News archive 2001

Top score for education

09 Jul 2001, PR 14/01

The School of Education at King’s has scored 23 out of 24 in its recent Subject Review

Education's subject review brings the total number of King’s departments that have now been assessed to 28. Nine were assessed under the old method and 19 since the introduction of the points score system, and of that number four scored Excellent under the old method, and 12 have scored 22 or above in the new scheme.

The King’s School of Education enjoys an international reputation for the quality of its research, curriculum development, and teaching. In all three national Research Assessment Exercises, the School achieved the highest possible research rating - one of only two Departments of Education in the UK to achieve this distinction.

The School of Education was formed in August 1985 by the merger of the Chelsea College Centre for Science and Mathematics Education and the Faculty of Education of King's College London. It offers a wide variety of postgraduate programmes which range from the Postgraduate Certificate in Education which is offered in Mathematics, Science, English, Modern Foreign Languages, Classics, Religious Education and Information Technology to the Research Degrees of MPhil/PhD and a taught doctorate, the Doctor in Education. The taught Masters programme covers primary, secondary and tertiary education. Most programmes are run on a modular basis and can be studied either part-time or full-time.

Other King's results in this academic year include a top score of 24 for Classics and Byzantine & Modern Greek Studies who were reviewed in March. This makes the Department one of only three Classics departments in the country to be top rated in both teaching and research (5*). Two months earlier Theology and Religious Studies were awarded 21 in their Subject Review.

Subjects reviewed 1999-2000
Institute of Psychiatry: 21
Biomedical Sciences: 22
Molecular Biosciences: 22
Organismal Biosciences: 22
Medicine: 22
Dentistry: 24


Subject Review
Subject Review is carried out by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) under the terms of a contract with the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). It is a peer review process and is carried out in relation to the subject aims and objectives set by the subject provider (usually a Department or School in College terms).

The subject review process measures the extent to which each subject provider is successful in achieving its aims and objectives and operates from the perspective of the learning experience and achievement of students. This is examined in six aspects of provision:

    * Curriculum Design, Content and Organisation
    * Teaching, Learning and Assessment
    * Student Progression and Achievement
    * Student Support and Guidance
    * Learning Resources
    * Quality Management and Enhancement

Each of these aspects is graded on a four-point scale (1 to 4) in ascending order of merit.

Notes to editors

King's College London
King's College London is the fourth oldest university in England with more than 13,700 undergraduates and nearly 5,600 graduate students in nine schools of study based at five London campuses. It is a member of the Russell Group: a coalition of the UK's major research-based universities. The College has had 24 of its subject-areas awarded the highest rating of 5* and 5 for research quality, demonstrating excellence at an international level, and it has recently received an excellent result in its audit by the Quality Assurance Agency.

King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, international relations, medicine, nursing and the sciences, and has played major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA. It is the largest centre for the education of health care professionals in Europe and is home to five Medical Research Council Centres – more than any other university.

King's is in the top group of UK universities for research earnings, with income from grants and contracts of more than £114 million, and has anannual income of more than £369 million.



Further information
Public Relations Department
Email: melanie.gardner@kcl.ac.uk
Tel: 020 7848 3073

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