BioMed Courses have been developed and approved according to quality assurance structures   that have been set up by the Academic Council  of the University of Greenwich. 

What’s more, if you register on a BioMed course through the University of Greenwich, your progress will be monitored and your performance managed according to these structures.

These university structures are, in turn, audited by the Quality Assurance Agency to make sure that the academic standards of the courses conform to the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications and that the quality of provision associated with the courses will enable you to gain the highest level of award possible.

This means that the credits that you earn from successful completion of a BioMed Course will be recognisable across the whole of the UK higher education sector as being at Master’s degree level.

Also, professional bodies such as the Institute of Biomedical Science  will be able to award you professional credits against the award given to you by the University of Greenwich.

This is how it all works:

Before release, BioMed courses are sent out for ‘peer review’ by the BioMed Quality Assurance committee.

The BioMed Quality Assurance committee is made up of

• representatives typically training officers from the NHS;
• the Director of Learning and Quality from the School of Science at the University; and
• the BioMed Academic Course Co-ordinator.

Reviewers are subject-matter experts in their field. They are commissioned to

• make a set of recommendations for course designers to act upon, and to
• prepare a final report for the BioMed Quality Assurance committee, once the BioMed course design team has completed creating the courses.
  

Courses are then submitted to the University for approval at an ‘Approval Event’.

The Approval Event is monitored by the University’s Learning and Quality Office. At this event, a panel that is independent of the BioMed team scrutinises each course according to the University’s Strategic Framework for Learning. 

The aim here is to ensure that the level and extent of knowledge, understanding and skill that is being asked of you conforms to Master’s level as set out under the Framework for Higher Education . So that if, on successful completion of a BioMed Course, the University of Greenwich awards you 30 credits at Master’s level, then this standard of achievement will be comparable to that recognised by all universities in the UK.  

The University panel also checks that the quality of teaching and learning that has been embedded in the structure of the course will enable you to achieve at the highest level possible.

Once the courses are complete they are submitted for trials by a group of six students and a tutor. If after this process, the courses are deemed to be satisfactory by the BioMed Quality Assurance committee, they are released for training purposes.

When you train on a BioMed course, you will be supported in your learning by a BioMed team comprised of the following:

• A course tutor or ‘mentor’, usually a subject matter expert selected from the workplace, to help you develop your knowledge and skills as you work through the course.
• The BioMed product manager, who will make sure you have computer connectivity and access to the information and University's electronic library resources  you require.
• The BioMed admin manager, who will help you deal with non-academic problems.
• The BioMed academic course co-ordinator, to ensure academic standards are maintained.

The way we quality assure these processes is as follows:

Registration

Before you register on a BioMed course, the BioMed team will check your details in association with the University, to make sure that you have the right background to succeed on a BioMed course. You will then be issued with an ID and password, to allow you to access your course.

Course launch

We will invite to participate in an introductory workshop, usually held at the University of Greenwich Maritime Campus, to launch the course and enable you to gain the best possible experience as a distant student. Here, you will be able to:

• Finalise any registration details and receive any course texts you may have requested to loan
• Meet the BioMed team and fellow students,
• Gain an overview of your course
• Clarify any aspects related to the learning outcomes and the assessment criteria for the course and
• make sure that you understand what is required of you to achieve Masters level 

Once your course has started, the BioMed team will monitor your progression through your course to ensure that you are given the best possible learning experience and opportunity to achieve and demonstrate a standard of work deemed to be worthy of Master’s level credits.

This is achieved in the following ways

• Student Reports.

You will be asked by the BioMed team to report on your experience half way through your course, and again at the end of the course, so that any adjustments that might be required can be made. You will also be required to complete a student satisfaction questionnaire, to provide feedback to the University and in turn, the Quality Assurance Agency.

• Weekly Monitoring.

The BioMed team will monitor electronically your connectivity and progress through the course on a weekly basis, to offer you advice and support to help you complete the course within the time specified.

Your tutor and academic course co-ordinator will decide whether you have achieved the prescribed learning outcomes for the course. However, their judgement is only the first part of the process. Their recommendations are put forward to the School of Science Short Course Assessment Panel to decide on the final grading –and this is done in association with an external examiner, usually a specialist in the subject area.

The external examiner is appointed by the University and is invited to sample your assignments, to help the University make sure that its standards are comparable across institutions.

The University’s Science Progression and Award Board make the final decision about your award.

Your workplace sponsor –if you have one –will be asked by the BioMed team to report on the impact of your training in the workplace about 3 months after you complete the course 

The BioMed team ensures that the currency of your course is maintained through regular updating –and this is achieved by:

• Collating feedback from
• Student reports
• Tutor reports
• Workplace reports
• External examiner reports
• Updating the course in association with a subject matter expert to take account of any recommendations.

The University also monitors the courses through student feedback reports and external examiner’s reports, which are presented in the School of Science Annual Reporting and Planning Document to the Academic Council of the University and hence, the Quality Assurance Agency