In Wales, we work closely with higher education providers and a range of other organisations such as Medr, The Commission for Tertiary Education and Research, and Universities Wales, to support and review the management of academic standards and quality.
Our Wales Strategic Advisory Committee is chaired by a member of our Board from the university sector in Wales. The Committee provides strategic advice to our work and ensures that the Board is kept aware of specific matters of relevance in Wales.
We work with QAA Members in Wales across a range of activities specific to Wales, working collaboratively to support our shared commitment to enhancing and enriching the learning experience of students.
Quality Enhancement Review is our method for reviewing higher education providers in Wales. It combines quality assurance and quality enhancement, involves students and can be adapted to suit the scale and nature of particular universities and colleges.
Gateway Quality Review allows a higher education provider to demonstrate its compliance with the baseline quality requirements for higher education in Wales.
This knowledge base has been developed from the outcomes of the Quality Enhancement Review and Gateway Quality Review Wales from 2017 – present. The knowledge base includes information about the review methods including judgement areas, categorisation of commendations, recommendations, affirmations, areas for development and specified improvements and in-cycle changes. Users can filter the outcomes by themes of the UK Quality Code as well as additional categories.
Publication date: 11 Jun 2024
Each of our review teams in Wales includes a student member as part of our approach to engage students in quality assurance and enhancement of their own higher education.
Our guide provides an overview of student engagement in a review and will help students and providers plan their preparation for review. It has should be read in conjunction with the relevant review handbook.
Publication date: 27 Jun 2024
In 2024, we produced the first Welsh language translation of the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG). This has now been published on the website of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA). QAA Cymru uses the ESG as a key regulatory reference point which, alongside the UK Quality Code, underpins Quality Enhancement Review.
We translated the ESG as part of our aim to help promote and raise awareness of the important role of Welsh in higher education in Wales, in support of Welsh Government’s Cymraeg 2050 strategy and the funding and regulatory body Medr’s priority of promoting tertiary education through the medium of Welsh.
QAA produces case studies from commendations identified in Quality Enhancement Reviews to promote good practice across the sector.
Publication date: 08 Jun 2022
Publication date: 08 Jun 2022
The Wales Quality Network (WQN) also regularly hosts presentations on commendations from the QER and other good practice across the sector in Wales and more widely. Resources from the WQN are available on our Membership Resources Site.
We work by the principle that in our work in Wales, we will treat the English and Welsh languages as equal and meet the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 as it applies to us.
Publication date: 22 Jan 2025
Publication date: 25 Jul 2016
We work with Medr, the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research (formerly the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales - HEFCW) to deliver activities to enhance the student experience in Wales. QAA is funded for this work via grant arrangements.
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The Collaborative Programmes Wales project was funded by the HEFCW Higher Education Investment and Recovery Fund. The project was led by Swansea University on behalf of the Universities Wales Learning and Teaching Network. The resource pack is designed to support anyone interested in exploring collaborative provision and may be used to enhance quality processes in this area.
We have provided guidance to promote effective practical arrangements for higher education providers that deliver and/or assess academic programmes through the medium of Welsh within Wales.
It outlines a number of key principles and practices which apply.
Publication date: 18 Sep 2019
Qualifications Wales regulates non-degree qualifications and the qualifications system in Wales. QAA is responsible for the regulatory framework through which Access to HE courses are regulated and recognised. Our MoU sets out the respective responsibilities for both parties with regard to this qualification offered in Wales.
Publication date: 22 Oct 2018
