
Practice
20 Critical evaluation of experience of
relational depth (50%)
Analysis of an ethical dilemma and its
social and political context (50%)
Report
Essay
2000
words
2000
words
Group Dynamics and
Group Process
20 Critical reflections on the group process
throughout the life of the group posted
on Moodle (50%)
Critical evaluation of a therapeutic
group students have set up and
facilitated (50%)
Forum posts
on Moodle
Report
2000
words
2000
words
Brief Therapy with
Children and Young
People
20 One two-hour open book
examination (50%)
Critical response to a video case
study, including evidence-based
formulation and evaluation of
creative approaches to brief therapy
over 6-12 sessions (50%)
Examination
Critical report
2 hours
2000 words
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Option Modules
Advanced Cognitive
Behavioural Therapy
20 Students will write and present a
case study on their use of CBT with
a current or recent client.
Students will submit a placement
portfolio in a pre-determined format
and including a record of 50
supervised counselling hours
Presentation (25%)
Written Case Study (50%)
Portfolio (25%)
20 mins
2000 words
1000 words
The Solution Focused
Approach : Extending
Theory and Practice
20 Students will write and present a
case study featuring Solution
Focused Therapy with a current or
recent client and addressing all four
learning outcomes
Students will submit a placement
portfolio in a pre-determined format
and including a record of 50
supervised counselling hours
Presentation(25%)
Written Case Study(50%)
Portfolio (25%)
20 mins
2000 words
1000 words
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A guide to assessment
If you are a student new to studying at university level you might not know what to expect in the
way of assessment – what you are being assessed on, how to handle each kind of assessment
and how to use the feedback you receive. This short guide will help answer some of the
questions that we know students often have.
Will there be lots of assessment?Most undergraduate programmes are made up of modules delivered across two semesters.
Each module will usually have its own separate assessments, although sometimes these are
combined and assessed together.
There are two types of assessment: “formative assessment” is the name given to tasks that are
set that are designed to help you learn and practise. “Summative assessment” is the name
given to tasks that you undertake that also provide a mark / grade that counts towards your year
results and, eventually, your award. Summative assessments might be coursework or formal
examinations, for example. They will help you learn but their primary purpose is for grading.
Giving your best effort to all formative assessments is a key to doing well in the summative
ones.
Who designs the assessments?Depending on the programme your tutors at UCBC or a partner university or other awarding
body design the assessments based on the overall validated definition of the programme.
Summative assessments have to be approved by the relevant partner university in various ways
before they can be set, and this involves individuals from outside the centre called an “external
examiners” scrutinising them. External examiners are senior academics from other higher
education institutions appointed by the partner university to check standards of assessment and
to ensure standards being applied are in line with those applied elsewhere in higher education.
In addition your tutors plan lots of different kinds of formative assessment throughout the
programme, to see how well you are learning and to give you practice.
To summarise, assessment is therefore broadly formative (assessment for learning – building
knowledge and skills) and summative (assessment of learning – having your knowledge and
skills tested and graded). Summative assessment (which could be coursework or examinations)
is graded and usually the grade forms part of your overall results.
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How long will I get to complete my assignments?The time that you get to complete assignments will vary, depending upon the nature of the task.
Don’t leave it until the last minute and then discover you should have started it earlier! Plan to
start early and it will give you time to review and refine your work. If you leave it too late you
may find yourself doing it when you are stressed, or ill, or that all the books you need are out on
loan, and so you might not perform at your best.
How should I present my assignments?Unless the module tutor informs you otherwise you should follow this layout guidance:
1. Use 12 point Arial font
This is a particularly readable font. Being a “sans serif” font (one without tiny barbs such as
seen on Times New Roman) makes it clear and clean-looking and (possibly) more contemporary.
2. Set the line spacing of your normal paragraph style to 1.5 lines.
This is particularly useful in cases where your tutor wishes to annotate your work.
3. Set the justification of your paragraphs to be left justified and the page margins to be
around 1.5cm.
Left justified text is more readable than is the case for fully justified (straight left and right
margins).
4. A report should have a front title page and a contents page, other written assignments
such as essays should just have a title page.
5. Your front title page should contain your student ID, the submission date, the name of the
programme, the name of the module and the title of the assignment.
6. Arrange for your pages to be numbered at the bottom of the page in the middle.
7. Arrange to have headers on every page giving your student ID and the name of the
assignment in 8 point Arial font.
8. All sources and quotations are to be referenced using the Harvard style of referencing
(see page 43).
9. Your bibliography should be at the end of your assignment starting on a new page.
10. Write in prose paragraphs. Use bulleted lists very sparingly or not at all.
11. If you are told you must produce a printed copy, print on single sides only.
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This programme handbook is not the place for detailed guidance on grammar, style,
punctuation and spelling but a few reminders are probably worthwhile:
1. Assignments should be written in a formal style.
Assignments are formal academic writing to be assessed. Avoid informal and jokey language,
slang, “txt speak”, exclamation marks and so on.
