Your education at Bath has been designed in a way that follows a course-wide approach to learning. It starts with the course’s intended learning outcomes, which describe the knowledge and skills you will demonstrate in your subject by the end of your course. Each step of your learning and assessment is designed to fit together, supporting you to develop in every year of your course.

The teaching and assessment from your first year through to your final year is carefully designed to support you to progress from the foundational knowledge that you have when you arrive at University, to increasingly deeper and advanced understanding. Each year builds on what you’ve learnt in the previous years.

We also design the courses so that they increase your ability to demonstrate independent learning and critical thinking. Your course design helps you apply what you’ve learnt to real-world skills, which you can use in your work or further study after you graduate.

Our courses are also aligned with the Office for Students' Sector Recognised Standards; these set out the following structure for student achievement across an undergraduate course:

  • First year undergraduate: "will have a sound knowledge of the basic concepts of a subject and will have learned how to take different approaches to solving problems".
    • This means you will arrive with a basic understanding, which we'll build on over your course
  • Second year undergraduate: "will have a sound understanding of the principles in their field of study and will have learned to apply those principles more widely. Through this, they will have learned to evaluate the appropriateness of different approaches to solving problems".
    • This means you will have started to build your problem-solving skills for independent study
  • Final year Bachelors’ degree with honours: "will have developed an understanding of a complex body of knowledge, some of it at the current boundaries of an academic discipline. Through this, they will have developed analytical techniques and problem-solving skills and will be able to evaluate evidence, arguments and assumptions, to reach sound judgements and to communicate them effectively. They have the qualities needed for employment in situations requiring the exercise of personal responsibility, and decision-making in complex and unpredictable circumstances"
    • This means you're now able to analyse different techniques and skills, to use the most appropriate one in the work you're doing - both in your studies, and in any employment you do after graduation

It also explains the difference if you go on to postgraduate study (either an undergraduate integrated masters’ or a separate postgraduate taught masters’):

  • Masters’ degrees: "much of the study undertaken for masters' degrees is at, or informed by, the forefront of an academic or professional discipline. Successful students show originality in the application of knowledge, and they understand how the boundaries of knowledge are advanced through research. They are able to deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, and they show originality in tackling and solving problems. They have the qualities needed for employment in circumstances requiring sound judgement, personal responsibility and initiative in complex and unpredictable professional environments."
    • This means you're working at a higher level in postgraduate study; you're able to work from what you're taught but also do some research of your own to solve problems. You can work more independently and use your own initiative - which will be useful in your career after your postgrad studies.

When we design your course we speak to lots of other people to ensure that you receive the highest standards of learning. We talk to current students, schools and colleges, employers, industry partners, accrediting and professional standards bodies and others; this means we can design courses that are at the cutting edge of knowledge and skills, and will enable all our students to achieve.

This is reflected in the excellent outcomes for our graduates as they progress beyond their undergraduate degrees into work or further study.