Introduction
1. The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) is required under the terms of its Agreement with the HE representative bodies and its contracts with the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) in Northern Ireland and the English, Scottish and Welsh funding councils (HEFCE, SHEFC and HEFCW) to provide a report to those bodies in mid-September each year on performance against the objectives in the previous year's operating plan; with an interim report against such objectives in mid-March each year. This is the report for the year 2000-01.
2. The 2000-01 annual operating plan and budget were finalised in August 2000. This report follows the structure of the strategic aims and corporate objectives set out in the Business Plan 2000-03 and the 2000-01 annual operating plan, and summarises the main points from the Agency's monitoring of achievement against the objectives in 2000-01.
Strategic Aim: Reviewing the Awarding Function and Overall Academic Management
Corporate Objectives:
- To conclude the programme of continuation audits
- To promote confidence in UK higher education overseas
- To advise Government on applications for degree-awarding powers and university title
- To provide and operate a framework for the recognition and quality assurance of Access to higher education courses
Achievements:
1. The Agency has carried out 22 of the 24 continuation audits that were scheduled for the year; two have been deferred to 2001-02. 25 of the scheduled 29 follow-ups to audits carried out in 1999-2000 were completed by 31 July 2001; three will have been completed by the end of September 2001; and, in one case, the follow-up will be addressed through the continuation audit. Auditors and audit secretaries have been appointed to complete the continuation audit schedule.
2. The planned reviews of overseas collaborative provision, including visits to Greece and Hong Kong / China, have been carried out. A summary report on collaborative links with Israel will be prepared without visiting the country. The planning for overseas audits in 2001-02 has been developed in light of the information that was requested from institutions in January 2001 on the scope of their collaborative provision. In October 2000, the Agency held a well-attended and successful conference on learning from overseas audit.
3. Several applications for the grant of degree-awarding powers are under detailed consideration by the Agency, and Scrutiny panels are active in relation to three applications. Also, preliminary scrutiny visits have been undertaken to a number of institutions to determine whether more detailed scrutinies should be carried out. The consideration of one application for university title has been completed and a recommendation put to the Department for Education and Skills (DfES).
4. On recognition and quality assurance of Access to HE courses, the Agency has carried out five of the six planned reviews of the Authorised Validating Agencies (AVAs) that approve Access to HE courses, and one of the two planned initial licence applications. It has also completed the four scheduled follow-ups to AVAs awarded provisional licenses in 1998-2000. The schedule of AVA reviews in the period 2001-02 has been agreed. The Agency has been working to strengthen the public information available on Access and carried out an information review. The results of the information review were presented to a conference for AVAs held in May 2001. Access to Higher Education: Key Statistics 2001 has been published.
Strategic Aim: Reviewing the Quality and Standards of Academic Programmes
Corporate Objectives:
- To complete the programme of subject reviews in England and Northern Ireland up to 2001 in higher education institutions and English further education colleges
- To introduce progressively the new academic review method in the whole of the UK
Achievements:
1. The Agency carried out 397 of the 420 (current method) subject review visits in England and Northern Ireland that were scheduled in 2000-01 under the terms of contracts with HEFCE and DEL. 14 visits were cancelled in the light of up-to-date information on size and nature of the provision, and 10 were deferred to 2001-02. One additional review has been carried out.
2. Visit schedules have been agreed with the institutions for the period up to December 2001. This will complete (with the exception of a small number of visits now scheduled to take place in the Spring term 2002) the programme of current method subject reviews required by contract with HEFCE and DEL.
3. The initial programme of 25 academic reviews in Scotland in 2000-01 has been completed, and the programme for 2001-02 agreed. The programme of engagements in 2001-02 in Wales has still to be finalised. It has been agreed with HEFCE and DEL that there will be no programme of academic reviews in HEIs in England and Northern Ireland in the period January to July 2002; however, there will be a programme of academic reviews of HE in English FE colleges in that period. In July 2001 the HEFCE published a consultation document on future arrangements for external quality assurance in England, with responses to be sent to the Agency by 26 October 2001. It is intended that there will be a second consultation shortly thereafter in relation to more operational aspects of the new model.
