The term ‘learning outcomes’ emphasises the importance of what students actually learn from their experience in higher education. This contrasts with a focus on the content of the curriculum and how it is taught. The term ‘learning outcomes’ recognises that the specification of [Page 968]subject syllabuses, teaching intentions, and even learning objectives are no guarantee of outcomes. It represents a shift from the teaching to the learning and from the aspirational to the actual.

This shift has also been prompted by increasing emphasis on the contribution that university education might make to lifelong learning, by new learning opportunities opened up by globalisation, by use of new technologies and the digital networks they facilitate, and by new research on learning. Higher education has become more learner-centred in ...