It’s with great pleasure that we announce the news that the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) has assessed ICMP’s performance as “commendable” following a monitoring visit in March.
The QAA is the organisation responsible for improving the quality of UK higher education and safeguarding standards, so their positive assessment is high praise indeed. Monitoring visits are a regular occurrence for all higher education providers and are used to check the quality of their provision and academic standards. Reports are released following each visit and focus on progress made since a prior review, as well as helping to flag potential issues to concentrate on in the lead up to the next monitoring visit.
The QAA’s positive review of ICMP is testament to the significant and ongoing focus we apply to our quality assurance processes. We take our commitment to our students’ learning and development very seriously and our tutors and staff members are constantly engaged with a quest for excellence.”
Paul Kirkham, ICMP Chief Executive
Overall, the report recognises ICMP’s commitment to continuous improvement across many areas, but specifically in the monitoring, evaluating and enhancement of our provision. It applauds our “thorough and evidence-based approach to the maintenance of academic standards and the enhancement of the student experience”, specifically in relation to how well we’ve embedded our Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) into the strategy and ethos of our organisation. They praised the way our “considered and comprehensive strategic approach” encourages input from students and includes a focused action plan with measurable targets, contributing to a “reflective and self-critical self-evaluation”.
The QAA reacted positively to our Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy, which they said “greatly enhances the provision of learning opportunities, teaching activities and assessment practices”. The report specifically mentions our successful migration to a new virtual learning environment (VLE) during the past year, and the observation that “teaching staff use it extensively as a key learning tool and students appreciate access through a mobile application”. They also noted ICMP had in place “effective arrangements for student support and high quality resources which enable students to develop fully their academic, personal and professional potential”.
One of the elements we’re most proud of from the report is QAA’s acknowledgement of the significant improvements we’ve made in the results of the National Student Survey (NSS), with a 12-point gain in overall student satisfaction levels, and student feedback stating that ICMP teaching is “excellent”, feedback is “constructive and timely” and that they “would definitely recommend” their programme at ICMP.
In the light of the QAA’s glowing report, we’d like to thank each and every one of our tutors, staff members and students here at ICMP for helping to make the Institute the welcoming, safe, inspirational and educational place it is today. We couldn’t have done it without you!