Essential Frameworks for Enhancing Student Success

Student success is a complex concept, involving academic achievement and the transition to employment, entrepreneurship, or further education. It also includes a deepening understanding and engagement with the discipline or subject, alongside the acquisition and enhancement of skills and personal growth. 

This framework brings together the nine below individual frameworks. Collectively, these frameworks offer a comprehensive overview of the core thematic areas, which are most effective when adopted by an entire institution. 

Employability, in the higher education context, is about ensuring that students have the knowledge, skills, and experiences they need to be successful in their future, whether that be within employment, enterprise creation, further study or beyond. 

The framework has been designed to engage and support a diverse range of audiences including those involved in developing and implementing employability policy and practice, curriculum design, student support and learning and teaching. 

Assessment and feedback practices are at the core of higher education (HE). Assessment provides judgement so it needs to be valid and reliable. It also supports student learning and feedback, so it should be designed to promote desirable learning behaviours, develop subject-specific and professional competencies, as well as other graduate attributes.

This framework is designed for all stakeholders; for educators, those in charge of policy, quality assurance, and quality enhancement, and those responsible for leading education at all levels from pro vice-chancellors to programme leaders.

Internationalising higher education (HE) is an ongoing, institution-wide commitment to fostering a globally aware and inclusive learning environment. This process encompasses all aspects of HE, from teaching and learning to research and collaboration. Internationalisation benefits all HE students, regardless of their location, background, discipline, or mode of study.

This framework is intended for all those within HE and beyond, encompassing those who contribute to and can benefit from an internationalised sector. Its principal audiences are organisations (e.g. HE providers, agencies, bodies and employers) and individuals (e.g. staff, students and employees).

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in higher education equips learners with the knowledge, competencies and values to tackle interconnected global challenges, encompassing economic, social and environmental sustainability.  

The framework is designed to be of value to a broad audience and can be particularly beneficial in supporting course teams to understand ESD, integrating ESD across programmes, helping students identify the necessary competencies for sustainable citizenship and fostering agency for a sustainable future, developing comprehensive institutional approaches and aligning strategy to create a sustainable learning environment. 

Approaches to teaching and learning, by their very nature, often encompass entrepreneurial learning. Regardless of whether these are labelled as enterprise and entrepreneurship education, the enhancement of appropriate skills, knowledge, attributes and behaviours necessary for transforming creative ideas into actions are of ever-increasing importance across all disciplinary areas.  

This framework is designed to inform and support the activities of those educators who interact with students through the development and delivery of enterprise and entrepreneurship curriculum and/or extracurricular activity. 

Student engagement describes the extent to which students are motivated, passionate and curious about their programme of study, their higher education community and their immediate surroundings. Student engagement through partnership prioritises the active involvement of students in shaping the curriculum, community and environment, recognising them as key stakeholders in the learning process.

The framework is designed to be of value to a broad audience and can be particularly beneficial in supporting stakeholders seeking to establish partnership approaches across areas of activity that affect the student experience.

Student access, retention, attainment and progression define the foundations for student success. They each depend on fostering a sense of belonging and actively engaging students with their programme and the wider institution, enabling students to thrive throughout their higher education. 

The framework is designed for all staff with a remit to support students to achieve their potential. Consideration of the impact of policies, practices and support services from the student perspective, institution-wide collaboration and the engagement of students as partners are key to student success.

Flexible learning is an educational approach that employs pedagogically informed technologies to create personalised, engaging learning experiences, allowing students to choose how, what, when, and where they learn. Recognising that students’ needs, aspirations and commitments can evolve throughout their course, flexible learning ensures an engaging, personalised experience, supporting all students in reaching their potential.

Inclusive learning and teaching is the intentional development of approaches that support all our students to thrive. This is a foundation for quality teaching in general; our teaching is only fit for purpose if it works for the diverse range of students at our institutions and treats them all like they matter. Rather than an end goal, inclusion is a mindset which promotes critical thinking and cultural transformation.