A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Enhancing academic and Practice

Quality, standards and enhancement
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supporting and informing the professional development and recognition of staff in
teaching and learning in higher education against national professional standards,
funding educational research and development projects. The Academy also supports
enhancement initiatives such as the National Teaching Fellowship Scheme (NTFS), the
Scottish Quality Enhancement Framework and the CETLs (Centres for Excellence in
Teaching and Learning).
THE CONTEMPORARY QUALITY AGENDA
The current quality agenda aims to reduce external scrutiny and bureaucracy and to
increase institutional autonomy and self-regulation, seeking to emphasise enhancement
rather than inspection. QA methods coordinated by the QAA have been streamlined
based on lessons learned from earlier subject reviews and quality audit. The current
quality assurance arrangements are locked into externally determined and audited
standards and norms, but with a lighter ‘inspectorial’ touch. The quality agenda is like a
‘jigsaw’ comprising interdependent and interlocking processes that emphasise increasing
transparency, accountability and specification.
The main elements of the external quality framework in England and Northern Ireland
are a combination of institutional audit (at the level of the whole organisation) and
investigation at discipline level. External examiners also provide impartial advice on
performance in relation to specific programmes, offering a comparative analysis against
similar programmes, evaluating standards and considering the soundness and fairness
of assessment procedures and their execution.
The external quality framework for teaching and learning includes ‘Major Review’
of NHS-funded healthcare programmes, involving the QAA and relevant health
professions’ councils. Other programmes of study (such as law, engineering, medicine
or accountancy) lead to professional or vocational qualifications and are subject to
accreditation by the relevant professional or statutory body. Further education colleges
offering higher education programmes also undergo review. In Scotland, Enhancement-
Led Institutional Review (ELIR) is central to the enhancement-led approach to managing
standards and quality which focuses on the student learning experience. In Wales, a
process of institutional review is carried out across all institutions offering higher
education provision and is part of a wider QA framework.
The Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) is a separate activity evaluating the quality
of research in universities and colleges.
Internal quality processes
Higher education institutions are responsible for the standards and quality of their
provision and each has its own internal procedures for assuring and enhancing the quality
of its programmes. Internal procedures include assessment of students, processes for the
design and approval of new programmes and regular monitoring and periodic review