Written evidence submitted by the Quality
Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA)
1. This response to the Select Committee's call
for submissions is in five parts:
— An
introduction to the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education
(QAA);
— QAA's
vision for the future of quality assurance in UK higher education
with reference to Lord Browne's review;
— the
Access to HE Diploma and its role in widening participation;
— changes
to the method of Institutional review in England and Northern
Ireland, to be in place from August 2011; and
— QAA's
scheme for investigating concerns about quality and standards.
ABOUT QAA
2. QAA's mission is to safeguard the public interest
in sound standards of higher education qualifications, and to
inform and encourage continuous improvement in the management
of the quality of higher education.
3. The primary responsibility for academic standards
and quality rests with individual institutions. QAA reviews all
UK Higher Education Institutions and reports on how well they
meet those responsibilities, identifies good practice and makes
recommendations for improvement.
4. QAA works with the higher
education sector across the UK to produce the essential reference
materials and key guidelines on how academic standards should
be set and maintained, and on the quality and improvement of learning
opportunities.
5. QAA offers confidential advice on applications
for degree awarding powers and university title to the devolved
administrations, the Westminster government and the Privy Council.
6. QAA assures the standards of the Access to
HE Diploma, a qualification designed to facilitate entry to higher
education for adults with few or no traditional entry qualifications.
The Access to HE Diploma helps to widen participation to higher
education, with many holders of the qualification coming from
underrepresented groups. QAA also regulates the national recognition
of Access to HE in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, advising
higher education institutions on making offers to Access to HE
Diploma students.
THE FUTURE
OF QUALITY
ASSURANCE IN
UK HIGHER EDUCATION
7. Lord Browne argued in his Independent Review
of Higher Education Funding and Finance that "the regulation
of quality is central to the higher education system". Although
the report is focussed on English higher education, it has UK-wide
impact. Assuring the quality of higher education is critical not
only for protecting the interests of students, but also for maintaining
the excellent international reputation of UK higher education.
8. The Browne review argues that if funding follows
students rather than being directly allocated to institutions,
market forces will drive up quality. Autonomous universities and
colleges, responding to student choice, are central to this model.
QAA fully supports and values the autonomy of academic institutions.
9. However, Browne believes regulation is still
necessary to safeguard the interests of students and the continuing
public funding for HE, whether in the form of HEFCE grant or student
finance. External quality assurance is a key component of effective
regulation.
10. It is QAA's view that the most successful
system of quality assurance for the future of higher education
would be based on the following principles:
— Independent
quality assurance: A quality assurance agency which is independent
of the sector and independent of Government, safeguarding the
public interest.
— A UK-wide
framework: A framework of quality assurance that is UK-wide but
adapted in its application in the different parts of the UK. The
UK higher education brand is of enormous value internationally
and should be protected.
— A diverse
but quality assured market: The creation of a level playing field
for all providers, offering quality assurance within a common
framework. A clear common framework is needed for the entry of
new providers, whether privately or publicly funded, including
those seeking degree awarding powers and university title.
— Student-centred
quality assurance: A system that engages students and protects
their interests, within a higher education system that has students
at its heart.
11. An independent quality assurance agency would
be the most effective way to safeguard quality and standards in
a way which not only respects institutional autonomy but also
reflects and works with diversity and difference in the UK. Independence
enables a quality assurance agency to protect students' interests,
to develop an authoritative and objective voice, and to respond
quickly and flexibly to public concerns.
12. All methods of external quality assurance
of higher education in the UK are based on the Academic Infrastructure;
a UK-wide framework that gives all institutions a shared starting
point for setting, describing and assuring the quality and standards
of their higher education courses.
13. During 2009-10, QAA evaluated the Academic
Infrastructure. The results of the evaluation show that it has
served the higher education sector well, with much evidence of
its positive impact on assuring the standards and quality of higher
education provision across the UK.
14. Further development of the Academic Infrastructure
is underway to ensure that it remains fit for purpose, clarifies
the expectations placed on autonomous institutions and supports
the maintenance of comparable threshold standards of all UK higher
education provision.
15. UK higher education is a recognised brand;
trusted and respected around the world. Universities and colleges
across the UK are financially dependent on the reputation of UK
higher education to recruit international students both in the
UK and in partnership with colleges abroad. The UK brand may suffer
if different quality assurance arrangements emerge in the separate
countries. This would be to the disadvantage of institutions in
all countries of the UK.
16. A diverse but quality assured market is necessary
to ensure the widely differing needs of students are met, and
should be actively encouraged through removing barriers to new
providers and by taking a flexible approach to regulation. To
protect every individual student, wherever and however they study,
and from wherever their funding comes, the market needs some form
of fair regulation. A key component of this is independent, external
quality assurance.
17. QAA already works with private providers;
some subscribe to us and with others we have more informal relationships.
18. Higher education delivered by further education
providers (HE in FE) contributes greatly to the flexibility of
the higher education system, and to its capacity to attract students
from disadvantaged backgrounds who might need to study closer
to home. In these circumstances consistent quality assurance comes
into its own - students need to be confident that the programmes
offered by local colleges meet the same standards as those offered
in universities.
19. As we move towards student-centred quality
assurance, it will be necessary to use sound evidence and a thorough
understanding of students' views, as well as direct engagement
with them and their direct involvement in quality assurance activities.
QAA already has a student Board member, a student consultative
board, student members of our review teams, and in all our reviews
across the UK our teams meet with students to hear their views.
Central to our reviews in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
is the student written submission that tells us what students
think of their institutions. In Wales, students now produce an
annual statement on their institution. We continually seek to
improve the ways in which we engage students in our work.
20. As funding for institutions in England will
soon come principally with students, there is an opportunity to
rebalance the funding and governance of external quality assurance.
This rebalancing could strengthen both its independence and the
role of students in its ownership and governance. The focus will
be primarily on protecting the student interest in higher education.
21. However, it is in their institutions that
students experience the quality of the education and opportunities
available to them. If an institution can engage its students at
all levels then students are more committed and benefit more fully
from their academic experience. QAA will take an active part in
encouraging and facilitating that engagement process.
ACCESS TO
HE AND WIDENING
PARTICIPATION
22. QAA has been responsible for the national
recognition of Access to HE courses in England, Wales and Northern
Ireland and assuring the quality of recognised Access to HE courses
since 1997.
23. The Access to HE Diploma is a level three
qualification for adults with few or no traditional qualifications
who would like to return to education. It is designed to equip
applicants with the knowledge and skills needed to progress to
higher education. Many people who progress from the Access to
HE Diploma to higher education come from disadvantaged backgrounds
and may otherwise have not had the opportunity to enter higher
education.
24. Provisional figures for 2010 show that almost
20,000 Access to HE students successfully applied through UCAS
for a higher education course. From
2008-10, 64,830 Access to HE Diplomas were awarded to students
from a variety of backgrounds. 2010 alone saw 26,030 Diplomas
awarded - a rise of 30% on the previous year.
25. Of the successful applicants with an Access
to HE Diploma to higher education courses in 2009, 18.5% came
from the most deprived areas in England. This is more than double
the proportion of successful applicants holding other qualifications,
where 8.4% came from the most deprived areas.
26. In a recent survey of HE admissions staff,
90% of respondents indicated that it was "very important"
for an access qualification to have QAA recognition.
THE FUTURE
OF INSTITUTIONAL
REVIEW
27. In August 2011, QAA will launch Institutional
review, a new method of assessing how well higher education institutions
in England and Northern Ireland meet their responsibilities for
managing academic standards, as well as their success in improving
quality.
28. Changes to the way in which institutions
are reviewed reflect calls for student-centred quality assurance,
a flexible approach to review, and a desire for accessible public
information about higher education institutions.
29. The process is designed with the interests
of current and prospective students at the forefront. The student
experience will be central in review judgments, and students will
have more opportunities than ever before to participate in the
review process.
30. The highest category of judgment can only
be achieved in an institution can clearly demonstrate that meeting
the needs of students is a prime and clear focus of the institution's
strategies and policies. Judgments will consider the views of
a greater and more diverse number of students. Review teams will
look at primary evidence, including student assessment and student
evaluation forms. Institutional responses to the National Student
Survey will also form a standard part of the review.
31. The report summary will be written particularly
with prospective students and their advisers in mind, with clear
and concise judgments presented in a way that makes comparison
simple. Review will also look specifically at the public information
that institutions will soon be required to produce, including
the information produced to inform applicants and students. The
new review method seeks to provide public reassurance that threshold
academic standards are being met, and that UK-wide expectations
concerning quality, enhancement and public information are being
achieved.
32. The ways in which students can participate
in reviews of their institutions has increased. Every team will
have a student reviewer, building on the successful introduction
of student reviewers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in
2009 and long-standing practice in Scotland. We expect a far greater
emphasis on and use of the Student Written Submission, a key piece
of evidence for review teams submitted by students independently
of the institutions. For the new method, we are introducing a
formal lead student representative role. He or she will represent
the student body in the review process, liaising with students,
the institution and the review team to ensure a smooth and consistent
engagement with the review. The process will also encourage institutions
to make post-review action planning a joint activity with students.
33. Greater flexibility and responsiveness will
be achieved in a number of ways. A significant development is
the introduction of themes as part of institutional review. Changing
annually, thematic investigation will enable issues of concern
and importance to be examined over a number of individual institutional
visits (typically 30 in a year), providing greater focus on issues
that have wider implications for quality and standards.
INVESTIGATING CONCERNS
ABOUT QUALITY
AND STANDARDS
34. Potential concerns and problems identified
outside Institutional review require more immediate investigation.
In these cases, QAA's improved procedure for investigating Concerns
about Standards and Quality in Higher Education will be used,
with investigations leading to published reports. It links with
the work of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator, with sharing
of information where appropriate.
35. Concerns may be raised by staff, students
or organisations affected by or witness to potential risks to
academic quality and standards, or raised when identified through
normal QAA activity.
36. Where concerns are raised during the Institutional
review timetable, the Concerns team can make evidence known to
the review team for immediate investigation.
37. The Concerns scheme is flexible, responsive
and targeted. It supports Institutional review, and reassures
the public that potential risks to quality and standards in higher
education can be investigated at any time.
CONCLUSION
38. Protecting the student interest in higher
education has never been more important. QAA's expertise is in
balancing this with a respect for the autonomy of institutions,
and a recognition that the value of higher education lies in its
diversity. Our role in protecting the international reputation
of UK higher education has developed over the years, and we take
it very seriously. It is essential that a UK-wide approach to
quality assurance and enhancement is maintained. We will take
every opportunity over the coming months to rise to new challenges
and to continue to ensure that every student working to a UK higher
education qualification can be confident in its high standards
and in the quality of education they will receive.
10 March 2011
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