Programme Scoping
Getting started with Programme Scoping
Who is this page for?
This page is for anyone leading or supporting the development of a new programme. It may also be of interest more generally, for instance, if you are trying to better understand how new programmes are developed and approved.
Welcome to Programme Scoping
This phase will hopefully give you an overview of the scoping and Stage 1 approval process and guide you in your considerations and planning for a successful programme development and approval.
Stage 1 basics
There are several forms that must be completed in Stage One. For more information, see the New Programmes page from the Quality and Standards Team.
Stage 1 checklist
Stage 1 strategic approval for new programmes
Course costing template
IT/Library and timetabling resources form
Risk register
Stage 1 approval
What is Stage 1?
Stage 1 approval is the first step of the three-stage internal approval process at Cardiff University. All proposals for new programmes will be considered in the first instance by your College Stage 1 Strategic Approval Committee.
If your proposal is endorsed by your College Committee, it will be recommended to the University Stage 1 Strategic Approval meeting of the Recruitment and Admissions Strategy Group (RASG) for further discussion and recommendation to Stage 2 (the programme development stage).
All proposals must be developed in line with the baseline requirements outlined in the Institutional Expectations document, as these are the key principles that all Cardiff programmes are based upon. Refer to this often as your plans will be tested against these.
Stage 1 considerations
Stage 1 addresses the question ‘In principle, do we want to do this?’. ‘We’ could refer to your School, College or your programme team, so it is worth bearing in mind that there may be multiple perspectives here. The key objective is to establish whether the proposal justifies the investment of time and effort that will be needed in subsequent stages and will ultimately provide the desired return on investment to the School and the wider University.
What do you need to do to complete Stage 1?
Ultimately, by the end of Stage 1, you will need to have completed the Stage 1 Strategic Approval form (pictured) for submission to your College (along with the costings, resourcing and risk register templates listed above). Take time to read through this form thoroughly. It asks you to reflect and provide information on how your proposed programme will fit with institutional expectations around areas such as graduate employment and employability, blended learning, Welsh language and widening participation, to name a few!
By planning ahead at this early stage you can start to consider:
- how your new programme might be structured in terms of delivery and assessment
- how graduate attributes and employability will be addressed
- how you will embed inclusivity and sustainability into your programme and curricula
You don’t need to have a fully worked up programme at this stage, but you should start to consider these issues now in order to demonstrate how your programme will meet the University’s requirements and to allow for more accurate resource and costing predictions.
Phase 2 of this toolkit, which is aligned to the Stage 2 documentation, looks at programme development in more detail. Some of the resources there will be helpful in planning your high level, strategic approach for Stage 1 too, so feel free to look ahead at these pages to get a sense of where you might be going on your programme development journey!
It is important that you work with your College Education Manager and College Data Analyst early in the development process. They can support you with some of the sector data and market analysis that you will need in order to demonstrate a market base for your programme etc. They are there to help you: reach out to them. The Quality and Standards Team can also provide you with key advice and information as you prepare your Stage 1 approval documentation. Of course, you can also reach out to Cardiff Learning and Teaching Academy.
The intranet has a page of advice and resources dedicated to programme approval. Bookmark this page and refer to it often! You can find lots of guidance and links to all the forms and templates.
Programme aim, vision and USP
Developing your programme vision and a unique selling point (USP) can be challenging. It will require you and your development team to draw on your experiences, use feedback from students and your expertise and knowledge of the subject area and sector.
Working through the below considerations with a small focus group of past and current students could provide some really useful insight at this stage. Students have the lived experience of the current programme and their views will be invaluable in helping to shape new developments.
If you would like to run such a focus group, here is a comprehensive template to help you organise and run it.
Key questions for Programme Scoping
- What makes this programme distinctive within the sector?
- What elements of the programme will you co-create with students and how might you do this?
- How are Quality Assurance Agency’s qualification descriptors reflected within your course? (QAA Quality Code Chapter A1)
- What are the intended characteristics of graduates of this programme?
- What are the important principles and values that inform this programme?
- What pedagogical approaches will be employed to ensure active student engagement and participation?
- How does the programme take account of relevant subject benchmark statements?
- How does the programme reflect professional registration requirements (if applicable)?
- How does the programme equip students to meet the demands of employment?
All programmes should embed the principles of inclusivity and sustainability to ensure equitable access, continuation, attainment and destinations for all learners.
Programme aim
The programme aim is at the top of the hierarchy of description commonly used to define learning experience. They are intended to provide the student, teacher and other interested parties with an understanding of the most overarching general statements regarding the intended consequences of a learning experience (Fry et al, 2003).
The aim of a programme needs to be written from a teacher’s perspective. It should encapsulate the overall philosophy, values and uniqueness of the programme. It should make reference to the skills, attributes and knowledge that are expected of the graduate from that programme.
The aim should be written as a narrative and should be around 100 words in length.
Having an idea of your programme aim and core values will be helpful as you scope and prepare your programme for Stage 1 approval. It will provide you with a foundation on which to base the rest of the programme.
Programme aim actvity
🎯Write your own programme aim as a narrative and in fewer than 100 words. The headings below can be used as a starting point:
- We value… This could include learning and teaching approaches, real-world context, the development of employability, etc.
- The uniqueness of our programme is… What we want to be known for
- Our graduates are able to… Skills, attributes and attitudes on graduation, linked with Cardiff Graduate Attributes
- Our graduates will know… Knowledge and understanding leading to lifelong learning.
– Adapted from Birmingham City Rough Guide to Curriculum Design, 2013.
Your programme aim will form part of the programme information template (PIT) which you will need to complete in Stage 2 approval documents. This will be covered in more detail in the next section of this toolkit on Programme Development.
Deeper dive
Share your feedback
Next steps
You are on page 1 of 4 of the education development process pages.
The next pages are: