Dr Mark Irwin Joins Education Watchdog
Our college is renowned for providing quality higher education to hundreds of music hopefuls each year and we’re always striving to improve our courses. Often, this means setting the benchmark for other colleges and centres across the UK.
Now BIMM is set to play a more significant role in these conversations, following the news that BIMM Institute’s Dr Mark Irwin MA PFHEA FRSA (Dean of Higher Education) has been appointed as a TEF subject pilot panel member for the Arts.
Dr Irwin’s appointment to the TEF (The Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework), – which is a government assessment of the quality of undergraduate teaching in universities and other higher education providers in England – comes after a competitive application process and we are delighted by the news.
The pilot involves expert panel members reviewing submissions from participating institutions and producing subject-level TEF ratings. It will inform the future development of TEF by testing how scores could be assigned at subject-level as well as institutional level. This has the potential to provide all students – including those interested in attending one of our five UK colleges – with more detailed information to inform their choices of where to study.
BIMM is well regarded in the sector and engaging with this new initiative that is at the centre of the current government’s ambitions to reward providers who provide high-quality teaching.
Reflecting on his appointment, Dr Mark Irwin said: “The role was advertised by HEFCE, and I was pleased to be appointed. I am looking forward to this new challenge, and I hope the experience and training will benefit both BIMM and TEF.”
Sam Gyimah – Universities Minister has also said of the subject pilot: “The new subject-level TEF will give students more information than ever before, allowing them to drill down and compare universities by subject. This will level the international playing field to help applicants make better choices, and ensure that more students get the value for money they deserve from higher education.”
The subject-level TEF pilot will take place this year and next, with the expectation that all higher education providers will participate in 2019-20.
