Quality assurance & enhancement
The Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005 confers on the Council a statutory duty to assure and enhance the quality of the provision it funds. Outcome 7- Effective Colleges and Universities of the SFC Corporate plan 2009-12 [PDF], sets out relevant actions and objectives.
The approach to quality is underpinned by three key principles:
- high quality learning;
- student engagement; and
- quality culture.
The Council has established arrangements in both the college and university sectors to enable it to discharge its statutory duty of ensuring quality. The arrangements (including external review, governance and accountability, quality enhancement, student engagement and public information about quality) are overseen by the Quality Equalities and General Purposes Committee.
There are two ad hoc, standing Quality Working Groups, one for each sector. The College and University groups respectively consider and offer advice and comment to SFC, and to other interested parties, on all matters to do with quality in Scotland's institutions and act as a 'clearing house' for quality issues in the college and university sectors.
In line with our partnership approach to quality, membership of each includes all key stakeholders and agencies. The College QWG comprises representatives from:
- SFC;
- NUS Scotland;
- Education Scotland;
- Scotland's Colleges/Principals' Convention;
- Scotland's Colleges;
- Student Participation in Quality Scotland (sparqs);
- the Quality Community of Practice (QCoP);
- Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA);
- Education Scotland/Principals' Convention Liaison Group; and
- the Quality Assurancy Agency (QAA).
The University QWG comprises:
- SFC;
- NUS Scotland;
- Universities Scotland (US) Learning & Teaching Committee
- US Teaching Quality Forum;
- the Quality Assurancy Agency (QAA);
- Higher Education Academy Academy;
- the Scottish Higher Education Enhancement Committee (SHEEC);
- Student Participation in Quality Scotland (sparqs); and
- Education Scotland.
SFC provides the secretariat to both groups.
In September 2010 the Council's Quality Equalities and General Purposes Committee agreed that an updating of the quality arrangements should take place during academic year (AY) 2010-11, with a view to carrying out any necessary development work in AY 2011-12.
The updated and revised arrangements will be introduced in AY 2012-13, the start of the next cycle. The committee also recommended that this process should not be on the scale of the 2007 JQRG review and that the main vehicle for identification of, and consultation on, changes should be the Quality Working Groups (QWGs).
External evaluations of quality processes
Between October 2008 and January 2011 we commissioned the Centre for the Study of Education and Training (CSET) at Lancaster University and the Learning and Skills Network (LSN) to carry out independent evaluations of its strategy for quality enhancement in university and college sectors respectively.
You can access the full reports for each sector, and an extended summary for each, at the links below:
Universities
- Second annual evaluation of the SFC quality enhancement strategy in the university sector - extended summary [PDF]
- Second annual evaluation of the SFC quality enhancement strategy in the university sector - full report [PDF];
- Evaluation of the SFC quality enhancement strategy in the university sector - extended summary [PDF];
- Evaluation of the SFC quality enhancement strategy in the university sector full report [PDF].
Colleges
- Second annual evaluation of the SFC quality enhancement strategy in the college sector - extended summary [PDF];
- Second annual evaluation of the SFC quality enhancement strategy in the college sectory - full report [PDF];
- Evaluation of the SFC strategy for quality enhancement in the college sector - executive summary [PDF]; and
- Evaluation of the SFC strategy for quality enhancement in the college sector - full report [PDF].
The evaluation teams also produced six-monthly progress reports:
- Universities - Second year progress reports - Evaluating the SFC quality enhancement framework [PDF]; and
- Colleges - Second year progress reports - Evaluating the SFC quality enhancement framework [PDF].
Overview guide to quality assurance and enhancement in Scotland's colleges and universities
In 2009, SFC produced an overview guide to Scotland's quality assurance and enhancement arrangements [PDF]. The guide provides a first point of reference for those interested in how quality is maintained and enhanced in Scotland's colleges and universities. Please note that this guide will be updated for the next cycle, beginning August 2012.