The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education

We were recently pleased to share that 18 new Collaborative Enhancement Projects (CEPs) have been successful in their applications for QAA funding this year! 🌐 The projects, which were selected following a rigorous review process, involve QAA Member institutions leading initiatives and working in collaboration with other organisations to enhance the quality of higher education. The opportunity to lead CEPs is one of the many benefits of being a QAA Member institution. They'll investigate a broad scope of themes including: 📝 Assessment 🤖 Artificial intelligence ♾️ Lifelong learning 🌿 Sustainability 🔀 Flexible pathways to higher education We are excited to share more on these soon! 🚀 In the meantime, Dr Dominic Henri, who is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Natural Sciences at the University of Hull and the project lead for one of our 2024 CEPs (charting the possibilities of competence-based assessment strategies), has taken to the QAA blog to share how Members and CEP funding recipients can make the most of the support, development and enhancement opportunities available through QAA Membership. "The funding itself is of course very much appreciated – it makes the scope of the work possible – but the opportunities for advice, networking, profile-building, dissemination and impact which these awards bring to our projects are even more valuable," he writes. ⭐ Read the full blog to learn more about the opportunities available to you and your institution: https://lnkd.in/ebebYhPb

Just over a week until we meet in Belfast for our Northern Ireland Enhancement Conference! 👇 If you are a Northern Ireland QAA Member, we'd love for you to join. This is an opportunity to get together with colleagues from across the sector in Northern Ireland, Wales, and Scotland, to discuss the current challenges, share practices in higher education policy and development, and gain valuable resources to drive meaningful improvements in your institution. Expect a series of dynamic sessions and workshops including: 🤝 Student Partnership and the Learning Experience: led by Debbie McVitty, Editor at Wonkhe, this session will explore how meaningful student partnerships can shape and enrich the learning experience. ⭐ How Do You Engage Students with Quality in This Challenging Environment: In this session, sector leaders will share practical approaches to fostering student engagement while navigating an evolving educational landscape. Register now to be part of the conversation shaping the future of higher education: https://lnkd.in/eax48D_i

We are delighted to be involved in supporting this exciting TNE project and to be working with such an enthusiastic team of partners: the University of Portsmouth, Flacso México Oficial under the auspices of Education UK México British Council. We look forward to continuing the dialogue around TNE-based social research methods for sustainable development.

It's not often that I am offered the privilege of seeing the work my teams do through others' lenses. But recently, Dominic Henri wrote a blog for QAA, talking about the benefits of our Collaborative Enhancement Projects (which, despite my passion for abolishing acronyms, everyone knows as CEPs). Now, I've always been convinced that CEPs are a good thing because of the links they establish between members committed to a shared vision or a joint approach to a particular problem in teaching, learning or assessment. But I had never before thought of them as a vital funding source for research into the development and practice of education; partly filling a growing gap in UK educational research funding. And yet, Dom points out, that is precisely what a QAA CEP does: "There are precious few other opportunities for such work to be supported in this kind of way. And we've yet to see the full array of benefits from such work – whose longer-term impacts will accrue increasing amounts of value for our sector, students and colleagues as the earliest projects continue to mature." He also talks about the individual benefits to the prestige, profile and progression of an academic career in an education-focused pathway - and I am genuinely delighted that work that so benefits our members also has tangible benefits for those who perform it. Have a read of the blog, if you haven't already. It's great to hear from members about the benefits they feel from working with us - and also so fabulous to learn that the work is intrinsically valuable, out in the world! https://lnkd.in/eqw6f9p2

Passionate about enhancing student engagement? 🧑🎓 Next week, join our collaborative forum uniting student engagement champions from across the sector! The Student Engagement Network (SEN) supports the sector in its commitment to engage students as partners, fostering the sharing of innovative ideas, resources and practice, prompting discussion on critical issues and shaping future initiatives for QAA and our members. This SEN event will include sessions from the University of Roehampton's Gina Pauli on modes of study, De Montfort University's Dr Claire Orwin on 'the promotion of the sticky course', as well as an introduction to this year's Collaborative Enhancement Projects (CEPs). 🏆 Open to all QAA-member #StudentEngagement champions including 👇 ➡️ SU staff and representatives ➡️ Students ➡️ Professional services colleagues ➡️ Academic leaders Register for the 8th April SEN session: https://lnkd.in/eDDHTwFG

On the 20th March, we were delighted to visit KazGASA University in Almaty and participate in a day of insightful panel discussions which ranged from quality assurance to AI in Education and life-long learning skills, as part of the British Expertise International's Higher Education trade mission to Kazakhstan. One of the highlights of the trip, the day was a chance for our Director of Global Business Development, Julie Till to share and exchange knowledge around opportunities in technology and education, employability and more.

