Learning Hours  

Overarching guidelines on learning hours establish ranges for the level of learning hours depending on the type of module.

TEIs can include a combination of any or all of the elements below, as they deem appropriate for any given module, provided that enough hours are left for independent study time. TEIs should take into account the level of the students (and the amount of direct guidance they need), whether they are full- or part-time, their educational experience, the kind of material being studied and the learning outcomes involved, the time needed for independent study and to be prepared for that study, the kinds of assessment involved, and so on. 

These parameters do not include lower limits. TEIs will need to use a wide range of different totals up to and including the maxima permitted. 

TEIs can propose patterns that fall outside these guidelines, or a TEI can decide that different cohorts of students on the same module should have different learning hours. The TEI will, however, need to offer a pedagogical justification in such cases – that is, one based on the different needs, resources, and opportunities of the students involved, and, in particular, explaining how students will still have sufficient time for processing the material covered, and working towards the assessments involved. See our Curriculum Development page for more information on how to do this. 

See our Curriculum Development page for more information on how to document the learning hours chosen for modules, or for guidance on how to make changes to these. Visit the TEI Programme Documentation page to see the learning hours currently approved at each TEI.    

Note that the ‘supervision for independent projects and dissertations’ guideline given in theory allows for 24 hours of supervision for a 60-credit MA dissertation. This would be a very unusual total, and TEIs will normally offer substantially fewer supervision hours than this. 

Parameters 

The time that a diligent student can expect to spend on all the activities that contribute to a module is 10 hours per credit (e.g., 100 hours for a 10-credit module, 200 for a 20-credit module). This is a widely acknowledged national standard set by the Quality Assurance Agency in consultation with the higher education sector. That time will normally be made up a selection of one or more of the following elements: