IDPM Excellence
RAE 2008: IDPM Research judged as world-leading
On December 19 the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the government body that finances higher education, announced the results of the Research Assessment Exercise, the most detailed assessment of the quality of UK academic research that has ever been undertaken. IDPM is the top institute for development research in the UK, ranked by research power. Our research is assessed as ‘world-class’, and in significant areas is viewed as ‘world-leading’. This means that not only is IDPM contributing at a global level to debates about poverty and development, but in many areas is setting the pace.
With the government having previously awarded its highest possible rating for the quality of IDPM’s postgraduate teaching, IDPM has now achieved national recognition as the UK’s leading centre for development research and teaching.
IDPM Research Receives Top Rating
Research activity at IDPM has been awarded a '5' in the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) .
The main purpose of the RAE is to enable the selective distribution of public funds for research on the basis of quality. University departments are ranked on a numerical scale from 1, the weakest, to 5/5*, the strongest.
According to HEFCE a ranking of 5 represents:
'Quality that equates to levels of international excellence in up to half of the research activity submitted and to levels of national excellence in virtually all of the remainder.'
The University of Manchester was one of the top performers, with 37 of its 46 subject areas receiving the highest score of 5/5*. This places the University of Manchester alongside Oxford, Cambridge and London in the UK's top 10 research-led universities.
IDPM's research success matches the grading of the Institute's postgraduate programmes as 'excellent' (see below).
IDPM remains committed to providing high quality postgraduate training and education which is based on excellence in academic and applied research. The international quality of the Institute's activities in both teaching and research has been validated by external assessment, and confirms IDPM's position as one of the UK's leading university-based centres for international development studies.
Follow this link for further information on IDPM's research activities.
IDPM Awarded Highest Possible Score in Independent Review of Teaching
Following a four-day subject review visit during November 2000 by an independent panel from the Government's Quality Assurance Agency, IDPM was awarded the maximum score of 24 - achieving excellence in all six aspects of teaching investigated in the review process.
The six areas in each of which the maximum possible score (four) was achieved were:
- Curriculum Design, Content and Organisation
- Teaching, Learning and Assessment
- Student Progression and Achievement
- Student Support and Guidance
- Learning Resources
- Quality Management and Enhancement
This reflects IDPM's commitment to high quality education and training.
Follow this link for details of IDPM's training programmes.