📢 We are seeking expressions of interest from colleagues across UK Higher Education who would like to participate in the writing groups that will develop the Advice and Guidance which underpins the Principles and Practices of the 2024 UK Quality Code. Each section of the Advice and Guidance aligns directly with one of the twelve sector-agreed principles and will be designed to unpack and expand upon each of those principles and related set of key practices. Between now and Friday 25 April 2025 (inclusive), we are recruiting for Phase 1 of the second tranche of development for the Advice and Guidance, which will span June 2025 to June 2026. Phase 1 of Tranche 2 consists of the following 6 principles: 📊 Principle 4 - Using data to inform and evaluate quality 🖥️ Principle 5 - Monitoring, evaluating, and enhancing provision 🎨 Principle 7 - Designing, developing, approving & modifying programmes 🙌 Principle 10 - Supporting students to achieve their potential 🧑🎓 Principle 11 - Teaching, learning and assessment 📝 Principle 12 - Operating concerns, complaints, and appeals processes QAA will be selecting writing group members and expert readers from across the four nations of the UK and to represent the diversity of providers and students across the country. Writing groups will comprise colleagues of different levels and roles from quality assurance and enhancement professionals, academics, students, and student representative body staff, along with those who have specific expertise in the topic addressed by each Advice and Guidance topic. Writing groups will have two roles within them – writers and expert readers: 🖊️ Writers discuss and draft the content of the Advice and Guidance and are required to attend an induction session plus four meetings. 📖 Expert readers provide feedback on a near-final draft of the Advice and Guidance. Expert readers attend the induction session and the fourth meeting of the writing group. Being part of a writing group offers a fantastic opportunity to expand networks and professional contacts and to collaborate with colleagues from across the UK and from various parts of the sector to produce a resource that will be widely recognised inside and beyond the UK sector. Follow the link to learn more and access the submission form: https://lnkd.in/eJFg9anU (Please note we will not be accepting expressions of interest via email).

We asked Dr May AlTaee, Vice-Chancellor of Emirates College for Advanced Education about the motivation for applying for, and achieving, QAA international institutional accreditation. Her insightful and inspiring response outlines the importance at a national and institutional level. For other international HE providers also looking to drive improvement, our International Quality Review (IQR) enables non-UK institutions to demonstrate that their approach to quality assurance is comparable to international best practice, providing trust and confidence for students and international partners. IQR provides opportunities to: ⭐ Demonstrate effective quality assurance measured against international benchmarks 🌐 Strengthen your global positioning 📈 Drive improvement and excellence ☑️ Develop partnerships with UK institutions. Join our 'Introduction to International Quality Review' webinar on Tuesday 8th April (10am UK time) to find out more: https://lnkd.in/eQUEGB9y

Yesterday QAA Scotland and the College Development Network (CDN) hosted a day-long event in Glasgow as part of a major new initiative to support further and higher education. Called Scotland's Tertiary Enhancement Programme (STEP), this initiative has been commissioned by the Scottish Funding Council, and is run in partnership between CDN and QAA Scotland. The STEP initiative is Scotland’s new national enhancement programme for colleges and universities. It is designed to enable colleges and universities to work together to improve and enhance learning, teaching, the student experience and staff development across tertiary education in Scotland. The Glasgow event included sessions in which participants shared ideas around approaches to student engagement and the evaluation of the impacts of the outcomes of planned projects. "It's brilliant to see colleagues exploring how they can really make a difference for students," said Alison Eales, Quality Enhancement Manager at QAA Scotland. Dr Gail Toms, Delivery and Engagement Partner at CDN, added: "It's been fantastic to see such creative and forward-thinking ideas come together. The enthusiasm from participants shows how much potential there is to make a real impact across Scotland’s tertiary sector." Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/e_E6njNQ

QAA’s Head of Europe and Educational Oversight Laura Porter has today presented on putting panel recommendations into action in Madrid at ENQA: European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education’s Seminar for Recently Reviewed Agencies. Since 2008 we have been reviewed four times by ENQA, making QAA one of the most experienced quality assurance agencies to have undergone the review process. As the UK’s independent higher education quality body, it is important the QAA maintains compliance with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG 2015), and the review by ENQA is the method through which QAA itself is externally assessed. As part of our commitment to the development of quality assurance processes, we were delighted to share with representatives from 16 different countries our experience of implementing our own internal enhancement activities and how we have applied the learning from the external review process. QAA’s work regularly involves international collaboration with stakeholders in Europe and around the world, and we look forward to more activity later this year!