Nottingham Trent University Programme Specification

Basic Programme Information

1 Awarding Institution: Nottingham Trent University
2 School/Campus: St. Patricks College London
3 Final Award, Programme Title, and BSc (Hons) Network Engineering and
Modes of Study Telecommunication Systems
Full Time /Part Time
4 Normal Duration: 3 years (Part Time 4/5 years)
5 UCAS code:

6 Overview and general educational aims of the programme

7 Programme outcomes
Programme outcomes describe what you should know and be able to do by the end of
your programme if you take advantage of the opportunities for learning that we
provide.

Knowledge and understanding: By the end of the programme you should be able
to:
A1.

Transferable Skills. By the end of the programme you should be able to:

C1. Structure and use ideas to effectively communicate

C2. Plan, conduct and report on a programme of work.
C3. Work effectively individually and in groups to deadlines.
C4. Learn independently, with a critical viewpoint, in familiar and unfamiliar
situations.

The transferable skills are taught in each module according to the nature of the
module. The detail description can be seen in the Scheme of Work and Lesson Plans of
each module. The skills are assessed in the coursework in various forms such as
presentation, team work and report writing throughout the programme. Further
independent learning, report writing and referencing are stressed as a basis of study in
higher education from the start of the programme.

8 Teaching and Learning Methods

The teaching methods followed at St-Patricks have been developed and improved over
the years to maximise the quality of learning. This was achieved through feedback
from students, quality advisors and cross-department workshops to exchange ideas on
effective teaching techniques.

Learning, Teaching and Assessment approaches encourage you to be actively involved

in your learning and to co-operate with other students. St Patrick’s aims to give you
prompt feedback on your learning, as well as opportunities to reflect upon and learn
from that feedback. You are actively involved in a range of learning, teaching and
assessment approaches as part of your course.

At St Patricks you are provided with a rich learning environment using a broad range
of techniques and media. Some of the learning methods are:

 Lectures are delivered in a lecture theatre where the conceptual topics are
presented by the lecturer. This is the time when a healthy class debate is
encouraged to get the students discussing as one big group.
 Labs are scheduled in specialized networking labs, where the students are
given lab-tasks for each session. The lecturer and their lab assistants give
individual attention to each student helping them solve individual issues in the
study topics.
 Tutorials are organized for students to research and present their findings to
the lecturer. Some tutorials are assigned to students in groups to improve
their learning through peer interaction.
 Clinical sessions are held at least twice for every unit, evenly spaced through
the semester. All the topics covered thus far are revised with students. Also,
students are asked specific questions about their progress in the unit and if
required extra coaching and mentoring is provided.
 Communication skills are developed using, assignments and reports for writing
skills, group work for oral presentations.
 The skills of planning and reporting on a programme of work are developed
throughout the programme.
 Group work and independent learning are both stressed to be an essential part
of the study process.

Such active learning approaches puts you at the centre of your learning to be involved
and engaged in all aspects of your course and assessment. The programmes require
your active participation in learning activities and engagement with your peers both
individually and collaboratively, working and learning with other students as part of a
small group.

The stponline (www.stponline.org.uk) system enhances your learning outside the

campus. This system holds for each taught unit the lectures, tutorials, supplementary
reading material and all the lesson plans and lab plans. The lecturer can communicate
with all the enrolled students through this system.

Classes combine a variety of activities, including research, theory and practical skills.
Research projects encompass both online investigation and field trips. Theoretical
knowledge is imparted through lectures and examples. Practical work involves both
individual study and group work, across a wide range of industry skills, including
planning, designing, implementing and administrating.
 The final year engineering project is the culmination for all the skills and knowledge
acquired in the program. You will choose a topic and develop this right from an initial
project specification to a full-fledged working artefact. The project supervisor assigned
to you will give guidance and support throughout the year.

9 Assessment Methods
A wide variety of assessment strategies are used to bring out the most creative, well-
researched and knowledgeable work from you. This has the added advantage of
improving your personal skills such as formal writing, in-class presentations and quick
thinking. More practical units concentrate on planning, designing, implementing and
administrating networks.

All the units are assessed via coursework and/or exams. The coursework assessments
are used extensively as they can be moulded in a variety of forms to appreciate the
specific requirements of each module.

You will be given specific case study based coursework that requires appropriate
solutions to the scenario stated in the case study. In some modules the coursework is
divided into group tasks to establish your team working skill even though you will be
asked to write individual reports to demonstrate your contribution to the team work. In
more complex and practical oriented units you will be assessed by portfolio based
assessment where you will be required to do a set number of labs and tutorial tasks.
The portfolio assessment has the advantage of formative assessment, so you can be
given extra support in order to understand the complexity of the discipline.