2. Avoid over-long sentences and over-long paragraphs and write clearly and plainly.
Paragraph-long sentences and page-long paragraphs are evidence of poor writing technique.
Convoluted and needlessly complex sentences are likely to trip you up and confuse your
reader. Being able to express yourself clearly and plainly is evidence of genuine understanding.
3. Make sure you proof read your assignment thoroughly and carefully
Proof reading ensures your assignment has the very best impact it can have. That desirable
effect can be thrown away by careless or non-existent proof reading.
Will I get the assignments for all the modules that I am studying all at the same time?Every programme is different, but there are key times, e.g. towards the end of the semester,
when you will probably have a number of assignment deadlines. To help you plan your time, the
programme team will try to spread these out as much as possible and will give you the full
schedule of all assignments for whole programme at the start of the year. Your personal tutor
will also help you with planning for assignments and organising your time.
In the majority of programmes you will also be assessed throughout your programme and will
get on-going feedback – this is formative assessment as discussed above and is designed to
help you learn as you go through your programme. Some formative assessment is quite
informal – it may be your tutor asking specific questions in class, for example. Other types of
formative assessment can include written reports, essay drafts, tasks for seminars etc, some of
which are handed in so that written feedback can be provided.
What will I be assessed on?You will be assessed on the extent to which you have mastered the “learning outcomes” of each
module you take. These are presented in the module’s “descriptor” which can be thought of as a
syllabus for the module. You will be given the module descriptors of the modules you take, and
you will see they provide lots of useful detail about the module and how it will be assessed.
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What are the modules’ learning outcomes?The modules’ learning outcomes specify are what knowledge, skills or abilities you are seeking
to master. They specify what knowledge, skill or ability you are expected to be able to
demonstrate as a result of studying the module. The team devise different forms of assessment
to give you opportunities to show how well you achieve the learning outcomes. In this way we
test how well you have achieved the learning outcomes and we assign grades to your
achievement of them through the assessment tasks. Your module leader will help you
understand the learning outcomes of their module, what’s expected, and will guide you in how
to tackle them in your assignments and examinations.
Keep referring to the learning outcomes in the module descriptor – you can monitor your own
development and you can see where you might need to put more effort, or seek help and
advice.
What if I would struggle with an assessment because of a disability, learning difficulty, illness or injury?The mix of assessment types within a programme is carefully checked at the time of its
validation to make sure that it provides a balance of tasks appropriate to the subject, level and
award. Because of this, the expectation on all higher education courses is that students will
undertake the assessments as stated in the validation (the awarding body’s official approval).
The college has mechanisms to ensure that students with particular needs get fair treatment.
This can involve changes to arrangements for assessments and, in extreme cases, changes to
the assessments themselves.
It is important to realise that every variation from normal practice must be applied for and needs
formal approval by the Assessment Arrangements Panel. This is true even if you have had
changes to assessments on a previous course at the college.
The process for applications can be found in the Student Organiser.
What kinds of assessment will there be?Some types may already be very familiar, such as essays, exams, and reports. However, in
higher education there are a great many varieties of assessment depending on the subject, the
level and the type of programme. Foundation degrees, for example, integrate academic and
work-based learning so assessment often include lots of reflection, portfolio building and case
studies. Here’s a bit more detail about some of the more common types of assessment:
EssayAn essay is an answer to a question in the form of continuous, connected prose,
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usually with a word limit. Often these are set by the tutors but you may also be
asked to formulate your own question with the tutor’s help. Essays test your ability
to organise your thinking, discuss, evaluate, analyse, summarise and criticise.
They also test your skills at making essay plans and reaching a robust and
convincing conclusion or decision.
Assignment or brief An assignment or brief is a learning task that allows you to cover a fixed section of
the curriculum predominantly through independent study with guidance. Different
methods of presenting the results can be used depending on the nature of the
task - a report (oral or written), a design solution, a newspaper or magazine
article, a video, a poster, a research bid, a book review, a contribution to a debate,
etc.
Group project or assignment This is where either an assignment or project is undertaken collectively by groups
of students working collaboratively, helping to develop team working skills. In
some cases, particularly where the same thing happens in industry, there are
particular assignments that can - by definition - only be achieved in a group. The
major assessment problem is how to identify each individual's role and
contribution and to reward it fairly. Solutions tend to include combinations of: an
individual component which can be individually assessed, tutor observation, and
involving the students in some self and/or peer assessment as the ones in the
best position to judge. Arriving at fair grades for group assessment can be
challenging but it is often a most appropriate form of assessment nevertheless
because it reflects what happens in industry where people are often expected to
work together and be judged as a team.
Dissertation A dissertation is usually a substantial written presentation of an investigation or
piece of research, normally taking the form of prose split into chapters.
