QAA praised for best practice approach to student involvement by European expert panel

QAA has been praised by a panel of European quality experts for its ‘exemplary involvement of students in the organisation and in quality procedures’.

The panel praised QAA for its involvement of ‘an impressive array of stakeholders’ and fostering ‘a culture of effective dialogue with everyone involved in the procedures’. They also acknowledged QAA’s ‘high reputation and solid position in UK, European and the international higher education community’.

The independent review of QAA, the UK’s independent quality body for tertiary education was undertaken by the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), the umbrella body for quality assurance agencies in the European Higher Education Area. The visit was undertaken by an expert panel earlier in the year and their report is now available on the ENQA website.

A review to check compliance against the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG) at least every five years is a condition of ENQA membership. The review found QAA to be compliant with 12 of the 14 standards it was assessed against and partially compliant with the remaining two. The panel concluded that QAA is compliant with the ESG.

QAA received several commendations for its work on behalf of the UK higher education community including:

• the student engagement on various levels of QAA’s organisation and activities and the role QAA has played in championing the student experience and student representation within the sector
• the measures it has put in place to secure the agency’s independence, as well as the organisational strength to follow and maintain the spirit of ESG
• its exemplary exploratory and communicative work on ‘new frontiers’ of quality assurance and higher education in general, which has led to QAA being internationally recognised as a well-established hub for information and guidance.

On the two areas of partial compliance, the panel has recommended that QAA develop a clearer plan for thematic analysis for all its external quality assurance activities, building on existing practice within Scotland. The panel also suggested that QAA reflects on its approach to ensuring the consistency of outcomes including the most appropriate approach to validating reports and making the final decision within its governance structures.

Reflecting on the report, QAA’s Chief Executive Vicki Stott commented: ‘This is a positive outcome for QAA and for higher education institutions across the UK, providing reassurance that we meet rigorous European standards in the work we do to assess and enhance the quality of the student experience.

‘We are particularly pleased that QAA’s excellent international reputation and systematic involvement of students in all aspects of our work have been recognised by the panel. As part of our commitment to quality enhancement, we intend to respond to each of the recommendations made within the report and have put in place an action plan to oversee this process.

‘I would like to give my thanks on behalf of QAA to the ENQA panel for this constructive report and to all staff, students and partners who participated as part of the review visit earlier this year.’

The report will be used to inform the European Quality Assurance Register’s consideration of QAA’s listing on the register which enables it to deliver quality reviews across Europe and beyond. ENQA’s Board will also consider the report in determining QAA’s continued membership of ENQA. Both applications will be confirmed later in the year.