QAA at ENQA

QAA Chief Executive Vicki Stott and our Head of International Policy & Engagement Shannon Stowers last week travelled to Paphos in Cyprus to take part in the annual Members' Forum of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), hosted by the Cyprus quality agency CYQAA.

Vicki presented a session on agency sustainability through the example of QAA's human resources strategies.

While in Cyprus, we were also very happy to have the opportunity to renew our Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ukraine's National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance (NAQA), with whom we have a close partnership since its establishment in 2019. NAQA’s mission is to ensure sustainability and consistency in enhancing higher education quality culture and its security through effective partnerships with stakeholders. The MoU commits us to collaborating on key topics in higher education and quality assurance, including academic integrity, transnational education, and accreditation.

During the conference, we were also able to take part in discussions of ongoing plans for the revision of the ESG – the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area. As a full and founding member of ENQA, QAA collaborates internationally to share effective practices and build expertise in the ESG, including at our upcoming International Quality Assurance Programme, a five-day professional development course for quality assurance professionals worldwide which will take place in central London in June.

"ENQA provides an excellent forum for collaboration and discussion,” said Shannon. "It was, as always, a great opportunity to represent the perspectives of QAA and of our members, and to promote the quality assurance principles which underpin the value and reputation of the UK higher education sector both at home and across the world."