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titutions throughout the united kingdom except currently in england where the regulator the office for students ofs has not implemented a cyclical review approach and qaa has chosen to focus on its enhancement activity including new paid for services to help the sector meet regulatory requirements and enhance quality in addition to its role in sustaining the reputation of united kingdom higher education qaa also regulates the access to higher education diploma 2 a qualification that enables individuals without a levels or the usual equivalent to enter higher education qaa works closely with other organisations that have an interest in the reputation of united kingdom higher education including the scottish funding council medr department for the economy in northern ireland universities united kingdom and guildhe purpose and focus areas edit qaa s purpose is to ensure that students and learners experience the highest possible quality of education its strategy sets out the scope of its work in terms of four focus areas standards qaa is custodian of various sector reference points assurance and enhancement international leadership qaa advises governments and has a high public profile on matters of quality 3 status and funding edit qaa is an independent body a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity in england wales and scotland its objects and constitution are set out in its articles of association 4 its board includes representatives of united kingdom universities and other higher education institutions further education colleges funding councils and students 5 qaa s funding comes from a combination of membership subscriptions from universities and colleges in the united kingdom and internationally contracts with united kingdom higher education regulators funding bodies and government departments and commissioned work including international reviews and business development work 6 it operates a flexible working policy but continues to maintain offices in gloucester 7 role and responsibilities edit higher education review work edit united kingdom degree awarding bodies mainly universities set their own standards for the degrees and other qualifications they award academic degrees but since most courses are partly or entirely publicly funded including through student loans there is a requirement that they undergo external review to demonstrate that a national threshold standard is met and that quality is satisfactory qaa is the body that undertakes this independent role in the united kingdom it does so through processes of peer review reviewers have extensive experience of higher education at a senior level or are current or recent students while there are some differences between the methods used by qaa to achieve this they have some key features in common all reviews check that united kingdom expectations are met currently this is done by benchmarking the provision against qaa s quality code see below 8 other resources used for benchmarks of academic standards include the subject benchmark statements maintained by qaa in consultation with the academic community relevant qualifications and credit frameworks institutions own rules and handbooks standards set by professional bodies and the european standards and guidelines maintained by the european association for quality assurance in higher education enqa each review results in a published report containing judgements on whether united kingdom expectations are met separate judgements comment on academic standards academic quality and the public information provided about courses reports include recommendations for improvement citations of good practice and affirmations of actions taken by the higher education provider to improve since the last review qaa s review methods are informed by a self evaluation submitted in advance by each university or college and by a student submission a commentary by its students at time of writing review places an emphasis on the existence of robust academic management structures and policies and approaches that enable national expectations to be fulfilled combined with evidence that this is happening evidence is obtained in a variety of ways including interviews with relevant individuals and structured discussions with student and staff focus groups qaa reviews do not generally look at individual courses or programmes of study neither do they review or evaluate students work guidance on quality and standards edit in cooperation with the united kingdom higher education sector qaa maintains the united kingdom quality code for higher education quality code see below the subject benchmark statements 9 for bachelor s and master s degrees and other guidance for helping higher education providers to meet agreed united kingdom expectations where appropriate qaa also works with professional regulatory and statutory bodies and employers to ensure that its guidance is fit for purpose draft guidance is published on qaa s website via a tab on the home page where it is accessible for public consultation before being formally published the quality code edit the quality code full name united kingdom quality code for higher education sets out four expectations for standards and quality that must be met by united kingdom higher education providers that receive any kind of public or student loan funding these expectations are underpinned by core practices which are mandatory for all united kingdom providers and common practices which are mandatory in scotland wales and northern ireland the quality code replaced the academic infrastructure see below in 2012 as the main reference point for checking on the quality of united kingdom higher education having been developed in close consultation with the united kingdom higher education sector in 2015 the quality code was extended to include the united kingdom frameworks for higher education qualifications specifying levels for the different higher education qualifications and defining these through level descriptors and the subject benchmark statements specifying what outcomes knowledge understanding skills and attributes are expected of bachelor s and master s graduates in specific disciplines the code was revised in 2018 following the passing of the higher education and research act owned and maintained by qaa it sets out fundamental principles that should apply to higher education quality across the united kingdom the quality code covers setting and maintaining standards as determined by the united kingdom qualifications frameworks and subject benchmark statements together with other relevant guidance meeting united kingdom expectations about the quality of the student experience and seeking ways to enhance this providing trustworthy and reliable information about courses in scotland the levels are different being part of the scottish credit and qualifications framework 10 wales also has an integrated academic credit and qualifications framework 11 while england has a separate credit framework maintained by qaa 12 higher education providers use the quality code in conjunction with their own internal policies and other guidance to design the programmes of study that lead to their higher education awards including academic degrees qaa reviewers use it to check that expectations are met when they conduct a review other guidance edit qaa provides other guidance to supplement the quality code but which unlike the