Dissertations measure your ability to write-up research findings, and demonstrate
good subject, research and communication skills. They also measure your ability
to review the related literature, and link your findings into this. They test your
ability to set out with a well-defined question, and bring it to a solid conclusion or
verdict. Dissertations are usually part of the assessment at the end of your studies
as they bring together lots of the things you’ve learned before. As such they are
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often the highlight of your study on your programme and very individualised and
something most students are very proud of, and rightly so.
Examinations Examinations can take a variety of forms, with the most common type being done
under strict timed conditions supervised by an “invigilator”. Exams test your ability
to think critically, to respond in a structured way to a question within a time limit
and to plan on the spot as well as testing your knowledge and understanding of
the subject. Some of the most common types of exams are:
'Seen' where the questions to be answered are given at a pre-specified
date beforehand. The intention is to reduce the need for 'question-spotting',
to reduce the anxiety and to increase the emphasis on learning.
'Open-book', where you will have access to specified texts and / or your
notes. The intention is to reduce the emphasis on memorising facts, to
reduce anxiety and allow more demanding questions to be set.
'Unseen' where you don’t know what the questions are until you sit the
exam. Arguably these make you focus on the whole syllabus because
anything may appear on the paper.
Multiple choice exams where you select from a bank of potential answers.
There are a number of different types of question and, despite the “multi-
guess” myths, multiple choice questions can be devised that are very
challenging.
There are strict regulations governing examinations and conduct during
examinations. See the student organiser for more information:
http://www.blackburn.ac.uk/higher-education
PortfoliosThese typically involve a carefully thought-out collection of evidence of your work
that shows how you have achieved learning outcomes for your module. Often
they will have “witness statements” - others’ testimony about your work, and
feedback you’ve collected. Portfolios are intended to be a measure of the work of
the ‘whole candidate’, rather than just particular aspects of the candidate’s work.
They also measure your ability to organise a collection of evidence, in a readable,
navigable way.
ReportsThere are many kinds of reports – laboratory ones, field-trip ones, business ones,
39
and so on – each has its own conventions and preferred formats – your tutors will
tell you more. They are usually organised into sections and sub-sections with
headings and subheadings. Assessed reports test your skills at finding out about,
and adhering to, the expected report formats and conventions in your subject
discipline. They also measure your ability to put forward an organised piece of
writing, coming to conclusions, making suggestions for further work, and so on.
They often test your skills at interpreting data, making sense of your findings, and
so on.
Presentations It is quite normal to be a little anxious about giving a presentation at first. However
you normally build up to these as your programme progresses and you’ll be given
lots of support and time to prepare. You may be involved in group or solo
presentations, perhaps to some or all of your class, usually with the tutor present.
Sometimes peer assessment is used. Presentations measure your ability to talk
fluently about a topic, to illustrate what you say with media, and to answer
questions from the group. They also measure your skills at preparing visual aids
(e.g. handouts, diagrams, presentation software) to support your presentation. On
some programmes there are very few presentations. However, in the workplace,
more and more people have to be involved in them, so practising on your
programme is a very good way of developing your skills.
A typical presentation can be thought of as having an IDCC “structure”: Introduce,
Develop, Consolidate, Conclude (IDCC). More involved / longer presentations
might have multiple IDCC sections with an over-arching introduction and
overarching conclusion:
I IDCC IDCC IDCC … IDCC CRole playsThe terms "role play" and "simulation" are sometimes used interchangeably. They
are very practical experiential types of assessment which are often all about
helping students understand the complexities of professional practice in a
controlled environment. They can be in group or one to one situations, and will
always include lots of guidance and support form tutors.
Self and peer assessment There is strong evidence that involving students in the assessment process can
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have clear educational benefits. Rather than being a type of assessment like the
ones above this is something which can be done in conjunction with any type of
assessment. The important aspect is that it involves the student in trying to
interpret the quality of their work themselves or with their peers. This might
include: a marking exercise on 'fictitious' or previous years' student work; the
completion of a self-assessment sheet to be handed in with your work; 'marking' a
peer's work and giving them feedback (which they can then possibly redraft before
submission to the tutor); or really marking other students' work (i.e. allocating
marks which actually count in some way) - a seminar presentation, for example, or
a written product using a model answer. The suggestion is that through trying to
apply criteria yourself (instead of your tutor doing it), or mark using a model
answer, you will gain much greater insight in to what is actually being required and
subsequently your own work may improve in the light of this.
Can I work on my assignments with my fellow students?
You are encouraged to study with your peers and to discuss the academic content of your
programme because this aids your learning and understanding. However, the purpose of
assessment is to enable you to demonstrate your own personal knowledge, understanding and
skills. Consequently, it is vitally important that all of the content of your assessment
submissions is entirely your own work unless the assessment brief clearly states otherwise you
must not work together on the content of your submissions. You must read and understand the
section on academic misconduct (see page 46) to avoid possible pitfalls.
How should I prepare for assignments?Knowing where to start when you receive an assignment can be difficult – your personal tutor
and module tutors will provide you with lots of support both in terms of the topic of the
assignment and advice about how to approach the task. Additionally the student engagement
team in the UHub will be able to offer small group study support sessions or one-to-one
meetings to help you.
