The comprehensive course review is the main type of review conducted and applies to all award courses offered by the University which are opened for admission in the year the review is due. The University has set the schedule to review its courses on a 5-year cycle which can be extended upon approval by the Academic Quality Committee (AQC) up to a maximum of 7 years. 

The University has set the schedule to review its courses on a 5-year cycle which can be extended upon approval by the Academic Quality Committee (AQC) up to a maximum of 7 years.

High-level process

Stage 1: Preliminary data analysis

• Faculties engage with professional service units as required to confirm data requirements
• Faculties Curriculum teams and the Division of the Academic Registrar Curriculum and Policy team collaborate to pre-populate the CCR form with relevant data
• Program Directors add context and narrative to the data

Stage 2: Course Evaluation

• A course review panel is formed to evaluate the courses based on the data and interview relevant stakeholders to further inform the evaluation
• The panel advises on draft recommendations and an initial report is drafted. Feedback is sought from various stakeholders including Faculty Curriculum Manager, Curriculum and Policy team in the Division of the Academic Registrar, and where appropriate the Dean.
• The Chair of the panel finalises the recommendations
• The report is finalised and provided to relevant faculty governance committees

Stage 3: Approval and course re-accreditation

• Faculty board reviews and if appropriate endorses the course review report
• AQC review report and if appropriate approves it and re-accredits the course
• Academic Board notes the report

Stage 4: Implementation and monitoring

• Program Director and faculty curriculum team implement recommendations by due date indicated and report at least annually on their progress implementing them. 

Comprehensive Course Review Form

The comprehensive course review form was approved by Academic Board approved by Academic Board on 02 December 2025.  Faculties are asked to transition to this new template for all course reviews to be conducted from 2026 onwards. 

The form is designed to ensure that Program Directors capture all information in the review, which is required for course re-accreditation purposes, as well as the University Learning and Teaching Policy 2024 and by the Higher Education Standards Framework (HESF) standards.

Completion of the form is the responsibility of Program Directors, with assistance from their faculty curriculum managers and the Curriculum and Policy – Division of the Academic Registrar team.  Program Directors and faculties curriculum managers should carefully read the instructions set out in the first few pages of the form to ensure the form is appropriately completed.  

In brief, faculty curriculum managers, in collaboration with the Curriculum and Policy team and other teams as required, are responsible for pre-populating the form with data from University’s sources.

Program directors are then responsible for providing context to the data before discussing and evaluating the course with the panel, drafting an initial report with draft recommendations and finalising the report once recommendations and their implementation are finalised. Note that the completion of the form is unlikely to be linear.  The Program director should also ensure all sections and required attachments have been completed and provided. 

Addendums 1 and 2 within the form provide detailed guidance to complete the form and source the data.

A checklist (see Tools and resources section) is also available to guide the review of the comprehensive course review report before submission to governance committees.

The Curriculum and Policy team is also available to review and provide feedback on course review reports at any stage and should be consulted at a minimum before the final report is submitted to governance committees.   

The Suspended and Discontinued Course Review is a light touch review focused primarily on student progression and student experience. It is designed for suspended and/or discontinued courses that still have active enrolments and cannot be bundled with a related scheduled comprehensive course review. Once course has no active enrolments, a review is no longer required.

High-level process:

The review is completed using the Suspended and Discontinued Course Review form. It does not require the appointment of a review panel.

• The faculty Curriculum and Quality team populates the Suspended and Discontinued Course Review form with relevant data.
• The Program Director compiles the review report based on the data.
• The faculty education committee and faculty board consider and if appropriate endorse the report and outcomes
• The report and outcomes are approved by the Academic Quality Committee.

The Combined Course Review process is a light-touch review focused on the experience of the students enrolled in the combined course. It is designed to streamline the review of combined and/or vertically integrated award courses, building on the full comprehensive course reviews (CCR) of each component course. Using the process is optional and faculties may opt to follow the CCR process instead to review a combined degree. 

High-level process:

For degrees delivered by more than one faculty, the faculty administering the course is responsible for leading and providing the resources to support the review. and providing the resources to support it, but The partner faculty is responsible for contributing to the combined course review

The review is completed using the Combined course review form and builds on the full comprehensive course review of the component courses provided these are concurrently conducted or were conducted within the previous 5 years to ensure currency of the evaluation.

The process is similar to that of a comprehensive course review:

• Faculties Curriculum teams and the Division of the Academic Registrar Curriculum and Policy team collaborate to pre-populate the form with relevant data specific to the combined degree
• Program Director(s) add context and narrative to the data
• The review panel considers:
  • The CCR findings and recommendations from each component courses
  • Professional accreditation report(s) (if applicable)
  • Current student performance and student experience data for the combined degree.
• The panel is not required to make any recommendations unless these are specific to the combined course and are necessitated by the data specific to the combined course. 
• The report is considered by faculty committees for endorsement and approved (if appropriate) by the AQC. The final submission to AQC must include:
  • combined course review form
  • CCR form(s) for component course(s)
  • Professional Accreditation Report (where relevant)
  • AQC decision paper summarising combined course review findings
  • Appendix containing relevant additional information

Combined course review panel

A review panel must be appointed as set out in clause 2.9 of the Academic Quality Assurance Procedures 2026. The panel might be chaired by the combined degree Program Director or co-chaired by the Program Director of each component course or by the Associate Deans (Education). If the course is delivered by more than one faculty, they must review the course jointly and the panel must include Program Directors or representatives from both component courses.

The organisation of the combined review and its panel in relation to the CCR(s) of its component degrees is at the discretion of the faculty and may vary depending on the timing of the CCR of the component courses and the number of faculties responsible for delivering the combined degree. For example:

• If the component courses are undergoing a CCR concurrently, there could be separate CCR panels for each component degree and an overarching combined course review panel considering the finding of both panels to inform their review of the combined degree.
• If only one of the component courses is undergoing a CCR concurrently, the CCR panel could also evaluate the combined degree, incorporating the findings from the approved CCR report of the other component (or professional accreditation report if sufficiently aligned)  panel), and develop recommendations specific to the combined degree,
• If the CCR of both component courses have been approved within the last 5 years, the combined review panel may include members from both component courses to evaluate the data specific to the degree alongside the findings from the previous CCRs.

The Academic Quality Committee may approve a faculty to align and/or integrate  their professional re-accreditation reporting with their comprehensive course review (CCR).

Faculties can use their professional re-accreditation report as the basis for their CCR if the professional accreditation report was approved no more than 1 year prior and they can demonstrate to AQC sufficient overlap between professional re-accreditation requirements and CCR requirements. This can be done by mapping the content of the professional re-accreditation report against the CCR form and process, using the Professional Accreditation CCR Mapping Tool. Any gaps in content or focus will need to be addressed in the CCR report through additional data analysis and stakeholder interviews.

Course review panel

Faculties must convene a course review panel as per the Academic Quality Assurance Procedures 2026, though AQC may waive the requirement for external panel members (Clause 2.9 (8)).

The most recent data related to the degree under review (for the current year) must be submitted to the panel as per the standard CCR process.

The panel will:

• Review and analyse all relevant data alongside the professional re-accreditation report(s).
• Ensure the student voice and student experience are thoroughly considered, especially where not covered in professional re-accreditation materials.
• Identify improvement recommendations for the degree program.
• Indicate whether recommendations align with the professional re-accreditation outcomes.

Submission requirements: 

• A copy of the latest professional re-accreditation report must be included in the CCR submission.
• The completed review must follow standard faculty governance pathways before submission to the AQC.