4. The introduction of academic review in Scotland has been underpinned by a contract between SHEFC and QAA. The arrangements for contract monitoring and information exchange between the two bodies have worked well. The progress of the 25 academic reviews has been monitored closely from the Agency's Glasgow Office and lessons have been learned for 2001-02. Also in Scotland, the Agency is working with the Scottish GTC, HMI and SHEFC on developing arrangements for the review of initial teacher education (ITE) in Scotland. A draft ITE benchmark statement was published in October 2000; arrangements for ITE pilot reviews should be published early in 2001-02.
5. The Agency contracted with the relevant funding bodies in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for the benchmarking of nursing, midwifery and health visiting, and health-related subjects. Draft benchmark statements were issued for comment in November 2000; were finalised by July 2001; and published in August 2001. The Agency and the Department of Health in England have signed a contract for a programme of six prototype reviews in these subjects in 2001-02. The prototypes will be evaluated during 2002-03 with a view to establishing a full programme of reviews from 2003-04. The Agency has developed draft guidance to supplement the Handbook for Academic Review to assist in reviewing these subjects. Discussions continue on possible arrangements for reviewing these subjects with the appropriate bodies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
6. The subject review programme in England includes HE in FE colleges (FECs). 116 reviews in FE colleges were scheduled in 2000-01; 102 of these were completed (six postponed and eight cancelled). In the Autumn term 2001 there will be 50 (current method) subject reviews in English FECs; in the Spring and Summer terms 2002 around 75 academic reviews in English FECs. The Agency has recruited a number of reviewers with experience of HE in FE. In Scotland, discussions are continuing with HMI, SHEFC and SFEFC on developing an approach to the review of degree provision in Scottish FECs.
Strategic Aim: Providing the Infrastructure
Corporate Objectives:
- To develop and maintain the national qualifications frameworks
- To promote the development and use of subject benchmark information
- To promote, and publish clear information about, good practice to assist institutions in enhancing the quality of their provision.
Achievements:
1. In November 1999 the Agency consulted on a range of proposals and issues on developing the qualifications frameworks in England / Wales / Northern Ireland (EWNI) and in Scotland. Post-consultation recommendations from the two qualifications framework development groups (one for Scotland and one for EWNI) were considered at the March and May 2000 QAA Board meetings. In July 2000 the Agency published two position statements (one for Scotland and one for EWNI) for comment by the end of September 2000. The Board considered the responses and next steps at its November 2000 and January 2001 meetings. In January 2001 the Board agreed the final text of the frameworks and associated guidance. The materials were published in February 2001.
2. The Agency held a well-attended conference in November 2000, sponsored by DfES, to promote understanding of the structure, purposes and use of the frameworks, and also to promote understanding of the importance of meeting Europe-wide expectations about the meaning and level of qualifications, consistent with the expectations in the Bologna Declaration. The published frameworks provide a robust expression of the way in which the UK is protecting the meaning of UK HE qualifications and awards, and the Agency provided advice to Government in advance of the EU Ministerial meeting in Prague in Summer 2001. Dissemination and promotion of the frameworks will continue to be a theme of the Agency's development work, both in EWNI and in Scotland.
3. The 2000-01 tranche of benchmarking included nursing, midwifery and health visiting and health-related subjects under contract with the bodies across the UK that fund the provision in those subjects; these were published in August 2001 following consultation with a range of stakeholders. In total, 23 draft benchmark statements covering a wide range of subjects were published during the course of this year.
4. In terms of promoting good practice, the Agency is ahead of timetable in developing the currently planned sections of the Code of Practice for the Assurance of Academic Quality and Standards in Higher Education. Nine of the ten planned sections have been published so far; the most recent, on placement learning, was published in July 2001, and the section on recruitment and admissions to higher education is being prepared for publication in September 2001. The Agency has reviewed the findings from audit reports with a view to a 'learning from audit' style of publication during 2001-02. A similar review of subject review reports is taking place as the current subject review method comes to an end. The Agency has worked with Universities UK and SCOP to develop and promote the use of progress files; guidance materials on the use of progress files have now been developed. An initial informal evaluation of the guidelines on programme specifications has been carried out, and this will be developed further.