What can I do if I think an assessment is just too hard for me?Definitely don’t panic! It’s more than likely you will feel like this at some point, not least because
studying at this level is designed to stretch and challenge you. Your tutors have lots of
experience and will be able to offer you guidance and support. Try to talk to them as soon as
you feel you are struggling and not just before the deadline. Sometimes it’s worth just doing the
very best you can and then making good use of the feedback you get. Again, tutors will be there
to guide you.
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What if I’m struggling to meet deadlines?Part of your personal tutor’s role is to help you with planning and organising your time so that
you are able to manage your workload. However things sometimes do happen which can
disrupt even the best laid plans. Again, as soon as you feel you’re struggling, go and see your
personal tutor.
Don’t delay! The sooner we know you have a difficulty the sooner we can offer help. We
often find students leave it too late and by then options are limited.
What happens if I fail an assessment?Most students pass their work, but if your mark for an individual module is less than a pass, you
will normally be referred on that module. This means that you will have to resubmit relevant
work, however for this second attempt, you can only be awarded a maximum of a pass. There
are also rules about the number of fails you can have on different levels of your programme –
your personal tutor will tell you more when you start the programme.
What if I don’t submit anything for the assessment of one of my modules?It is imperative that you make a submission on time to the best of your ability, even if you are
not confident it will achieve a pass. The consequences of submitting nothing can be very
severe. Making the best attempt you can will be more favourable for you, when the examination
board examines your profile of marks, than having submitted nothing at all. Of course, if you
have mitigating circumstances (see page 54) and these are accepted and have prevented you
from submitting anything, then you will be able to submit without penalty, at a later time.
What do the numbers against each question mean in a Lancaster or Pearson BTEC exam mean?Exam papers are graded according to your overall performance in the examination. The
numbers shown against each question and/or sub-question indicate the relative weightings of
the parts of the paper rather than the marks available. No overall mark will be given for the
paper and only the grade awarded will be stored in our records. If you are a student studying
under percentage based classification regulations the grade awarded for this paper will be
converted to a numeric percentage prior for use in classification calculations.
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Quick-start guide to Harvard referencing
The UCBC Good Referencing Guide on Moodle is a very thorough booklet. However, if you are
new to referencing here is a basic quick-start guide that will cover many situations. It just deals
with simple citations, quotations and how to present a bibliography for a book and a web site.
Please note a few subjects do not use Harvard referencing, for example some use the numeric
system. Your tutors will advise you about that.
In this quick-start guide, this Courier New font will be used for made up
passages that could be in your assignment.
A simple citation in your textWhen you refer to or quote somebody, you give a citation next to the place where you do this. A
simple citation is just the author’s surname followed by a comma then by the year of publication
(Bloggs, 2010).
That’s it!
All your citations must refer to an item in your bibliography at the end of your work.
A short direct quotationShort direct quotes can flow in your paragraph, being marked out by use of ‘ at the start and
end, and having a citation at the end. Because it is a direct quote, you must include a page
number after the surname. Here is an example from a fictitious assignment:
When first introducing a character, it helps the reader if you don’t
go in to too much detail. For example ‘He is a very impressive
character. He is quite small, but stands very upright and communicates
a sense of power which you cannot ignore’ (Torday 2007: 76). Later on,
we get a much more detailed and sophisticated picture, but this is how
he is introduced.
A long direct quotationHere is an example of an extract from a fictitious assignment including a long direct quote:
When considering when and how the K tax code is to be applied, the
best source of advice is Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs itself:
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If your deductions (untaxed income on which tax is still due) are more
than your allowances you'll be given a K code, to ensure you pay tax on
the excess. Whereas with other tax codes the number indicates the amount
of income you can have tax-free, the number in a K code multiplied by ten
broadly indicates how much must be added to your taxable income to take
account of the excess untaxed income you received. The tax deducted for
each pay period cannot be more than half of your gross pay or pension for
that period. If more tax is due you will pay it at a later date (HMRC,
2013: not paginated)
This avoids getting this important information second-hand.
Notice that the citation says “not paginated” instead of giving a page number. This is because it
is a web site and has no page numbers. Also notice that the long direct quote is indented and is
single line spaced (unlike the rest which is 1 ½ line spaced). This makes it stand out well and
means you don’t actually need to use quotation marks. If you don’t do it like this you must use
quotation marks or it will not be clear who owns the text.
Use long direct quotes sparingly, or you may be penalised for being over-reliant on others’ work.
Word counts and quoted textUnless you are informed otherwise by the module tutor, word count limits apply to your own
original content and not to quoted text. Remember that excessive use of quoted text is poor
technique and could lead to failure on grounds of your assignment being over-reliant on others
and having insufficient original content.
