Baseline Course Standards (BCS)

The Baseline Course Standards (BCS) is a set of good practices in Blackboard course design, co-created with students and staff at the University of Bristol.

The Baseline Course Standards (BCS) provide a shared foundation for accessible, consistent, and comprehensive student learning experience across all Blackboard unit courses. The standards complement Blackboard templates, which support consistency of structure in Blackboard courses.

Each of the 5 key sections of the BCS contains:  

  • Baseline Practices - the minimum requirements for all unit courses. 
  • A short video which shows the baseline standards in practice. 
  • Beyond the Baseline - additional suggestions for improving your unit course.

You can view the sections below or download the BCS checklist. The checklist contains a simplified version of the standards and does not include video examples, links to relevant resources or ‘beyond the baseline’ practices.

The standards were developed with students and staff through a series of co-creation workshops, and supported by good practices from the sector, relevant legislation and frameworks such as The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018, Universal Design for Learning and Anthology Exemplary Course Program Rubric.

  • The BCS are used in central digital education training and induction activities to guide the implementation of good practices across unit courses.
  • Staff are strongly encouraged to use these standards to support them in designing or updating their course units.  
  • Teaching teams can use the standards collaboratively, to ensure a consistent approach to the digital education experience of students across a programme.
  • Engagement with these standards can support Advance HE fellowships applications, particularly in relation to V1, V2, K1, K2, K4, K5, and A1, A2 (PSF 2023).

The Digital Education Office delivers ‘Meeting Baseline Course Standards’ workshops for individuals and teams, as well as one-to-one unit consultations to support staff in engaging with these standards. These are practical sessions focused on self-reviewing your course and getting hands-on support in making required changes.