QAA consultations on revised Subject Benchmark Statements: our response

The Chartered ABS has responded to the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education’s (QAA) consultation on revised subject benchmark statements for business and management undergraduate and postgraduate, based on input from members of our Learning, Teaching, and Student Experience (LTSE) committee.

Regarding the revised subject benchmark statement for undergraduate business and management, we largely agreed with the proposed statement on most aspects, with the exception of the question on learning and teaching, content and assessment, which we felt was missing a section on assessment workload. Additionally, it was felt that sections 1.19 on Modes of Learning and 2.12 on Flexibility could be more complete.

Similarly, for the revised subject benchmark statements for postgraduate business and management, we mostly agree with the proposed statement, again with the exception of the question on learning and teaching, content and assessment. It was felt that the guidance in this area could be clearer in two regards. First, with regards to the externally imposed views of professional bodies in subjects such as accountancy, section 3.26 could offer some commentary on the need to reflect external demands on the mode of assessment required. Secondly, regarding the merits and relative importance of individual versus group assessment (3.28), the guidance could set out more prescriptively the limits of such assessment in individual modules and/or across a programme of which study comprises multiple modules.

You can read our full response here.