Referring to somebody’s work without quoting them directlySimply place a citation alongside your explanation of the other person’s work, like this:
The author found a really helpful book on study skills that takes care
to ensure all the topics are explained very clearly (Northedge, 1990).
You don’t need a page number for indirect references like this, but it does no harm to include
one and doing so may help avoid any doubt about your source.
Preparing a bibliographyA simple entry in the bibliography is done like this:
Surname, Initial followed by a full stop. (Year) Title in italics or underlined followed by a full stop.
Place of publication: Publisher
For an online source, it is similar but you need to give the full web address and the date you
accessed the source. See the example below.
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So here is the bibliography for the few examples above, in alphabetical order as required.
Bibliography
HMRC (2013) Tax Codes – the basics. [Online]. Available from:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/incometax/codes-basics.htm [Accessed 26 July
2013]
Northedge, A. (1990) The Good Study Guide. Milton Keynes: Open
University
Torday, P. (2007) Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. London: Phoenix
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Avoiding cheating, plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct
Students are often worried about being accused of plagiarism (presenting other people’s work
for assessment as if it was their own) or other forms of “academic misconduct” (cheating).
Almost all our students achieve their success without cheating and they and their families can
be rightly proud of what they have achieved. Unfortunately, a few students every year try to
cheat the college and their fellow students by submitting work for assessment which isn’t all
their own work. We want all students to avoid the stress and worry and consequences of doing
this, so please study this section carefully. It is written a strong way because the consequences
of not following the advice can be exceptionally severe and can ruin one’s employment or one’s
career as well as one’s award. However, please do not be alarmed. Your tutors will help you
develop your understanding from the beginning of your course (when you might not have a
clear idea about plagiarism) towards the higher levels (when your scholarship will be well-
developed). It is an integral part of your higher education that you develop in this way. Just
follow the advice given and you can rest assured your will develop your scholarship and you will
deserve your award, and it will be your great lifetime achievement.
It is vital that you understand the following points in order avoid the serious consequences that come with being found to have committed academic misconduct. The work you submit for assessment must, in its entirety, be your own original work created by you. If any part of what you submit is, or draws upon, or is influenced by, the work or ideas or help of others you must make this completely clear. There must be no room for doubt, no possibility of a misunderstanding – it must be crystal clear. Scholars do draw upon the work of others, but they do so in a way that makes it totally clear exactly where they are doing so, and they use referencing, citation and quotation techniques precisely and carefully to avoid any possible misunderstandings.
The UCBC Good Referencing Guide is a great resource to help you learn how to go about citing
other authors’ work in your own essays. Your tutors will also help you with lots of practical
advice.
Here is a list of some of the types of activity that you MUST avoid:
1. Directly inserting (e.g. “copy-pasting”) text or other works not written by you (e.g. from a
book, journal, magazine, web site) into your document or work without using the standard
quotation techniques, citation technique and a bibliography entry that shows it is not your
work but it is from elsewhere. It is ok and indeed usually required that you will present
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small, carefully selected directly-quoted inclusions from others’ work PROVIDED you do
it in a way that makes it completely clear that it is from another. That’s what referencing,
bibliographies and quotation technique are about.
2. Taking the words or work or ideas of another and modifying them in some way, and then
including this as if it was your own work or ideas is cheating. It is a MYTH that it is ok to
copy ideas provided you put them “in your own words” in some way. You can introduce
this kind of material into your work but you MUST use referencing and bibliography
technique to avoid being accused of cheating. For example, if you write a poem that is
deliberately in the style of one written by someone else you can do so – provided you
give full credit to that person and their poetry and make it clear what you have done, why
and how.
3. You must not re-use work that you have previously submitted for any other assessment,
here or elsewhere, without explicit permission from the relevant module tutor. Any
material you do re-use must be referenced.
4. If anyone apart from your tutor gives you any help with what you submit for assessment
there is a danger that you might be accused of cheating and you must avoid this. First,
do not allow or ask anyone to contribute anything to help you with your work without first
checking it is ok by writing to your tutor and getting their agreement. Second you must
include a statement of exactly who gave you what help in the assessment itself, under a
section called “acknowledgements” so there can be no doubt about exactly what that
help was.
5. If you get another person to do some or all of your assessment work for you (be they
paid by you or not) and then you submit it as your own work then this is called
“commissioning” and is extremely serious - you risk expulsion and the career /
employment consequences will be with you for a long time after.
We can detect cheating using sophisticated tools
UCBC, like all other higher education institutions (HEI), use a number of sophisticated tools to
detect cheating including an online plagiarism detection system which automatically analyses
coursework submitted and checks it against a huge database of what other students in other
HEIs have submitted as their coursework. It also checks the whole Internet and books, e-books,
and journals, e-journals etc.
We are very strict about academic misconduct. The great majority of our students would never
cheat and we owe it to them to be very firm with those few who do.
