Agenda item

Report of the Principal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

The Board considered a report of the Principal of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

The Principal highlighted that this year’s Academic Board Report had been restructured around the requirement for him to make certain assurances on the Board’s behalf. There was also greater emphasis on actions and an accompanying Action Plan had now been produced.

The Principal went on to report that an informal Working Group would be convened going forward to look at this report in greater detail ahead of its presentation to the Board each year. The membership of this Group had been endorsed by the Board at their last meeting and would consist of the Principal, the Vice Principal and Director of Academic Affairs, the Academic Registrar and Director of the Student Experience and Co-opted Governor Professor Geoffrey Crossick.

The Principal concluded by stating that he was confident that he could give the assurances detailed within the report.

The Academic Registrar and Director of the Student Experience highlighted that the Board were also being asked to approve changes to the Academic Board’s Terms of Reference and Membership.

In response to a question regarding the inclusion of something around Academic Risk in future reports, the Academic Registrar and Director of the Student Experience clarified that the Board did not look at student data but that this was subject to Internal Audit. The Principal added that this type of risk was looked at by the Senior Management Team.

Governors noted concerns around the lack of correlation between the language of assessment criteria and feedback referred to within the report. The Principal highlighted that this was an important and common issue across the sector. He reassured the Board that the School’s external examiners confirmed the quality of its programmes and standards of its awards. The Principal added that it was not surprising that the award of higher degree classifications at the School was well above the sector average given its strict selection and entry criteria.

The Chairman referred to the issues around student feedback and student satisfaction raised within the report. The President of the Student Union reported that some steps had already been taken to address this. The Student Union was actively engaging with students more on this matter and was being more proactive in terms of recruiting appropriate student representatives to cover each pathway. It was noted that participation in both the National Student Survey (NSS) and the Whole School Survey (WSS) had increased this year. Governors were informed that the timing of the National Survey (January – April) was dictated by Government but that some students found it unusual to be asked to complete a ‘leaving’ survey at this time when they would continue to study at the School until July. The Whole School Survey was conducted at the end of the year.

In response to questions, the President of the Student Union confirmed that the surveys were available online for students to complete. A Co-opted Governor reported that assessment and feedback scores for the NSS were traditionally low across all universities the concern here, however, was that the Guildhall School had lower feedback than its immediate competitors. The Principal acknowledged that the sensitivities around some of the questions posed, specifically concerning employment, were perhaps not managed as well as they could be in terms of student understanding. It was noted that this was particularly difficult for conservatoires where students were frequently in and out of employment.

The Board noted the summary of actions within the Action Plan and the intention for Governors to review progress against these in May each year.

RESOLVED – That, the Board:

a)     approve the report;

b)     state that they are able to give the assurances contained within the report; and

c)     approve the revised terms of reference and membership of the Academic Board detailed in Appendix A.