News archive 2001

Top teaching score for War Studies Group

03 Dec 2001, PR 34/01

The War Studies Group - comprising the Departments of War Studies and Defence Studies - at King’s College London scored the highest rating of 24 in their Subject Review carried out between 29 October and 2 November.

Almost 60% (17) of King’s departments have been awarded ‘excellent’ scores for their teaching out of a total number of 29 that have now been assessed.

The King’s Department of War Studies is unique in the UK and one of very few university departments in the world devoted exclusively to the interdisciplinary study of war as a phenomenon. In the most recent national Research Assessment Exercise the War Studies Department was one of only four politics departments to obtain the highest possible rating 5*.

King’s took over responsibility for the Defence Studies Department in August 2000 when the UK Joint Services Command and Staff College(JSCSC) moved to Shrivenham near Swindon. It is modern and purpose-built, offering training and educational facilities that are the most advanced of any staff college in the world. It replaced four former staff colleges (the Joint Services Defence College and the Royal Naval Staff College at Greenwich, the Staff College at Camberley and the Royal Air Force Staff College at Bracknell). The College provides command and staff training at junior, advanced and higher levels for the three UK armed services to a world class standard.

The Department of War Studies is led by Brian Holden Reid, Professor of American History and Military Institutions, and Professor Geoffrey Till is Dean of Academic Studies for the Department of Defence Studies. The departments are both in the new School of Social Science & Public Policy at King’s College London headed by Lawrence Freedman CBE, FBA, Professor of War Studies.


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 is one of the two oldest and largest colleges of the University of London with some 12,200 undergraduate students and over 4,500 postgraduates in ten schools of study. The College is among the country’s top four higher education institutions for the number of highest-rated subject areas for research quality. It is in the top group of five universities for research earnings and has an annual turnover of £285 million and research income from grants and contracts in excess of £80 million (1999-2000).

Currently at King’s nine departments were assessed under the old method and 20 since the introduction of the points score system, and of that number four scored Excellent under the old method, and 13 have scored 22 or above in the new scheme.



The School of Social Science & Public Policy
The new School of Social Science and Public Policy brings together the former School of Education with the departments of Management, Geography, War Studies and Defence and offers single and joint honours undergraduate programmes as well as taught and research postgraduate opportunities.

     




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

Next:
Top teaching score for Philosophy
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This information is provided by the Public Relations Department
Tel: 020-7848 3202  Fax: 020-7848 3739  Email: pr@kcl.ac.uk