You are here:

Unit Health Checks (UHC)

Unit Health Checks (UHC) are conducted by the University at least twice a year. These checks give insights into student feedback and unit fail rates and give faculties an opportunity to identify opportunities to improve the student experience and unit delivery. They are informed by two key indicators:

Student Evaluation of Teaching and Units (SETU), particularly the unit evaluation survey, which captures students’ perspectives on their learning within a unit.
Student performance data, specifically overall unit fail rates.

It is important to understand that the Student Unit Evaluation Survey:

does not measure learning and does not measure teaching quality, but rather students’ experiences of learning within a unit
is an important channel for student voice
is used as a measure of the ‘health’ of units at a university level, pointing to areas for improvement
is a prompt for educators to investigate student feedback and
is a means of eliciting feedback, as underpinned by TEQSA HE Standards, Learning and Teaching Policy and Quality Procedures.

High fail rates are also considered because they can indicate challenges with assessment design, clarity of expectations, or student engagement. Research shows that where a significant proportion of fails are “zero-fail” students (those who never submit any assessment), issues related to equity and access may be an underlying cause. Addressing these patterns early helps improve retention and long-term academic outcomes for these students.

Vision

Every student should experience high-quality, engaging, and equitable learning.

Unit Health Checks help achieve this by providing academics with structured, supportive processes and resources to make meaningful improvements.

Goals

Enhance student experience in units where feedback, research, or experience suggests improvement opportunities.
Support academics with practical tools, templates, and faculty guidance.
Promote continuous improvement and share best practices across the university.
Ensure compliance with national standards while fostering innovation in teaching.

What this means for you

Completing a Unit Health Check is about opportunities for improvement, not compliance. It’s an opportunity to:

reflect on the student experience and identify what’s working well and what isn’t
access resources and faculty support to make changes manageable and impactful
contribute to Monash’s culture of continuous improvement and excellence in learning and teaching.

Interpreting Unit Evaluation Survey Results View

Unit evaluation surveys, from SETU, provide valuable insights into students’ experiences of learning and teaching with a unit. To help educators respond effectively, Monash uses four broad bands to interpret overall student experience:

Very High – Exceptional student experience. Units which are consistently rated very high may be showcased as examples of best practice.
High – Strong student experience aligned with Monash standards.
Medium – Student experience meets some expectations but shows opportunities for improvement.
Low – Student experience falls below expectations and requires focused action.

You can find detailed guidance on interpreting unit evaluation survey results and suggested actions for each band on Interpreting unit evaluation surveys.

What happens when results indicate improvement opportunities?

When a unit’s student experience falls into the Medium or Low bands, Monash provides a structured, supportive process to help educators make meaningful improvements. This process is not about compliance—it’s about collaboration and enhancing the student experience.

The three Unit Health Check steps are progressive and designed to match the level of support needed.

Diagram showing triggers for a Unit Health Check

Step	Purpose
1. Unit Improvement Plan (UIP)	This unit has previously been above expectations, but has been triggered for a Unit Health Check. Practical actions to improve student experience in the next offering are identified and implemented.
2. Unit Improvement Review	Trends of of student experience survey indicate a need to conduct a deeper review and develop more extensive improvement actions.
3. Unit escalation and Executive decision	A strong trend will result in the DVCE and the faculty Dean reviewing future viability and options, including pausing or discontinuing the unit. If the unit is continued, a formal structured improvement approach will be developed and actioned.

The level of review depends on how often the unit has shown Medium or Low student experience in recent offerings. This ensures that actions are proportionate and focused on helping you improve the student experience.

The specific details on the number of reported consecutive medium or low student experience reports required for each level is:

Unit Improvement Plan (UIP)	Unit Improvement Review	Unit escalation and Executive decision
At least 20% response rate AND Student experience band is low in current offering, or medium in two consecutive offerings.	The unit undertook a Unit Improvement Plan in the previous offering AND Student experience band is medium or low.	The unit undertook a Unit Improvement Review in the previous offering AND Student experience band is medium or low.
OR The unit has at least 15 students enrolled and a fail rate greater than 15%	OR At least 20% response rate AND Student experience band is medium or low AND The unit undertook a Unit Health Check (any type) in the past three years.	Student experience band is medium or low AND At least 20% response rate AND Student experience band is medium or low AND The unit undertook a Unit Health Check (any type) in the past three years.

