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This toolkit is designed for internal use by universities or other educational institutions. It can align external communications with the reality of student cultivation and audit whether system design, resource allocation and execution are consistent. Its findings can be used to understand and demonstrate an institution’s cultivation capabilities and outcomes, and to identify where communications have understated the system; to audit weaknesses and blind spots in the institution’s cultivation of students, thereby improving its governance strategy and methods; and to provide logically rigorous, evidence-supported materials for government funding applications, regulation and international rankings.

At present, the framework is a conceptual diagnostic framework grounded in existing research. It is not yet a formal audit standard that has undergone multi-institutional piloting, reliability testing and validation. If you find it helpful in use, or would like to discuss any aspect with the author, please contact [email protected]. The author would be very pleased to receive readers’ feedback.

A concise audit sheet is published freely with Dossier #010 and can be used to determine quickly whether a claim merits a full audit. The concise version does not provide the Dimension III exemption set out in Step Four of this protocol and is therefore strictly more conservative in its judgements.

Structure and Use of the Toolkit

The toolkit has two layers:

When using the toolkit, open the two parts side by side so that the guidance can be consulted as the worksheets are completed.

There are two routes through the toolkit:

Route One: begin by completing Part A. Each table indicates the corresponding section of Part B. Consult it when a judgement is uncertain. This route is suitable for practitioners already familiar with the process.

Route Two: read Part B from Step One through Step Five, completing the tables as you proceed. This route is recommended for first-time users. The end of each step identifies the A table in which its result should be recorded. The judgement rules are concentrated in Part B; reading them before completing the tables can reduce reworking.

The tables in this article are intended for reading and comprehension, not for direct completion on a webpage. This is particularly true of Table A4, which is seven columns wide. A fillable file version should be used in practice. To request a standalone fillable version of the Builder in Markdown or spreadsheet format, contact [email protected].

The complete table index is as follows:

Number Table Location Completion guidance
Table A1 Claim Brief Builder Page 1 Part B, Step One
Table A2 Questions excluded from this audit Builder Page 1 Part B, Step One: Question-selection rule
Table A3 Audit responsibility and materials to be requested Builder Page 1 Part B, Roles and responsibilities; Table B1
Table A4 Evidence Matrix Builder Page 2 Part B, Steps Two and Three; Tables B2 and B3
Table A5 Record of student-evidence collection Builder Page 2 Part B, Step Two (b)
Table A6 Comparison between claim and evidence Builder Page 3 Part B, Step Four; Table B4
Table A7 Evidence-supported contribution and mechanisms Builder Page 3 Part B, Step Five (i)
Table A8 Priority evidential gaps and action Builder Page 3 Part B, Step Five (iii)
Table A9 Final summary for decision-makers Builder Page 3 Part B, Step Five (iv)
Table B1 Roles and responsibilities Part B —
Table B2 Twelve audit questions and evidence required by default Part B —
Table B3 Criteria for assigning an Evidential State Part B —
Table B4 Determining the level of institutional credit Part B —

Part A: Claim Audit Builder

Builder Page 1/3: Claim Brief

Audit number: ______ · Audit start date: ______ · Evidence-search cut-off date: ______