Socrates/Erasmus National Agencies Meeting 7 May 2004

1. Socrates/Erasmus National AgenciesMeeting 7 May 2004 Danny Brennan, Registrar Letterkenny Institute of Technology National ECTS/DS Co-ordinator

2. Overview • Higher Education in Ireland • Binary System • New Developments • Bologna Compliance • ECTS and Diploma Supplement • Current Status NAs Meeting

3. Higher Education in Ireland • Providers • Universities (Universities Act, 1997) • Funded by Higher Education Authority (HEA) • Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT Act, 1992) • Funded by Higher Education Authority (HEA) • Institutes of Technology (RTC Act 1992) • Funded by Dept of Education and Science (DoES), under review • Private providers NAs Meeting

4. Current Issues • Review of Higher Education currently being done by OECD • Debate about funding • Re-introduction of fees • Structure of Academic Year • Debate about wider introduction of semesterisation NAs Meeting

5. New Developments • Qualifications Act, 1999 • given effect from June 2001 • 3 Bodies Established • National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI www.nqai.ie) • Higher Education and Training Awards Council (HETAC www.hetac.ie) • Further Education and Training Awards Council (FETAC www.fetac.ie) NAs Meeting

6. NQAI • National Framework of Qualifications • Learner-centred approach • All qualifications in State up to PhD (10 Levels) • Higher Education levels 6-10 • New Award Titles • Higher Certificate (two years) • Ordinary Bachelor Degree (three years) • Honours Bachelor Degree (four years) NAs Meeting

7. HETAC • Responsible for Accreditation and Quality Assurance in extra-university sector (excl DIT) • Institutes of Technology (IoTs) • Private Providers • IoTs may seek Delegated Authority to make their own awards NAs Meeting

8. Bologna Compliance • Higher Education generally structured in three cycles • First cycle bachelor – mix of three year/four year (full-time) programmes • Second cycle – generally 1 calendar year to 2 academic years • Third cycle – generally 3 calendar years NAs Meeting

9. Issues • Some faculties not currently ‘Bologna compliant’ • e.g. Medicine, Architecture, Dentistry • 3-4 year honours bachelor • particularly in context of National Framework of Qualifications NAs Meeting

10. ECTS • Intrinsic part of all courses in DIT and HETAC providers • Used as accumulation system in HETAC sector • Imbedded in the 2 newest universities • Used for internal disbursement of budgets • Patchy in other universities NAs Meeting

11. Local Credit issues • Credit not yet part of new Framework of Qualifications • Systems for allocation and review of credit not as rigorous as might be • involvement of learners now seen as essential • ‘Same’ module having different credits depending on course NAs Meeting

12. Wider Credit Issues • European Framework of Qualifications – credit included? • ECTS credits are not currently ‘level’ related • Bologna implicitly created levels within higher education awards (cycles) but each cycle probably needs to be further sub-divided NAs Meeting

13. Levels and Credits • Related to the development of a European Framework of Qualifications • Current thinking [in ECTS Group] is to have at least 2 ‘levels’ of credits for each cycle distinguished by level descriptors • e.g. a first cycle degree to have type ‘A’ and type ‘B’ credits; regulation might be that a first cycle degree has 180 credits, at least 80 of which shall be type ‘B’ credits (100 type ‘A’ + 80 type ‘B’) NAs Meeting

14. Levels and Credits cont. • Cross cycle credit transfer • Possibility of having some first cycle credits contribute to a second cycle award; e.g. a module on Research Methodologies which might be taught to both first and second cycle degree students NAs Meeting

15. Diploma Supplement • Berlin commitment – all students graduating from 2005 to get DS • Pilot Project in Ireland • National template developed • LYIT, DIT and DCU participating • Pilot to be reviewed and rolled out • Migration to EUROPASS!!!!! NAs Meeting