ANZSOG selected to review King’s College London’s postgraduate policy program

ANZSOG will undertake an independent review of the King’s College London’s Postgraduate Learning Offer (KCL PGL2) – a course designed for early career public servants – on behalf of the British Government. 

The project is recognition of the growing global reputation of ANZSOG’s programs, in particular the Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA), and the links it has built with government and academic institutions in the UK.  

The King’s College London program has been offered through the UK Civil Service’s Policy Profession for the past three years, with over 1000 total participants. It is overseen by a steering committee with academic and public sector representatives, and the ANZSOG review will be the first extensive independent evaluation of the program. The review will use the peer networking model to assess its quality, coverage, contemporaneity, flexibility, scalability and early impact. 

Christopher Walker, Deputy Dean University Relations and Academic Director, Executive Master of Public Administration, will lead the review along with ANZSOG’s Dr Avery Poole.  

Dr Walker said ANZSOG’s involvement was part of the ongoing collaborative relationship that had been built between ANZSOG and UK academic and government institutions, including a review of the Executive Master of Public Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2020. 

“We invited Richard Banks, who was then Director of the UK Civil Service Public Policy Unit (PPU), to be on our review panel for the EMPA, and now the PPU is conducting another review of a program they administer with Kings College, and they have invited me to lead that review to get our insights into postgraduate education for civil servants,” Dr Walker said. 

“This is a sign of the international recognition of the EMPA and the way that it is managed and led by ANZSOG.” 

“What we are adding is the experience of how to conduct an academic program review, insight into how these reviews should happen and the kind of data you need to collect,” Professor Walker said.  

“We’ve got knowledge and understanding of the elements that contribute to a really well-informed robust executive education program at a postgraduate level and a deep understanding of the content. We are working with the team from the UK, and we’ve designed the surveys to students, alumni and managers of policy staff, collecting information about what their experiences and observations are of the program.” 

Professor Walker will travel to London for a series of focus groups, workshops with key stakeholders, and meetings with the policy program governance committee as well as Kings College London staff. ANZSOG will also undertake a series of independent interviews with people involved in the design of the KCL program before finalising and submitting the draft report. 

Professor Walker said that the review process would also provide ideas and knowledge to feed back into the EMPA and other potential programs to be offered by ANZSOG. 

“The programs we are reviewing are targeting early career policy practitioners, who can do them as a full postgraduate diploma or just do the individual learning modules. This program is below the career level targeted by the EMPA and will be a great insight into how these programs work, the audiences they attract, and what public services think about them. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn from our peer institutions particularly because one of the recommendations of the recent EMPA review was to have an early career program as a pathway into the EMPA.” 

The final report from the review is due to be completed by July 2023.