QAA Scotland & CDN STEP up

More than 80 students and colleagues from Scotland's colleges, universities and sector agencies came together on Wednesday 4 December at the University of Stirling for our inaugural STEP Discovery Day.

Scotland's Tertiary Enhancement Programme (STEP) is the new national enhancement programme that enables Scotland's colleges and universities to work together to develop initiatives to enhance the learner experience. It is managed and jointly owned by QAA Scotland and the College Development Network (CDN).

STEP focuses on collaborative projects designed to create positive impacts for Scotland's tertiary education sector. Every four years, a new topic will be chosen around which these projects will be based. The topic for STEP's first cycle (2024–2028) is supporting diverse learner journeys.

Over the course of four Discovery Days this academic year, participants will develop proposals for the projects within this topic that will be implemented through the following three years of this cycle of STEP.

Our first STEP event included the announcement of the four staff and student representatives from Scotland's colleges and universities who have been chosen as Topic Leads for this first cycle of STEP.

Our Topic Leads will champion STEP across Scotland and beyond, and support the delivery of this inaugural STEP topic.

Adelayo Adebayo, Vice President Education at the University of Stirling Students' Union, and Chloe Sandilands, Student President at New College Lanarkshire, will serve as our student Topic Leads.

Adelayo and Chloe will work alongside our two staff Topic Leads, Dr Derek Robertson, Director of Student Experience at City of Glasgow College, and Professor Steve Tucker, Dean of Quality Assurance and Enhancement at the University of Aberdeen.

"This was a great start to Scotland's Tertiary Enhancement Project, bringing together so many brilliant people with such a range of great ideas," said Heather Fotheringham, Quality Enhancement Manager at QAA Scotland. "We're hugely grateful to everyone who took part in this event – and of course particularly to our four new Topic Leads. Between them, they bring a wealth of experience in representing and supporting students and in enhancing the quality of the learner experience. Over the next few years, they are going play a key role in jointly shaping the work of our first STEP topic, advising on the development of enhancement projects and co-designing sector-wide events."

Victoria Underwood, Director of Operations at CDN, said: "Our inaugural STEP Discovery Day marked an exciting milestone in Scotland's tertiary education journey. By bringing colleges and universities together, STEP demonstrates the power of working in partnership to improve outcomes for learners. At CDN, we're proud to play a key role in shaping a collective approach to support diverse learner journeys, and we look forward to seeing the transformative impact of these projects across the sector."