Unit Improvement Plan (UIP)

Unit Improvement Review

Unit escalation and Executive decision

At least 20% response rate

AND
Student experience band is low in current offering, or medium in two consecutive offerings.

The unit undertook a Unit Improvement Plan in the previous offering

AND
Student experience band is medium or low.

The unit undertook a Unit Improvement Review in the previous offering

AND
Student experience band is medium or low.

OR
The unit has at least 15 students enrolled and a fail rate greater than 15%

OR
At least 20% response rate

AND
Student experience band is medium or low

AND
The unit undertook a Unit Health Check (any type) in the past three years.

Student experience band is medium or low

AND
At least 20% response rate

AND
Student experience band is medium or low

AND
The unit undertook a Unit Health Check (any type) in the past three years.

High Fail units are those which have at least 15 students enrolled in the unit and there was a fail rate of greater than 15%.

If the unit otherwise shows a positive student experience (not Medium or Low), the review is always a Unit Improvement Plan (UIP). This plan focuses on identifying practical actions to help students succeed and reduce fail rates.

The total number of students:

does not include students who received a WDN, WH, or DEF grade.
does include students who received a WN, NH, NS grade, or students who received an overall unit mark of 0.

Unit Health Check timeline View

Frequently asked questions

Explore these frequently asked questions to find out more about the Unit Health Check process.

Triggers
Roles
Action Plans
Process

A Unit Health Check trigger is based on student experience (SETU results) and/or high fail rates, using University-defined thresholds. A trigger occurs because the current offering has had a student experience band of medium or low, and/or a fail rate above 15% with at least 15 students enrolled.
The level of action (Unit improvement plan, Unit improvement review, or Unit escalation) takes into account patterns of medium or low student experience over time.
You don’t need to determine this yourself—your faculty receives a report identifying which units require action and at what level.
You can find more detail on trigger criteria and thresholds on the TeachHQ Unit Health Checks
Unit evaluation surveys from SETU results are filtered so the initial Unit Improvement Review will only apply if at least 20% of enrolled students respond. However, for units with very small enrolments, this may mean that a small number of responses could indicate a medium or low student experience.
It is important to consider that even if the number of responses is small, student feedback should not be ignored. Completing a Unit Improvement Plan early can help resolve issues before they escalate.
Response rate thresholds are primarily used when identifying initial triggers. However, once a unit has entered the Unit Health Check process, subsequent reviews may proceed regardless of response rate.
This ensures that previously identified issues are followed through and improvements are evaluated.
If you are unsure how the response rate applied to your unit, your faculty Unit Health Check staff can clarify this.
Once a unit has undertaken a review, the goals for the unit are to improve the student experience. The actions of the initial Unit Improvement Plan should be designed to fulfil this goal, and the effectiveness can be evaluated independently of the number of students responding in the next offering.
Units may enter the Unit Health Check process based on high fail rates. High fail rates often indicate underlying issues with assessment design, support, or engagement. Research shows that “zero-fail” students (those who never submit any assessment) can account for a significant portion of failing grades and are often students who have an equity background or a personal disadvantage. Addressing these issues early can improve outcomes for all students.
In co-taught units the different cohorts are at different levels or stages in their studies (eg. co-taught undergraduate and postgraduate unit, or a year-long co-taught unit which students can start either in semester 1 or semester 2). The student experience and expectations of their studies change based on their specific circumstances.
Each cohort is treated separately. Even if only one cohort reports concerns, it is important to investigate and address these to ensure equitable student experience across all offerings.
If you believe a trigger does not reflect the context of your unit, you should contact your faculty Unit Health Check staff as soon as possible.
They can review the data with you and, where appropriate, discuss options such as clarification or adjustment.

The structured documentation has an outline of the tasks that the action plans require and your faculty will be assigning the responsible person for each task.
You are still responsible for completing the Unit Health Check if you are the current Chief Examiner.
The action plan is based on the unit, not the individual, and builds on previous offerings. You should review past data and, where possible, consult with previous teaching staff to understand the context.
The unit historic record within the action plan can help you understand previous actions and outcomes. Your faculty can also support this transition.