quality code is advisory rather than mandatory the quality code is supported by advice and guidance divided into twelve themes the higher education credit framework for england see previous note enables providers to allocate a credit tariff to courses and modules other guidance documents help universities and colleges to address particular student needs such as learning about sustainable practices or enterprise and entrepreneurship 13 or they inform the public and students about the higher education experience for example the balance between self directed and structured learning qaa conducts or sponsors research projects and consultation events relating to quality in united kingdom higher education and publishes guidance on topical issues 14 it also publishes analysis of the collective findings of its reports to identify emergent trends investigation of complaints and concerns edit qaa investigates allegations of systemic failings by higher education providers whereas the office of the independent adjudicator deals with individual complaints and grievances both systems are designed as a recourse for students who have already asked for an internal investigation into their complaint and have not found the outcome of this to be satisfactory systemic failings are taken to mean a failure by a university or college in meeting its responsibilities for standards and quality the concern needs to be supported by evidence where qaa deems a full investigation necessary it publishes its findings in a report 15 advisory role on degree awarding powers and university title edit qaa advises the privy council of the united kingdom via government ministers on the merits of applications for degree awarding powers or the right to be called a university no organisation may award degrees or call itself a university in the united kingdom unless authorised to do so by the government applications are considered by a dedicated qaa committee the united kingdom advisory committee on degree awarding powers enabling its board to offer advice to ministers 16 regulation of the access to higher education diploma edit qaa is the regulator for the access to higher education diploma which enables adults without a levels or their equivalent to progress to higher education organisations known as access validating agencies avas are responsible for validating and reviewing access courses and awarding the diploma to successful students qaa licenses and monitors the avas and publishes information about its findings 17 18 international relations edit qaa conducts reviews of locations where courses are provided by or on behalf of united kingdom degree awarding bodies it is a member of enqa and of the international network for quality assurance agencies in higher education inqaahe 19 meeting the quality criteria of both organisations in full in 2014 the agency was added to the european quality assurance register eqar 20 having signed memoranda of cooperation with a number of overseas quality assurance bodies 21 qaa has been endorsed by the asia pacific quality network apqn for promoting international cooperation in quality assurance history edit in 1996 the joint planning group for quality assurance in higher education recommended that the then two streams of quality assurance in higher education subject review and academic audit which had been in use since 1991 should be brought together under a single body qaa was established in april 1997 through the transfer of functions and staff from the former higher education quality council and the quality assessment divisions of hefce and hefcw the dearing report and its legacy edit the dearing report published in 1997 gave the qaa the remit of providing assurance about standards and quality 22 following which it developed a higher education qualifications framework a code of practice and subject benchmark statements and established a pool of external examiners this laid the foundations for the so called academic infrastructure which qaa developed between 1997 and 2001 a set of united kingdom benchmarks for quality and standards and the development of a new united kingdom wide process of academic review which comprised elements of both subject review and academic audit with an emphasis on the latter the new process was introduced in scotland but before it had become fully operational across the united kingdom a number of english universities complained about the administrative burden that this approach entailed leading to a rethink by the westminster government the scottish and welsh higher education authorities took this opportunity to set up their own national arrangements while in england qaa worked with the bodies representing higher education institutions universities united kingdom and guild he to devise a modified approach known as institutional audit qaa scotland developed the procedure known as enhancement led institutional review elir while in wales the method known as institutional review was established northern ireland followed england and adopted institutional audit qaa remained the organisation charged with developing and undertaking these activities it was agreed that in england there would be a transitional period of three years 2002 to 2005 during which all higher education institutions would undergo their first institutional audit thereafter audits would take place on a six yearly cycle in the year prior to their audit institutions underwent developmental engagements unpublished subject based reviews to support internal quality assurance there were also discipline audit trails dats selective subject based enquiries that enabled a phased reduction of the subject focus of qaa reviews in 2005 a revised institutional audit model was developed and adopted with the agreement of the representative bodies and hefce this removed the dats thereby freeing time in the audit process to explore a broader range of topics and themes this model continued in use on a six year cycle until 2011 criticism and reform edit in 2008 professor geoffrey alderman former chairman of university of london s academic council asserted there was a decline of academic standards in british higher education that resulted in grade inflation 23 at a parliamentary inquiry 17 july 2008 the then ceo of qaa peter williams told a select committee that there was no evidence of consistency in grades given between degree subjects and between institutions 24 a qaa report published prior to the inquiry said degree classifications were arbitrary and unreliable 24 the select committee published a report 2 august 2009 which proposed policy changes to expand qaa remit to ensure the meeting of consistent standards the report claimed qaa at the time focused mainly on evaluating processes not standards 25 according to the report it is not acceptable as we found during our inquiry that vice chancellors cannot give a straightforward answer to the simple question of whether students obtaining first class honours degrees at different universities had attained the same intellectual standards the body that currently assures quality the quality assurance agency for higher education qaa focuses almost exclusively on processes not standards this needs to change we call for the qaa to be transformed into an independent quality and standards agency with a remit statutory if necessary to safeguard monitor and report on standards 25 in october 2009 a new chief executive was appointed anthony mcclaran formerly of ucas and measures were pu...