Northampton campus and timetable moves spark quality probe rebuke

England’s higher education regulator has identified seven areas of concern on the University of Northampton’s computing courses in its latest investigation.

The Office for Students (OfS) began conducting “boots on the ground” investigations in 2022 to look at standards across universities following ministerial directives, and the latest probe found that Northampton’s computing courses are “not effective for the nature of the undergraduate student cohort”.

A report also highlights that “the quality of information available to students about assessment is limited” and “it is not clear or consistent”.

Course completion rates stood at 71.6 per cent, below the OfS threshold of 75 per cent, the report says. It also finds “significant differences in attainment” between different socio-economic groups, with 58 per cent of white students achieving a first-class honours degree, compared with 19 per cent of black or Asian students between 2019 and 2022 on full-time first-degree courses.

The report finds that the university’s adoption of a “semesterised” teaching model – where modules are taught and assessed within a single 13-week term rather than over 26 weeks – has had a “negative impact on student outcomes”. Students consequently had “little time to reflect on one topic before starting the next”, and were purposely not submitting assessments with the intention of resitting at a later date because of time pressures.

Further concerns centred on Northampton’s ability to support student engagement. The OfS outlines that “students have insufficient access to specialist learning resources” and that there are “ineffective systems and processes impacting the effectiveness of academic support for students”.

The report notes that the decision to move computing to its Waterside campus in 2018 had a negative impact on resources, resulting in a reduction in dedicated computing facilities and students having to “fight for space”. The move also spurred “a loss of student community” because study space and on-site equipment were lacking.

However, a spokesperson from the University of Northampton rebutted the report’s findings, claiming that “the data used is up to seven years old and views were gathered immediately after the pandemic and following a criminal cyberattack that disproportionately affected computing courses”.

“This report does not represent the considerable investment and comprehensive improvements that have been made in the years between this stale data being gathered and the report being published.”

The spokesperson added that the university would explore where “further enhancements can be made” and would build on its Teaching Excellence Framework results.

Previous investigations by the OfS found five “areas of concern” at Buckinghamshire New University – where it highlighted that a student “appeared asleep” during one class – and one at the University of Wolverhampton. Scrutiny of London South Bank University found “no areas of concern”.

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com