Your faculty Unit Health Check staff will contact you and provide you with the appropriate documentation and supporting material for the level of Unit Health Check you need to undertake. You will need to complete, and possibly implement, the actions in your plan in the next offering.
The actions should be designed to improve the student experience in the unit, based on either student SETU feedback, or through comparison of the unit with other units at the same level. You can seek out faculty champions who obtain Very High (purple rated) student experience outcomes and consider implementing similar strategies as their units.
Your responses should provide enough detail to clearly explain:
- the issue identified,
- the proposed action,
- how the action will improve the student experience.
The focus should be on clarity and practicality rather than length. Actions should be specific, achievable, and linked to the underlying issue.
TeachHQ provides examples of effective action plans and suggested approaches if you need guidance.
Your faculty will confirm the deadline for completing, submitting, and implementing your plan. This is usually aligned with the next offering of the unit.
Your plan becomes part of the unit’s historic record. This record helps future teaching teams understand what worked and what didn’t, creating a valuable conversation across offerings. This ensures improvements are tracked and knowledge is retained across the lifespan of the unit.
Each action plan will have multiple document tabs (available in the left hand menu) that allow you to view past actions and the academic plans and reflections on outcomes. This historic record is useful for your own action plan, and your contribution will be visible to future academics of the unit. The historic record forms a conversation and codifies knowledge and improvements for a unit and allows better planning and designs for future academics.
Yes. Your faculty can provide examples from other units.
The historic record for your unit may also include previous improvement actions that worked well.
Speak to your faculty as soon as possible. They can help adjust timelines or provide additional support.
Actions are typically implemented in the next offering of the unit after the plan is completed. In cases where a unit is currently being taught, it may be possible to implement some changes in the current round to evaluate their effectiveness in improving student experience.
Your faculty will confirm timelines, but actions should be designed to be practical and achievable within your timeframe.

The faculty receives a report once SETU results of all the units that require different types of reviews are released.
Your faculty will contact the Chief Examiner and provide the correct level of Unit Health Check (e.g. Unit Improvement Plan, Unit Review). You don’t need to work this out yourself.
Each faculty will have a structure to support academics in completing the action plans. Please reach out to your faculty Unit Health Check staff for support; your support staff will either be the person who sent the review document to you, or that person will be able to supply the support staff contact details.
If a unit is being phased out (teach-out), your faculty will determine the appropriate approach. If the unit has future offerings a Unit Improvement Plan may still be required to ensure the future students have a positive experience.
If a unit does not have any future offerings, you will not need to complete an action plan, other than adding a statement “This unit will not be offered again in the future” and having the ADE/DDE endorse that statement.
Yes. Unit Health Checks are based on each offering, and a unit may be triggered again if SETU indicate student experience is medium or low.
For units which are currently being taught while action plans for the previous round are being finalised, we recommend the proposed actions include immediate feedback mechanisms with the current cohort (eg. survey, informal discussions, or discussions with a student cohort representative) to discuss and confirm proposed actions with students and possibly implement changes for the existing cohort if possible before the end of the semester.
Any subsequent action plan can then include this feedback in addition to building on previous actions and reflecting on what has or hasn’t worked.
The core structure of the action plan should not be changed, as it supports consistency and reporting across the University. Specifically, you should always include your analysis, actions, and endorsement from the faculty ADE/DDE.
You can add additional sign off rows, and rows and columns to the other tables. Please note that if you intend to use the automation features for capturing actions into the faculty-wide summary, the action table needs to have the layout of columns 1, 2, and 3, and their headers text unmodified (ie. don’t put any columns before those, or change the header text).
If you have specific requirements, discuss them with your faculty before making structural changes if you are unsure.
Yes you can, but we strongly recommend you use the online Google document as it means your work is more easily made part of the historic record and you won’t need to transfer your work from the offline copy to the online version.
If you choose to download the file you will need to transfer anything you type back into the online Google document so it archives correctly for future reference.
If you want the historic data in the downloaded file, be sure to use the process:
1. Open the file
2. Choose the menu file > download > Microsoft Word
3. Choose all tabs to save the file with all historic data

Learning and Teaching: Teach HQ