The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (www.qaa.ac.uk) was established in 1997. It has responsibility for assessing the quality of higher education (HE) in England and Northern Ireland from 1 October 1997 under the terms of a contract with the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).
The purposes of quality assessment are:
- to ensure that the public funding provided is supporting education of an acceptable quality,
- to provide public information on that education through the publication of reports,
- and to provide information and insights to encourage improvements in education.
The main features of the quality assessment method are:
Assessment against Aims and Objectives
The HE sector in England and Northern Ireland is diverse. The HEFCE funds education in over 140 institutions of HE and 75 further education (FE) colleges. These institutions vary greatly in size, subject provision, history and statement of purpose. Each has autonomy to determine its institutional mission, and its specific aims and objectives at subject level. Quality assessment is carried out in relation to the subject aims and objectives set by each provider. It measures the extent to which each subject provider is successful in achieving its aims and objectives. Readers should be cautious in making comparisons of subject providers solely on the basis of quality assessment outcomes. Comparisons between providers with substantively different aims and objectives would have little validity.
Assessment of the Student Learning Experience and Student Achievement
Quality assessment examines the wide range of influences that shape the learning experiences and achievements of students. It covers the full breadth of teaching and learning activities, including: direct observation of classroom/seminar/workshop/ laboratory situations, the methods of assessing students' work, students' work and achievements, the curriculum, staff and staff development, the application of resources (library, information technology, equipment), and student support and guidance.
This range of activities is captured within a core set of six aspects of provision, each of which is graded on a four-point assessment scale (1 to 4), in ascending order of merit.
The aspects of provision are:
- Curriculum Design, Content and Organisation
- Teaching, Learning and Assessment
- Student Progression and Achievement
- Student Support and Guidance
- Learning Resources
- Quality Management and Enhancement.
Assessment by Peer Review
Assessors are academic and professional peers in the subject. Most are members of the academic staff of UK HE institutions. Others are drawn from industry, commerce, private practice and the professions.
Combination of Internal and External Processes
The assessment method has two main processes:
· Preparation by the subject provider of a self-assessment in the subject, based on the provider's own aims and objectives, and set out in the structure provided by the core set of aspects of provision.
- A three-day assessment visit carried out by a team of assessors. The assessment team grades each of the aspects of provision to make a graded profile of the provision, and derives from that profile an overall judgement. Provided that each aspect is graded 2 or better, the quality of the education is approved.
Published Reports
In addition to individual assessment reports, the QAA publishes subject overview reports at the conclusion of assessments in a subject. The subject overview reports are distributed widely to schools and FE colleges, public libraries and careers services. Both the assessment reports and the subject overview reports are available in hard copy and on the world-wide web.
Note: Most of the above relates to all quality assessment. However, earlier assessments were based on a three-point scale: Excellent, Satisfactory and Unsatisfactory. This was later replaced by the four-point scale within each aspect of provision as described above.