Exams will be of varying weight depending on the unit being assessed. All the exams
are designed for a maximum mark of one hundred and will be closed book type, with
the maximum running time of two hours.

During the final year you will be given the opportunity to choose a topic/problem and
develop it into a working artefact/solution over the whole of the year. The project is
unique and should reflect all the skills and knowledge acquired in the programme.
Further this would require you to research extensively.

10 Programme structure and curriculum

11

12 Support for Learning

Lecturers direct your studies and ensure that you know what work you need to cover
in any given module. You are encouraged to seek advice from academic staff either
after class, during their office hours or by email if you have any additional queries
about you work.

Additionally, as part of the College’s Semester Management Process Model (SMPM),

comprehensive monitoring of your academic progress takes place at all stages of
each semester. In particular, one-to-one clinical sessions are held with each student
at least once during each semester to monitor individual progress, identify any issues
or areas of concern, and determine an action plan for addressing those issues.

The College also has an Essential Skills Department, which runs a fifteen week course
for all first year students. This comprises 4.5 hours per week throughout the first
semester, in combination with the subject-specific modules studied. The course
covers advanced English language skills; key academic skills including academic
writing; IT skills; and cultural education. If further support in these areas is needed
after the end of the first semester, additional ESD classes are provided at no extra
cost to students.
 Lecturers will also help you direct your studies towards your chosen career path, by
discussing your ambitions with you and helping you select the appropriate pathway
and dissertation subjects to support your future plans. They will also endeavour to
use their industry contacts to expose you to a wealth of useful experience and also to
help you find appropriate work experience, as well as supporting your plans for when
the course is finished.

For more general issues, the College has a dedicated Student Services department
and an Academic Administration department for support services including:
 Changes to student personal record (address, name, etc.)
 Programme regulations advice
 Submission of coursework
 Assessment deferral requests
 Recording extenuating circumstances
 Recording reasons for unavoidably being absent
 Arranging to interrupt studies, change or withdraw from the programme
 Advice on where to make a suggestion or a complaint
 Personal counselling
 Academic appeals

As an international college, St Patrick’s has a wealth of experience in supporting

13 Graduate destinations/employability
The BSc (Hons) NETS graduates will be able to fill all types of roles in the networking
and telecommunication industry. The programme content is wide enough for you to
take up positions in a variety of communication systems administration, design and
management companies as well as advanced research. The programme content
focuses on improving your all-round networking & telecommunication engineering
skills with a focus on sound fundamental knowledge.

You will have the skills to apply for positions in network administration for medium to
large enterprise networks, engineering positions for local and wide area networks,
design, management and optimisation and/or other managerial posts in the
networking & telecommunication industry.

The generic computing skills taught in this programme will enable you to secure jobs
in all the many computing related fields. The technical abilities developed in this
programme will enable you to engage in masters level education (MSc) or research
(PhD) in scientific research and commercial research and development.

Besides the core technical skills, you will develop a range of transferrable skills in
interpersonal communication, presentation, numeracy and team interaction. These
are skills that will ensure success in any field, even if you wish to move on to jobs
which are not in software engineering

14 Programme standards and quality

All schools within the College adhere to the SMPM, which ensures consistency of
quality management across all programmes. The process covers all aspects of
course administration, from design and verification of assignments, through
monitoring of academic progress of students, through to grading and verification of
coursework.

At all stages of the process, all schools are monitored by the Quality Assurance
department, checking that all relevant documentation is in place and chasing up
outstanding items. A member of the Quality Assurance Department also attends all
departmental meetings, again to ensure consistency of quality management across
all programmes.
 Students are invited to attend mid-semester department meetings, as well as the
annual Boards of Study, in addition to completing an online survey every semester,
which means that feedback on courses is collected from both students and staff, to
provide a balanced view and raise any issues anyone may have.

The quality monitoring procedures employed by the College are robust and
comprehensive, with the Quality Assurance department acting in an overall
supervisory role to ensure all aspects are followed.

15 Assessment regulations
This programme is subject to the University’s Common Assessment Regulations
(located in the Academic Standards and Quality handbook). Any programme-
specification assessment features are describe below:

All aspects covered by the University’s regulations.

16 Additional Information
Collaborative partner(s):
Programme referenced to national QAA 264 08/08 and QAA 170 03/07
QAA Benchmark Statements:
Programme recognised by:
Date implemented: 1st of September 2011
Any additional information: