TQEF Governance and Student Engagement
Register with us
Register with us to view a personalised homepage and to receive emails relating to your interests.
Register here
Information on the Tertiary Quality Enhancement Framework (TQEF) governance framework and its approach to student engagement.
Governance of the TQEF
Q1 Who will have oversight of the TQEF going forward?
SFC has a statutory duty to secure provision for quality assurance and enhancement and is ultimately accountable to Scottish Ministers for the effectiveness of the TQEF. However, SFC remains committed to collaboration and partnership. As part of that commitment, the Tertiary Quality Steering Group (TQSG) representing both colleges and universities and their learners/students provides valuable advice and guidance to SFC in its ongoing oversight of the TQEF.
Q2 Why not let the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) deal with quality and SFC get assurance from QAA and metrics it can monitor through the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) and other indicators?
SFC believes that this is what the TQEF does. The TQEF includes the QAA’s external review of quality on a multi-year cycle and associated follow-up activity through institutional liaison meetings as an important and central element – this will provide assurance over the quality of provision at institutions as well as supporting enhancement activity that was identified as a key principle to retain during early engagement on the development of the TQEF.
QAA supported by College Development Network (CDN) also manages, on behalf of the sectors, a national tertiary quality enhancement programme, Scotland’s Tertiary Enhancement Framework (STEP).
TQEF provides the monitoring and assurance of the High Quality Learning and Teaching Outcome, of the Outcomes Framework and Assurance Model (OFAM).
Student Engagement in the TQEF
Q1 What role will students and Students’ Associations have in the TQEF?
SFC has placed students at the heart of the TQEF and expects that student engagement and partnership is sought and captured across all aspects of the TQEF and throughout the academic cycle. We recognise the important role that Students’ Associations play in supporting students to have a voice and feed into enhancement of the learning experience.
However, we recognise that there are differences in capacity between Students’ Associations and there are additional pressures on students which can make participation in enhancement activity challenging.
We have used the term “students” to encompass students and Students’ Associations to allow for as much flexibility as possible for engaging and partnering with students.
Q2 How does SFC expect institutions to engage with and report on the use of the Student Partnership in Quality Scotland (sparqs) Student Learning Experience (SLE) Model and Scotland’s Ambition for Student Partnership?
To support institutions, Students’ Associations and the wider student body, SFC commissioned sparqs to develop the Student Learning Experience (SLE) model and Scotland’s Ambition for Student Partnership.
Use of the SLE model should be embedded in normal institutional activities. It is designed to support conversations with students across nine building blocks that have been identified by students as making up the learning experience. It should be used across all levels of an institution to gather student feedback and inform self-evaluation. You can find out more about SFC’s expectations on the use of the SLE model and student engagement in institutional-led quality review in the Quality Guidance.
Scotland’s Ambition for Student Partnership outlines the direction of travel for the sector as we work collectively to enhance student partnership. We recognise that institutions will be at different stages of the partnership journey, and we anticipate that the ambition statement and features will help support institutions to develop their approaches in the coming years. We will be seeking evidence of the development and enhancement of student partnership in future Self-Evaluation and Action Plan (SEAP) submissions.
Q3 Students are struggling to engage due to the pressures of study, part-time work and other commitments, how can we encourage them to get involved?
sparqs is supporting Students’ Associations and institutions to engage with the Student Learning Experience Model and Scotland’s Ambition for Student Partnership resources and will aid the development of activities that allow students to engage with the different elements of the TQEF, in line with their individual context. We encourage institutions, as you engage with the tools over the course of the cycle, to share experiences and best practice to support learning across the sector.
In addition, the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) provides support and training for students and Students’ Associations around the Tertiary Quality Enhancement Review. The QAA and College Development Network (CDN) will also be working with students and Students’ Associations on Scotland’s Tertiary Enhancement Programme. This will ensure that our students and Students’ Associations continue to be an essential part of Scotland’s approach to delivering high quality learning and teaching across the tertiary education sector.
SFC Strategic Plan 2022-27
Building a connected, agile, sustainable tertiary education and research system for Scotland.