Degree Outcomes Statements

The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama is a highly selecting, specialist conservatoire in drama, awarding University of London degrees. Central’s undergraduate students have, over the last 5 years, received on average 80-90% good awards, in line with other specialist arts providers according to statistics published by the Office for Students: 

When we consider this across our three undergraduate degree awards, there has been a reasonably consistent proportion of good awards made, with a rise in the proportion of first class awards . The exception to this is our Drama, Applied Theatre and Education programme which has seen a variance of 17% over the past 5 years. Having reviewed these students’ outcomes from 2018/19 there is no single unit which impacts on overall performance and we are assured that this was a natural fluctuation based solely on the achievements of these students:

Last year, a number of reflections were made with respect to attainment between students with particular characteristics. These reflections are updated:

No Detriment: In response to the sudden disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, a variation was enacted as part of our No Detriment policy to expand our ‘zone of consideration’ for raising degree classifications from under 2% to under 5%. Course teams reviewed students’ average outcomes before and after lockdown, and where there was agreed to be a demonstrable impact could recommend a classification raise on the basis of academic judgment (whilst the student’s mark remained the same). Fewer undergraduate students had their degree uplifted in relation to the impact of COVID-19 on their studies, 7% compared to 17% in 2020. This saw 5% of students raised from an upper second to a first class award, and 2% raised from a lower second to an upper second class award. Students continued to be impacted by hybrid, alternative provision during 2021/22 and will be considered under the No Detriment Policy. This will be stood down from the 2022/23 academic year as we return to ‘normal’ pre-pandemic delivery.

The School assures itself that assessment criteria meet sector reference points through the following key processes:

• The design and development of programmes with alignment to sector recognised standards;

• All assessment being undertaken by contracted, trained academic staff;

• External examination of its programmes, taking into account the standards outlined within sector recognised standards and associated guidance on academic credit frameworks for providers within the United Kingdom;

• All degree weighted student assessments are double marked or moderated, and samples are considered by external examiners;

• The professional development of academic staff through engagement in subject communities, acting as external examiners, undertaking research and scholarship, engaging in professional practice and support for staff in attaining fellowship from Advance HE in recognition and development of their teaching practice.

The School appoints external examiners from other UK institutions to confirm that its academic standards remain commensurate with national expectations, via participation in the Examination Boards where marks and awards are confirmed and formal annual reporting. We have consistently received assurance for our undergraduate awards, and in recent years across levels it has been recommended to use marks at the higher end of the marking scale (which inevitably impacts on the number of students receiving first class awards in particular). External scrutiny is also provided through the appointment of academics and practitioners working in related discipline areas (?) for periodic review and validation and/or revalidation of programmes.

Academic governance plays a pivotal role in protecting the value of our qualifications over time. The Examination Board is a sub-committee of the Academic Board, which also oversees the value, academic standards and quality of our awards via annual monitoring, periodic review and validation and/or revalidation of programmes. Academic Board provides an annual assurance to the Governing Body to demonstrate its ongoing oversight and maintenance of academic standards for awards and the quality of its students’ learning opportunities. The Governing Body, including an external academic member with significant higher education leadership experience who also attends Academic Board, has consistently accepted this assurance. As an awarding College of the University of London, Central reports as required to the federation on quality, standards and outcomes.

Central’s undergraduate degrees are calculated using a single algorithm to calculate all final student marks:

This algorithm is weighted more heavily towards the latter stages of an undergraduate programme as a result of the practice-focused nature of our specialist degrees, where student learning and development follows a nonlinear, curving trajectory as their skills develop and they begin to connect different aspects of their abilities (in parallel with the development of their academic learning). Students and the public are able to identify which units contribute to this weighting via our programme specifications, which are published online, and for students this is re-emphasised within assessment grids made available to them via our internal Virtual Learning Environment. The decision about which second year units contribute to a classification is set by Course Leaders and approved as part of the validation process.

Students are allowed a first attempt at every assessment, followed by a capped resit should they fail to reach the minimum passing mark (40%). Students can exceptionally be granted uncapped second sit, or in rare cases, a capped or uncapped third sit, as an outcome of a successful application to the School’s Mitigating Circumstances Panel. This is in line with sector norms. The final classification of a student’s undergraduate award is determined using the above algorithm at the following thresholds, in line with common practice for English higher education providers:

Three key enhancements continue to benefit our teaching practices and learning resources:

1. An increase in the number of academic staff and technical support staff with an accredited teaching qualification (including the successful recognition of two members of staff as National Teaching Fellows in successive years);

2. An increase in the provision of support and adjustments for students with learning differences, disabilities and mental health needs as well as care leavers;

3. Introducing more flexible methods of submission and feedback for students, such as: visual essays, major projects being a mixture of ‘artefacts’ or documentation of practice and writing, and formalising oral (and recorded) student feedback to more closely align with creative arts practice.

External Examiners in their reports have commended the School’s approach to double marking and moderation, the quality of student feedback, and in the past two years the success of the School’s responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in securing standards. We previously committed to reviewing degree attainment by mode of assessment and identified in particular that BME students achieved less well overall (in the sample year) in assessments where participation was assessed. This will inform discussions as part of the School’s Portfolio Review process. This process will also, following disruption resulting from the pandemic, inform (?) the finalisation of revised assessment criteria and marking descriptors (at 10% intervals from 0% to 100%). We will also look to understand the difference in attainment between courses (despite this being consistent in the period under review), and revisit student outcomes and identify any particular areas within degrees where there are unexplained increases in first class awards.

As a highly selecting specialist drama conservatoire, a current risk to the outcomes of our students is the reduced presence of the arts more broadly within the secondary education curriculum. The School’s admissions processes and activities, including work around the country in areas of traditionally low higher education participation, utilise auditions and interviews as a mechanism to identify prospective students with the potential to succeed in their chosen programme of study. Often, the skills and attributes we identify have been developed through engagement in drama and related subjects during this pivotal stage in their educational (and personal) development.