TQER is the new quality assurance and enhancement review method for further and higher education provision in colleges and universities across Scotland. It is one mechanism under the Tertiary Quality Enhancement Framework (TQEF) that is designed to support enhancement and give assurance on quality standards and the quality of the student experience. By bringing together the whole tertiary sector, TQER will support institutions in providing equitable, consistent and high-quality educational programmes, drive parity of esteem across tertiary pathways and identify ways that they can become even better.

Quality assurance is the systematic monitoring and evaluation of learning and teaching, and the processes that support them. TQER looks at the strategic management of learning and teaching, the management of academic standards and the quality of the learning experience for all credit-bearing provision, including collaborative provision with partners.

Quality enhancement is using evidence to plan, implement and evaluate deliberate steps intended to improve the learning experience in our colleges and universities. It is expected that every institution will have a clear strategic vision and leadership for enhancement and the changes it seeks to achieve. Enhancement activity should be focused, targeted and measurable, and involve intention and evaluation.

External peer review teams will support the rich diversity of institutions in Scotland.  While there are commonalities of purpose, each institution has its own unique mission and will seek to meet the needs of its own students and its own strategic ambitions. The external peer review team, made up of staff and students from other colleges and universities, will look at an institution’s effectiveness in meeting the principles of the Tertiary Quality Enhancement Framework.

In each review, across all locations, subject areas and modes of delivery, the review team will be seeking to answer questions based on the principles of:

• Excellence in learning, teaching, and assessment
• Supporting student success
• Enhancement and quality culture
• Student engagement and partnership

with data and evidence, and externality being embedded in each area.

TQER puts students at the forefront of the method. Student engagement in the review will help the review team to understand what it is like to be a student at the institution and how student partnership in decision-making, quality assurance and quality enhancement processes enhance the student learning experience.

Review outcomes include a judgement on effectiveness based on four of the six principles of the TQEF with the remaining two (data and evidence, and externality) embedded in each area.