Paper at CEP’20 on UK computer science degree accreditation

This week, with colleagues from the Universities of Bath, Ulster, Sunderland and Northumbria, we presented our joint paper at the ACM Computing Education Practice Conference (CEP’20). This paper focuses on the current status of computer science degree accreditation in the UK by professional, statutory and regulatory bodies (such as BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT), especially in the context of graduate employability and the 2016 Shadbolt review.

The abstract of the paper is below; you can access the full paper online, or via my institutional repository:

Computer Science Degree Accreditation in the UK: A Post-Shadbolt Review Update

Tom Crick, James H. Davenport, Paul Hanna, Alastair Irons and Tom Prickett

The assurance of quality through degree accreditation by Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PSRBs) is very much a feature of higher education in the UK. In this dynamic and emerging UK educational, economic and policy environment, there still remains a need for accreditation regimes to evolve in order to maximise the value they provide to higher education institutions, as well as to industry and society as a whole.

The Shadbolt Review, an independent review of computer science degree accreditation and graduate employability conducted in 2016, focused on the purpose and role of degree accreditation, how the system can support the skills requirements of employers, and how the system can improve graduate employability. This paper provides an update in the context of one professional body — BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT — of what has happened in response to the recommendations of the Shadbolt Review, focusing on ongoing enhancement projects, as well as commentary and recommendations for future activities and initiatives.

Keywords: Accreditation, PSRB, Curricula Design, Employability

https://doi.org/10.1145/3372356.3372362

(also see: Publications)