Birmingham Academics chaired the expert panels which formulated Subject Benchmark Statements in their disciplines, published on Thursday 10 April 2025.
Subject Benchmark Statements are curated by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) as the UK-sector-led descriptors of taught disciplines. They describe the nature of study and the academic standards expected of graduates in specific subject areas. They show what graduates might reasonably be expected to know, do and understand at the end of their studies, and are used as reference points in the design, delivery and review of academic programmes.
The University Â鶹¾«Ñ¡'s Professor Mike Gunn chaired the advisory panel for Physics, Astronomy & Astrophysics.
Professor Gunn said: "I think Subject Benchmark statements are important for employers, students and their families. They give employers information about what skills a graduate will emerge with. They tell prospective students why a subject is worth studying – why it's engaging, interesting and important. And the show their families that they can get a job afterwards."
The University Â鶹¾«Ñ¡'s Dr Karin Bottom chaired the panel for the Public Policy & Public Administration Statement. This is the first time that there has been a separate Subject Benchmark Statement dedicated to this discipline.
Dr Bottom said: "A Subject Benchmark statement sets the guidelines and boundaries of what a subject is and what needs to be taught, without being prescriptive. In subjects allied to professions, that's particularly important. It gives programmes credibility with organisations that may fund people who take these degrees and that may employ people who've taken these degrees. It gives employers and practitioner groups a reference point as to what those practitioners need to know."
Also on 10 April, QAA published revised editions of the Subject Benchmark Statements for Accounting, Education Studies, Finance, Philosophy, Music, and Librarianship, Information, Knowledge, Records & Archives Management.
Andy Smith, Quality & Standards Manager at QAA said: "We're hugely grateful for the work of all those who join the advisory groups and particularly the chairs and deputies who engage so enthusiastically and meticulously to produce statements that are so valued by their subject communities."
Professor of Theoretical Physics
Staff profile for Professor Mike Gunn, Head of Physics and Astronomy and Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University Â鶹¾«Ñ¡.
Senior Lecturer in Public Management and Politics
Dr Karin Bottom directs INLOGOV's MSc in Public Management and lectures on modules concerned with 1) party politics; democracy and public management; 2) research methods.