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Professional body and external reference points
We strongly recommend that all students on the foundation degree become student members of
the BACP. Your personal tutor will sponsor your membership application and provide you with a
letter confirming you are a student on the course. As a student member of the BACP you will
receive two journals – Therapy Today and the Counselling and Psychotherapy Research
journal. You will also be formally covered by the BACP’s Ethical Framework and complaints
procedure. Joining the professional body is an important step in ensuring ethical and
professional practice.
The programme is informed by the BACP (2007) Core Curriculum for Counselling and
Psychotherapy.
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Coursework submission, deadlines and extensions
All written coursework has to be submitted using a web-based plagiarism detection system. You
access this through Moodle and you must make your submission in this way by a given official
deadline date and a time.
Some written coursework is not suitable for submission to the online plagiarism detection
system. If this is the case for a particular item of coursework you will be informed by your tutor
(for example within the coursework brief) exactly what the submission arrangements are.
Otherwise you must submit to the online plagiarism detection system through Moodle.
The online plagiarism detection system records the time and date of your submission. This
submission and the associated date and time are taken as your official submission and the date
and time recorded are used to determine whether or not you have submitted within the
deadline. If you have not submitted in this way by the deadline date and time, you will incur
penalties according to the assessment regulations.
Do not leave your submission through Moodle until the last minute. The system will get
extremely busy as the deadlines approach and may slow down considerably. Avoid the worry of
this and submit well before the deadline.
You may not submit by any other means than through Moodle for any item of coursework that is
identified as being required to be submitted this way. For all other coursework, you must submit
according to the instructions you are given.
Additional “paper” submission?You may, in addition (i.e. not instead of online plagiarism detection system submission) be
asked to print the written coursework you have submitted through Moodle and be asked to
submit these papers in person following instructions given to you. Please note that it is the
submission through Moodle that counts as the official submission so you must submit through
Moodle and you must do so before the deadline. If you are required to submit through Moodle
and you only submit a printed copy without submitting through Moodle you will be deemed not
to have submitted your coursework and penalties will apply according to the assessment
regulations.
Keep a copy
You must keep a copy of anything you submit, just in case there are any unexpected problems.
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If you have problems submitting through MoodleIf you have problems that prevent you from submitting through Moodle, the following advice is
offered. Only use this approach when you are prevented from submitting through Moodle
because of system failures.
1. Make a copy of the screen containing error messages etc. that show you tried to submit
through Moodle before the deadline but were unable to do so. To do this you could (for
example) use your device’s “screen capture” facility or use a digital camera, smartphone
camera etc. to take a picture of the screen.
2. Make a note of the date and time you tried to submit and make a note of any other
messages etc. not captured.
3. Email your file to your tutor’s Blackburn College address (ending in @blackburn.ac.uk)
but at the same time “CC” the email to your own email address. In this way you will have
a dated and timed copy of the email in both your “sent items” folder and your inbox folder
and the tutor should receive their copy also. These can be used as evidence of
submission on time and will help if there is an email problem (e.g. wrong address,
recipient’s mailbox full, your mail item being trapped by a “spam” filter etc).
4. If you can email the copy of the screen containing error messages, do so, otherwise
provide this to your tutor by hand. Keep a copy.
ExtensionsInformation about obtaining an extension to a coursework deadline is presented in the student
organiser at:
http://www.blackburn.ac.uk/higher-education
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Feedback, the ways you will receive it, and why it is important
It was explained above that assessment comes in two types: formative (to help you learn and
practise) and summative (tasks that generate marks that count to your success in the year and
to your award).
Feedback is where your tutor gives you any indication about how well you have done (or are
doing) on an assessment.
Examples are:
Verbal feedback (perhaps in a tutorial or an email) on how well you are doing with a
project or other assignment you are working on (which might be formative or summative);
Comments / grades / mark written on a specially-designed feedback form following
submission of a summative assessment;
Comments written on the work itself, for example hand-written notes or embedded
comments in what you submit to Moodle.
Thus, you will get feedback on assessment in a great many ways and feedback is not just the about mark / grade you get for an assessment.
Centre-wide policy on feedback times for marks / gradesWe expect UCBC tutors to provide feedback on summative coursework assessment within three term-time weeks of it being submitted*. We strive to get the feedback to you sooner than
this where possible. However, it is very important to understand the following:
the feedback on coursework (including any mark / grade, and any written or verbal
comments, and any indication of pass / fail) are provisional until confirmed by the
examination boards. We want to get your summative feedback to you as soon as we can
but this means it will be provisional and may change.
Individual tutors do not have the authority to confirm summative feedback (grades,
marks) so you should treat any indication from them about this as provisional.
We understand the importance of prompt feedback on summative assessment (hence
the three week rule). If you are concerned about the way this is working on your
programme, you should see the programme leader or head of school about it so that
steps can be taken to rectify any problems.
* unless a stricter limit applies for the programme.
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Assignment support from your teaching team
Your teaching team wishes to encourage independent learning. This involves teaching you
some key academic skills, such as note-taking, critical thinking, and research skills. It also
involves reducing the amount of assignment support you receive as you progress. This does not
mean less input from your tutors, it means input that is better targeted and developmental. All of
this needs to be planned so the reduction in academic support and your increasing abilities
remain in balance.
We have produced the following guidance so that staff and students are both clear about the
assignment support available in each year of the programme.
Other assignment support is available
Remember that UCBC have a great deal of additional support available in the U-Hub. Whatever
year of study you are on; Daniel Bennett is your point of contact for additional help with study
skills and learning support. Daniel can be contacted on 01254 292465 and his email address is:
Year and semester
The assignment support you can expect from your teaching Team
FdA Year One
Semester A
A detailed assignment brief fully describing the task and assessment criteria
A recommended reading list for each assignment Weekly academic tutorials teaching key academic skills Assignment workshops in each module, teaching you how to
structure your assignment An opportunity to hand in a draft of your assignment for
formative feedback A mandatory tutorial with your personal tutor before assignment
hand-in dates A marked assignment, with a grade, developmental feedback and
a completed Level IV marking grid. Tutorial support if your assignment needs to be re-assessed.
FdA Year One
Semester B
A detailed assignment brief fully describing the task and the assessment criteria
A recommended reading list for each assignment Assignment workshops in each module, teaching you how to
structure your assignment
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An opportunity to hand in a draft plan of your assignment for formative feedback
A mandatory tutorial with your personal tutor before assignment hand-in dates
A marked assignment, with a grade, developmental feedback and a completed Level IV marking grid.
Tutorial support if your assignment needs to be re-assessed.
FdA Year Two
Semester A
A detailed assignment brief fully describing the task and the assessment criteria
A recommended reading list for each assignment A detailed explanation of the assignment brief, its terminology
and the assessment criteria An opportunity to hand in a draft plan of your assignment for
formative feedback A mandatory tutorial with your personal tutor before assignment
hand-in dates A marked assignment, with a grade, developmental feedback and
a completed Level V marking grid. Tutorial support if your assignment needs to be re-assessed.
FdA Year Two
Semester B
A detailed assignment brief fully describing the task and the assessment criteria
A recommended reading list for each assignment A detailed explanation of the assignment brief, its terminology
and the assessment criteria A mandatory tutorial with your personal tutor before assignment
hand-in dates A marked assignment, with a grade, developmental feedback and
a completed Level V marking grid. Tutorial support if your assignment needs to be re-assessed.
BA (Hons) A detailed assignment brief fully describing the task and the assessment criteria
A recommended reading list for each assignment A detailed explanation of the assignment brief, its terminology and the
assessment criteria A mandatory tutorial with your personal tutor before assignment
hand-in dates Regular appointments with your dissertation supervisor A marked assignment, with a grade, developmental feedback and a
completed Level VI marking grid. Tutorial support if your assignment needs to be re-assessed.
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“Mitigating circumstances” – when personal matters affect your assessment
Mitigating circumstances refer to conditions or circumstances that either temporarily prevent you
from undertaking assessment or significantly impair your performance in assessment.
Mitigating circumstances are significant, short-term (“acute”), temporary circumstances and are
distinct from longer-term (“chronic”) conditions or circumstances that affect your ability to study,
of the type that should be notified to the college at the outset supported through, for instance,
disability support or special assessment arrangements.
Examples of circumstances that might come under this heading are the onset of serious illness
supported by medical evidence, bereavement and so on.
Advice on what constitutes mitigating circumstances is available from your personal tutor, who
will also be able to help you with the submission of any claim. You do not have to disclose
details of the circumstances themselves to your personal tutor if you do not wish to, they can
still explain the process of applying.
You will need to submit evidence of your claim – for example, in the case of illness or injury, a
medical certificate. If you have mitigating circumstances before you begin an assessment
period, please discuss this with your personal tutor as soon as possible.
You can find more information about mitigating circumstances in the student organiser at:
http://www.blackburn.ac.uk/higher-education
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Appeals against assessment board decisions
A request for an appeal against an assessment board decision may only be based on one or
more of the following grounds:
1. A material administrative error or irregularity in the conduct of assessment which
occurred which you believe has affected your results.
2. the production of significant new evidence concerning extenuating or mitigating
circumstances, which for good reason had not been available to boards of examiners.
3. other grounds where unfair treatment or discrimination is alleged which is outside the
exercise of academic judgement and which for good reason had not been brought to the
attention of the boards of examiners.
As in all UK Higher Education there is no right of appeal in matters of academic judgement such
as marking, grading, awarding or classification. This is because there are systems of internal
moderation and external examination by independent experts and the examination boards
themselves that ensure that the academic standards being applied are appropriate and
comparable with those in other Higher Education Institutions.
If you wish to appeal you should first discuss your concerns with your programme leader (or, if
this would be inappropriate in the circumstances, with your head of school) within 14 days of
being notified of the decision against which you wish to appeal. If this meeting does not resolve
your concern you will be told how to make a formal appeal.
Read more about Appeals in the student organiser at:
http://www.blackburn.ac.uk/higher-education
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Degree classifications
Classifications of Honours degrees are derived from the weighted averages of module marks at
level 6 as follows:
Classification Mark New Lancaster Grade*
First Class 70%+ A-, A, A+
2:1 (Second Class, Upper) 60-69% B-, B, B+
2:2 (Second Class, Lower) 50-59% C-, C, C+
Third 40%-49% D-, D, D+
Fail 39% and below. F1, F2, F3, F4
* These grades apply to all Lancaster students from 2013/14 on.
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Student engagement
Students at UCBC are partners with staff, and other stakeholders where appropriate, in the
management, including enhancement, of quality. Your participation across all aspects of
provision is very important to us.
Programme committees and student representatives
We involve students in all our academic and deliberative committees but the most significant of
these is the programme committee which includes student representatives chosen by the
student themselves. Student representatives are full members of the programme Committee
and they make a vital and valued contribution to the committee, which is responsible for
oversight of the academic development and quality of the programme.
Students’ voice
Within University Centre at Blackburn College a number of mechanisms exist in order that the
“students’ voice” (your voice!) is heard and responded to. Programme committee includes one
item on the standard agenda for student representatives’ issues, but programme committees
are about many other matters so there are other ways in which we listen to our students. These
mechanisms are overseen by the head of student engagement in liaison with the students’
union president and the UCBC student experience group. This group consists of one staff
representative per school, a students’ union representative, the disability officer, the student
support officer and a representative from the international office.
Across the whole of Blackburn College students are represented on different committees and
panels and also are members of the corporation board. If you think you might want to take part
in any of these meetings or even become a member of the corporation board then you should
speak to the head of tutorial and guidance for more information.
Students’ voice campaigns
Various events occur throughout the year that run in conjunction with the students’ union. For
example, the ‘you said we did’ campaign. These campaigns provide feedback and are also
used to share information with you. Focus groups on specific topics are also set up in response
to feedback.
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Student surveys & module evaluations
Every year at University Centre at Blackburn College students complete opinion surveys. The
surveys ask questions such as:
How long after you applied did you hear from our admissions?
Are you happy with your programme?
Does the college listen to your views?
Are you aware of what opportunities exist when you finish your programme?
Please do fill in your survey! If you haven’t had a survey or been ask to take part one year, be
sure to ask your programme tutor for a copy of it. The survey is usually completed on Moodle.
You will often complete the survey in a tutorial. Your programme leader or personal tutor will
advise you when the survey is due to be completed.
Module evaluations
After you have completed a module, you will be asked to complete a module evaluation. This
gives us your opinion on the module and, when combined with the views of all the students who
took the module, lets us analyse the data to get a clear picture of how the module was received.
This is vital information. We, like all higher education institutions, are expected to do this and to
use the findings to take appropriate actions. Programme teams and the programme committees
analyse the findings and agree action plans as a result.
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National Student Survey (NSS)
The start of each calendar year sees the launch of the National Student Survey (NSS) across the whole of UK Higher Education. The survey is your opportunity to give your opinions on what you liked about your time at University Centre at Blackburn College as well as things that you felt could have been improved.
The feedback that you give is really important. Student feedback is used to compile year on year comparative data that is:
Published on www.unistats.com where prospective students and their advisors can use the
results to help make informed choices of where and what to study
Useful to UCBC to enable us to identify strengths and weaknesses and, by taking action,
to continuously improve our provision.
Your NSS responses remain anonymous at all times and your contact details are only used for
the purpose of the survey. The survey is administered by Ipsos MORI, who are an independent
market research agency. You are invited to complete the survey in your final year, along with all
UK undergraduates at the same stage. There are around 22 core questions, relating to the
following aspects:
Teaching
Assessment and feedback
Academic support
Organisation and management
Learning resources
Personal development
Overall satisfaction
Each year more and more importance is being attached to the survey by key bodies such as
HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England - the funding body) and QAA (Quality
Assurance Agency – the body that assures the quality of higher education) and the findings are
used for national league tables so it is crucial that as many eligible students as possible
participate.
Remember, your response to the NSS is anonymous but very important to us all. We will not try
to influence you in relation to the answers you give – just respond in the way you think is a fair
and accurate reflection of your experiences. But we will try our best to persuade you to take
part!
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Graduation
Once you have successfully completed your programme, you will be invited to a graduation ceremony to celebrate your achievement alongside your peers. Our ceremonies are usually held in October.
At the graduation ceremony you will wear formal academic gowns - each university partner has its own unique colour and style of cap and gown. These can be hired for the duration of the ceremony. Some graduates decide to purchase a cap and gown of their own.
Read more about graduation and the graduation ceremony in the student organiser or on the graduation webpages http://www.blackburn.ac.uk/graduation. We encourage all students to attend their graduation ceremony. Successfully completing a degree is a fantastic achievement and we want to be able to share and celebrate your success.
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