QAA International Membership

QAA International Membership provides vision, expertise and guidance on the topics that matter to your staff and students, ensuring your institution is well equipped to face the opportunities and challenges of a rapidly changing global higher education environment.

We collaborate with our members to deliver high-quality services that:

safeguard academic standards and champion academic integrity
enhance the quality of the student learning experience, regardless of where students are studying
support continuous improvement in quality assurance practices.

Benefits of QAA Membership

Find out more about the support and resources provided by QAA Membership that help your institution to excel and innovate.

Membership themes in 2025-26

In 2025-26, we will be focusing on providing guidance and resources on the following areas:

Supporting high-quality teaching and learning
Innovation in delivery
Maintaining quality in challenging times.

Dr Hanadi Kadbey
Head - Institutional Research & Effectiveness, Emirates College for Advanced Studies

By being a QAA International Member, ECAE is better placed to strengthen our network of higher education quality assurance professionals in the UK and around the world. We have access to the latest international thinking and can remain up to date with international best practices, using this to inform and shape our quality assurance systems and processes.

There are two tiers of QAA International Membership:

Full International Membership

Full International Membership offers access to a comprehensive range of services and expertise including resources, guidance, staff training, networking opportunities, briefings and entitlement to display the QAA International Membership Badge. Full Membership is available only to those institutions that have achieved International Quality Review (IQR) accreditation from QAA.

Find out about Full International Membership

International Associate Membership

International Associate Membership delivers a valuable but less extensive range of resources, guidance, staff training and networking opportunities for higher education institutions that don’t yet have IQR accreditation but are recognised by their local quality agency. International Associate Members are not eligible to use the QAA International Membership Badge.

Find out about International Associate Membership

What to expect from your QAA Membership

QAA International Membership is an investment in the quality and standards of your institution. Find out more about the benefits of being a QAA Member:

Amplifying your voice

We have close relationships with institutions, quality agencies and partner bodies in the UK and internationally, sharing the expertise of QAA Members on a global stage.

Developing your skills & networks

We work in partnership with institutions to support you with enhancement while respecting your autonomy and the diversity of the international higher education sector. Collaborative by design, QAA Membership thrives on building effective relationships, creating meaningful opportunities to network and engage with the wider sector, and helping to develop skills and experience across your whole institution.

Enhancing your knowledge & practice

With nearly 30 years of expertise as a world-leading impartial, independent quality body, QAA has helped establish quality systems around the globe. We can confidently support you to make practices and processes more efficient and effective, and to maximise the impact from using our toolkits, guidance documents and policy and strategy briefings.

Addressing your priorities

The overarching themes of QAA Membership are crafted to tackle significant sector challenges head on. We engage with you and your colleagues to understand your unique position and to support you to achieve meaningful change.

Outputs relating to this year’s membership themes can be found within our Sector resources area; and all upcoming events, networks and training are available here.

Our membership calendar provides a schedule of the key events and resources that are part of our membership programme. These activities support the delivery of our membership themes and topics and the wider work we do with our members to safeguard academic standards and enhance the student learning experience around the world.