New Collaborative Enhancement Projects announced

The theme of assessment will run through several of these pieces of work. The University of Bedfordshire will manage a CEP evaluating the impact of authentic assessments on students, staff and university resources. Colleagues from the University of Southampton will explore strategies for the quality assurance of innovative assessment practice. A project based at the University of South Wales will develop a UK-wide community of practice around innovative integrated assessment strategies, while a team from LSE will investigate how AI can be used to accelerate innovation in assessment.

Artificial intelligence is also central to other new projects for 2025. While a team from Edge Hill University will approach authentic assessment strategies in the context of artificial intelligence, the University of York will lead a project considering how to reframe graduate attributes in the age of Generative AI – and Queen Mary University of London's CEP will focus on rethinking higher education provisioning through lifelong learning provision in the era of AI.

A CEP from Manchester Metropolitan University will also focus on lifelong learning as it looks to create a framework for using degree apprenticeships as vehicles for lifelong learning. Meanwhile, another team from MMU will be developing strategies to promote student engagement.

Indeed, the importance of student engagement and the student experience features across several of these new projects. Colleagues from the University of Greenwich will explore ways to prepare and reward students as leaders through student partnership. A project from De Montfort University will look at supporting staff in the enhancement of the experiences of international students; and a team from the University of Nottingham will develop ways to enhance the accessibility of laboratory learning environments for neurodivergent students.

An initiative led by Birmingham City University will focus on strategies to support flexible pathways and effective student transitions in college-based higher education, while Leeds Art University will lead a CEP promoting similarly flexible pathways towards work-readiness for diverse student populations.

Sustainability is also a key theme of this year's batch of new CEPs. The University of Lincoln will look at the role of sustainability, interdisciplinary innovation and practice-based interventions in skills development, while colleagues from Oxford Brookes University will consider how we develop green skills for green jobs.

The development of our curricula is another key theme. A project from the University of Exeter will explore the delivery of quality and efficiency through curriculum reform, while Kingston University's will examine the pillars of impact underpinning curriculum design and review.

"We have another exciting collection of new projects for 2025 – and we're already looking forward to seeing their outputs as the year progresses," says Sophie Hall, Sector Engagement Manager at QAA. "Once again, the process was incredibly competitive – and we're so grateful to everyone who put forward their brilliant ideas."

In addition to the project lead institutions named above, this year's CEPs will involve collaborations with Abertay University, Anglia Ruskin University, Arts University Plymouth, Aston University, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, the University of Bath, BIMM University, the University of Birmingham, Bishop Burton College, BPP Education Group, the University of Brighton, the University of Bristol, Brunel University of London, Cardiff University, the University of Central Lancashire, the University for the Creative Arts, the University of Derby, Derby College, the University of Doha for Science and Technology, the University of Edinburgh, the Educational University of Hong Kong, the University of Glasgow, Goldsmiths University of London, Higher Education Consultancy Services, the University of Hull, the University of Greater Manchester, the University of Hertfordshire, the University of Kent, King's College London, Kingston University, the University of Leeds, the University of Limerick, the University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University, Loughborough University, The University of Manchester, Mary Immaculate College, Monash University, the University of Newcastle, North-West University, Nottingham College, Nottingham Trent University, The Open University, the University of Reading, the University of Roehampton, the University of Salford, the School of African and Oriental Studies University of London, Sheffield Hallam University, Solihull College and University Centre, Staffordshire University, Students Organising for Sustainability UK, the University of Suffolk, Walsall College, the University of Warwick, the University of the West of England, the University of Winchester and the University of Wolverhampton.

With these new projects, we have now funded 83 CEPs as part of QAA Membership, with 196 institutions involved as either a lead or partner.