QAA launches consultation on Quality Code

QAA has launched the formal consultation on the proposed 2024 edition of the UK Quality Code for Higher Education. This consultation will run from 8 April until 17 May and offers the last opportunity for colleagues across the UK to shape the core content of the Quality Code.

As a sector-led reference document, the Quality Code embodies the collaborative approach that underpins UK tertiary education. The current set of proposals is the result of an extensive process of engagement with higher and further education providers and sector bodies across the UK, which has been ongoing since autumn 2022.

The Quality Code has been a cornerstone of UK higher education since its inception in the 1990s. Its format has changed over time, but it has always articulated the sector-agreed principles for the academic standards and quality of higher education across the UK.

The most recent version of the Quality Code was published in 2018. The current review has been undertaken in response to the evolving regulatory landscape of higher education in England and Northern Ireland along with the introduction of explicit tertiary approaches in Wales and Scotland.

The review also offered the opportunity to consider the direction, structure, content and presentation of the Quality Code to ensure it remains valued and useful across the UK, as well as supporting the international reputation of UK higher education. 

Throughout the redevelopment of the 2024 edition, we recognised the need to produce a document that can be used across tertiary settings and continue to form a basis for the assurance of standards and quality, regardless of the size of the provider or the context in which they operate across the UK. 

Find out more

You can read the proposed Quality Code and an accompanying consultation document on our Quality Code consultation web page. Responses should be submitted via our online survey by 17 May.