Key Information Sets: Enhancing Transparency in Higher Education for Prospective Students
This document outlines the introduction of Key Information Sets (KIS), spearheaded by Professor Janet Beer, to improve the availability of information for prospective students. It addresses historical dissatisfaction with current information provision and outlines recommendations from Oakleigh Consulting and Staffordshire University Research. The KIS will unify critical data on courses, costs, and employability for all undergraduate programs, ensuring that information is standardized, easily accessible, and renewed annually to aid informed decision-making by students and stakeholders.
Key Information Sets: Enhancing Transparency in Higher Education for Prospective Students
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Presentation Transcript
Introducing Key Information Sets Professor Janet BeerChair of the Higher Education Public Information Steering Group
Origins of the KIS • General dissatisfaction with information provision for prospective students and other users • Key recommendation of the Oakleigh Consulting and Staffordshire University Research • Identified information that prospective students found useful: • course, costs & employability • Identified where students look for information: • HEI websites and UCAS
Proposed features of the KIS • One KIS for every undergraduate course (a course being something a student applies to) • All HE courses longer than one year FTE • Published on institution’s web-sites and accessible via UCAS • Data renewed once a year • Will be part of QA review
Who provides the information: • HEFCE: NSS for course satisfaction • HESA: DLHEfor employability • Institutions: course information, accommodation & fees/bursaries and scholarships • NUS: students’ union
Creating the KIS Data from: HESA HEFCE Institutions NUS Key Information Sets UCAS Anyone else?
Data provided by institutions: • Five information areas needed from institutions • Do not currently exist in easily comparable and standardised formats • Expert Working Groups have proposed what information should be collected: • Realistic for institutions to collect • Meets the needs of users • Recommendations piloted by seven institutions
Moving forward • HEPSIG to consider outcomes from consultation and KIS development work - KISmock up already out of date • UUK and HEFCE Boards, GuildHE Exec in May • Outcomes circular released Summer • Key information Sets in place September 2012 • information will become subject to QAA judgement
More information: www.hefce.ac.uk/learning/qual/public/infoset.htm Public Information for Higher Education Consultation event
