Higher education provided at further education colleges and other non-awarding bodies is validated by a university or other awarding body and is reviewed by QAA in a way that reflects the differences in responsibilities this entails. Until 2012, the method used for this was Integrated Quality and Enhancement Review (IQER) and, before that, Academic Review. It is to these methods that the publications discussed on this page relate.
Learning from our reviews
Outcomes from IQER
We are committed to disseminating the good practice identified through our review activity. One way in which this is done is through the series of Outcomes publications, which provide thematic analysis of the findings (good practice and recommendations) of published reports.
Higher education provided in further education colleges is analysed in the series Outcomes from IQER. The first two papers are based on the 90 reports published between 2008 and 2010.
Outcomes from IQER: College management of higher education
Outcomes from IQER: Staff development
The following two papers are based on the 75 reports published in 2010-11.
Outcomes from IQER: Assessment
Outcomes from IQER: The student voice
Information bulletins
Information bulletins provide an overview of the main findings of reports and surveys, and of QAA's evaluations, including statistical information and diagrams. They are intended to inform college staff and students about emerging good practice and potential challenges in UK higher education.
IQER: Findings from the 2009-10 Summative reviews in England
IQER: Assessment and Feedback
IQER: For college governors
IQER: Foundation Degrees
IQER: Student engagement
IQER: Supporting and enhancing the student learning experience
HE in FE in Wales / Addysg uwch mewn sefydliadau addysg pellach yng Nghymru
HE in FE in England: Higher education strategies pilot 2007-08
HE in FE in England: Findings from the IQER pilot reviews - Assessment
HE in FE in England: Outcomes of the 2008 National Student Survey
HE in FE in England 2006-7
Learning from... series
The Learning from... series of papers, which preceded the Outcomes series, analysed findings about higher education in further education colleges during the period 2002-07. The following papers are available either on this website or on request (archived).
Learning from Academic review of higher education in further education colleges (2005-07)
Learning from Academic review of higher education in further education colleges (2002-07)
Learning from higher education in further education colleges in England (2003-05)
Learning from higher education in further education colleges in England
Learning from reviews of Foundation Degrees in England (2004-5)
(For more information on Foundation Degrees please consult the qualification benchmark.)
Further information
Follow this link to find out details of the review methods we use.
Although QAA retains copyright of all its publications, they can be freely downloaded and cited (with acknowledgement; see our copyright policy).
If you would like to offer feedback on the Outcomes series or have suggestions for other topics that would be useful, please contact the Outcomes team. If you would like to find out more about our information bulletins, please email Laura Bellingham (l.bellingham@qaa.ac.uk).
If you are interested in writing for these publications please see the criteria we use for identifying authors.
See the separate pages for: higher education institutions in England, Northern Ireland and Wales and in Scotland, and agencies validating the Access to Higher Education Diploma