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www.qaa.ac.uk. Quality Assurance in higher education: UK & European experiences. David Cairns Development and Enhancement Group QAA d.cairns@qaa.ac.uk www.qaa.ac.uk. Outline. HE in the UK since the 1980s Quality Assurance in Europe: the purposes The UK quality assurance experience:

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  1. www.qaa.ac.uk

  2. Quality Assurance in higher education: UK & European experiences David Cairns Development and Enhancement Group QAA d.cairns@qaa.ac.uk www.qaa.ac.uk

  3. Outline • HE in the UK since the 1980s • Quality Assurance in Europe: the purposes • The UK quality assurance experience: • Purposes • Devolution and diversity • External reference points - criteria • The QA trajectory • Lessons learnt • The European dimension: the longer term • The European dimension: the pre-requisites • Two immediate objectives for Europe

  4. In the UK the purposes of quality assurance are • Security of academic standards of qualifications • Enhancement/improvement of students’ learning opportunities and experience • Accountability • Information

  5. The UK quality assurance experience: devolution diversityand common features • Devolution since 1997 • Four different HE systems • England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland • Differing national arrangements for HE quality assurance • England and Northern Ireland; Wales; • Scotland ( Enhancement-led Quality Framework); • Diverse institutional types

  6. Common features of the three national quality assurance arrangements • the ‘Academic Infrastructure’ • published information about quality and standards in individual institutions (‘Teaching Quality Information’ - TQI) • student surveys • Regular institutional-level reviews

  7. Differences.... • England and Northern Ireland (140 HEIs): • Institutional Audit • HE in Further Education reviews • Major Reviews of English healthcare HE • No national credit system (yet) • Scotland (20 HEIs): • Enhancement-Led Institutional Review (ELIR) • Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) • Student Participation in Quality Scotland (‘SPARQS’) • Enhancement themes • Wales (13 HEIs): • Institutional review • Credit and Qualifications Framework for Wales (CQFW)

  8. Common reference points in UK quality assurance The ‘Academic Infrastructure’ • Two HE qualifications frameworks (England, Wales and Northern Ireland; Scotland • Subject benchmark statements • Programme specifications • Code of practice for quality assurance • Advice not regulations • but use is reviewed by QAA

  9. Quality assurance in the UK: the progression • From inspections of programmes and subjects to reviews and audits at institutional level • From external prescription to encouraging internal rigour • From approving processes to confirming outcomes • From the implicit to the explicit • From accepting 'assurances' to verifiying information • From accountability towards enhancement • From suspicion towards trust

  10. What the UK has learnt about quality assurance: • Only the providers can assure the quality of provision • Purpose should determine process • Evolve, don’t repeat • Move from the specific to the generic • 'Standards' and 'quality' are not the same thing • Quality assurance is expensive • It is not the answer to all problems

  11. European quality assurance dimension: the purposes • Accountability? • Academic standards? • Enhancement? • Information? • Control? • Standardisation?

  12. European quality assurance:the longer term • Common concepts • Common language • Shared understandings and values • A European HE 'quality culture'? ..... • Qualifications recognition • Comparable academic standards • Useful information for stakeholders • Improved academic professionalism • Better higher education

  13. Useful links • Recent speech by Commissioner Figel • http://europa.eu.int/comm/commission_barroso/figel/speeches/docs/06_04_03_Oxford_en.pdf • OECD paper -- The Economics of Knowledge • http://www.lisboncouncil.net/files/download/Policy_Brief_Economics_of_Knowledge_FINAL.pdf • Bologna-Berlin-Bergen site • http://www.dfes.gov.uk/bologna/ • European Network for Quality Assurance (ENQA) • http://www.enqa.eu/ • http://www.enqa.eu/files/ENQA%20Bergen%20Report.pdf

  14. More useful links • Source material for the Academic infrastructure • http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/default.asp • Scotland's student website: Student Participation in Quality Scotland (SPARQS) • http://www.sparqs.org.uk/

  15. www.qaa.ac.uk

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