The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education

🎄 Christmas closure 🎄 QAA offices will be closed from Tuesday 24 December to Thursday 2 January inclusive. We will re-open on Friday 3 January 2025. We hope you have a relaxing winter break and look forward to engaging with you all in 2025.

"We welcome this thoughtful and thought-provoking report from Professor David Carter and HEPI (Higher Education Policy Institute), particularly its recognition of the value of QAA's Quality Evaluation & Enhancement of Transnational Education scheme and its recommendation of wider sectoral engagement with the scheme. TNE is an important and growing area of UK higher education so it is only right steps are taken to enhance its quality, build public trust in the provision and ensure the student experience of TNE students is equivalent to students studying in the UK.” 🗨️ Vicki Stott FRSA, Chief Executive of QAA.

We are supporting an in-person event to share the initial findings from the QAA-funded Collaborative Enhancement Project led by King's College London, 'Supporting the ethical and equitable use of Generative Artificial Intelligence for formative and summative assessment: A transnational perspective'. Speakers from the institutional partners for the project will present the initial analysis from their research. They will outline their plans for sharing this research more widely and using it as the basis for future work with students to co-create learning resources for QAA Members. Registration for QAA Members is available on our website: https://lnkd.in/eDU53hZz

Last week, our Director of International and Professional Services, Eduardo Ramos, took part in a conference organised by the British Council in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The three-day 'South Asia Deep Dialogues' event explored the opportunities for, and challenges of, widening access to quality tertiary education through transnational education (TNE). The conference included speakers from Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and the UK. Eduardo participated in a panel discussion on the subject of the importance of quality assurance in TNE – a discussion which considered the frameworks, policies and realities in which such provision operates. Find out more on our website: https://lnkd.in/e83PbkeS

Our International Partner Forum met today to discuss approaches to the quality assurance and quality enhancement of online learning. Around 40 representatives of overseas quality agencies joined the discussion, including colleagues from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Rachel Sutton, Associate Director of Quality at the University of London, gave the forum's keynote presentation, offering a case study of her institution's approaches to the quality of online and distance learning. Find out more about the forum on our website: https://lnkd.in/eAfpy9P2

We are pleased to announce that we have renewed our Memorandum of Understanding with Quality and Qualifications Ireland (QQI), originally signed in 2021.

We have opened an account on the social media platform Bluesky! We are joining an increasing number of organisations in the field of education which have seen the potential of this platform to foster productive dialogue and the constructive interaction of ideas. We very much hope you'll join us in exploring the opportunities afforded by this virtual community, as a site through which we may come together to learn new ways to engage with colleagues, students, policymakers and other stakeholders across the global tertiary sector. In doing so, we look forward to discovering innovative approaches to the exchange of perspectives, the sharing of knowledge and the development of ideas which will support the enhancement of the quality of tertiary education and the learner experience – and, as always, to sponsor and promote education's capacity to transform societies, economies and so many people's lives. You can follow and engage with us here: https://lnkd.in/eFMym5w4

In our latest blog, Steven Osborne writes about how he became interested in developing micro-credentialled provision – and how it can address contemporary skills needs. Steven Osborne is Principal Lecturer in Professional & Workplace Development at Cardiff Metropolitan University and chairs QAA's Micro-credentials Special Interest Group – a cross Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland tertiary network funded by Medr: Commission for Tertiary Education and Research | Y Comisiwn Addysg Drydyddol ac Ymchwil in Wales. Read the blog here: https://lnkd.in/e8rCBS9G - Dyma Steven Osborne yn ysgrifennu ar gyfer Blog QAA am sut y dechreuodd ei ddiddordeb mewn datblygu darpariaeth ficro-gymwysterau - a sut y gall fynd i'r afael ag anghenion sgiliau cyfoes. Mae Steven Osborne yn Brif Ddarlithydd mewn Datblygiad Proffesiynol a Gweithle ym Mhrifysgol Metropolitan Caerdydd ac mae'n cadeirio Grŵp Diddordeb Arbennig micro-gymwysterau QAA – rhwydwaith trydyddol ar draws Cymru, yr Alban a Gogledd Iwerddon a ariennir gan Medr, y Comisiwn Addysg Drydyddol ac Ymchwil yng Nghymru. Darllenwch y blog yna: https://lnkd.in/ekSX4SzA

This was a great start to Scotland's Tertiary Enhancement Programme (STEP)! STEP is the new collaborative programme that will support Scotland’s tertiary sector to innovate in quality enhancement. It is designed to enable Scotland’s colleges and universities to work together to improve and enhance learning, teaching, the student experience and staff development across tertiary provision. Further information is available on the STEP website: https://lnkd.in/eCgNRCWP

Our next International Quality Assurance Programme (IQAP) will be held on 23-27 June 2025 in London. We have previously welcomed delegates from more than 40 countries across the world to participate in IQAP, who have taken the opportunity to learn about a range of topics, such as: 🔘 what a culture of quality looks like 🔘 quality assurance in the age of Generative AI 🔘 external quality assurance frameworks 🔘 internal quality assurance and self-evaluation 🔘 quality assurance professionalism. 🗓️ Book before 31 March 2025 to take advantage of the early bird discount. Further details about the programme and how to apply are available on our website: https://lnkd.in/eqshqeE2