Strategic Aim: Working in Partnership
Corporate Objectives:
- To provide useful and useable public information on quality and standards in UK higher education
- To communicate effectively the mission, functions and achievements of the Agency
- To engage effectively with employers, students, professional and statutory bodies, subject associations, regulators and other national stakeholders
- To collaborate effectively with bodies, overseas and international, whose work relates to that of the Agency
Achievements:
1. The Agency communicates through a variety means. As well as written reports such as this one, regular discussions are held with the funding and representative bodies through the Sounding Board group and through attendance at meetings of the representative bodies' Quality and Standards Group and the funding councils' quality assessment committees and other groups such as the SHEFC:QAA liaison committee. Higher Quality and the Agency's Annual Report receive a wide distribution and some press coverage. The Chief Executive, the heads of directorate and assistant directors engage regularly with institutions, subject associations and professional and statutory bodies through speaking at conferences, providing briefings, attending meetings. The first Subscribers' Meeting was held on 7 March 2001. This provided an opportunity for the Agency to present a report on its work to its subscribers, the HE institutions, and to discuss topics of the day with them. Almost all subscribers were represented at the event. Feedback from participants was positive. It is intended that the Subscribers' Meeting should become an annual event.
2. The Agency's Website was re-launched in August 2000. All published reports - subject, institutional, subject overview - are publicly available on the Website, as well as other publications such as the benchmark statements, the sections of the Code of Practice, consultation papers, and many working drafts. At current rates of access the Agency can expect to receive eight to nine million visits to the site this year. The site was re-designed with ease of navigability, enhanced search facilities and improved visual appeal in mind. It now hosts all the subject review reports that were previously hosted by NISS. Site security, accessibility and robustness are also being improved. There will be an improved service to disabled users: a full text-only version of the site is being developed in parallel to address the needs of this group.
3. The Agency publishes several hundred reports on quality and standards in higher education each year. Over 440 (subject review reports, subject overview reports, continuation audit reports, overseas collaborative provision reports, and Access to HE reports) were planned for 2000-01. 90 per cent of the reports were published on schedule. Delays in publication were largely a result of delays in agreeing a final text with the institution concerned. The Agency's Business Plan 2000-03 was published in October 2000. Higher Quality 8 was published in January 2001, with publication of the qualifications frameworks and associated guidance. The Agency's 1999-2000 Annual Report was published on 6 March 2001. A revised edition of Quality Assurance in UK higher education: a brief guide, and an accompanying booklet The Quality Assurance Agency for higher education: an introduction were published in May 2001.
4. The Agency works closely with a wide range of external stakeholders, including employers, students, professional and statutory bodies (PSBs) and other national stakeholders. The Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) and the Institute of Personnel Development, for example, were involved in developing progress files and programme specifications. The AGR was represented on the working group developing the code of practice on careers guidance, and there are employer representatives on a number of the benchmarking groups. Employer groups are always included in the Agency's public consultations. In Scotland, there have been discussions with the CBI Scotland and the Scottish Small Business Federation.
5. The professional and statutory bodies play an important role in many of the benchmarking groups, both in shaping their membership and progressing the work. Where relevant, collaborative reviews, at subject or institutional level, are carried out with the PSBs, and they are routinely included in all our consultations on development of review methods, the Code of Practice, the development of benchmark statements and the qualifications frameworks.
6. Employer groups, PSBs, subject associations and student bodies were all closely involved in developing academic review, alongside the institutions and sector representatives, and are also included in the consultation on the HEFCE proposals for future quality assurance arrangements in England (HEFCE 01/45).
7. The Agency maintains close working relations with QCA. A Joint Forum, under the chairmanship of Professor Ivor Crewe, met regularly during the year to discuss matters of mutual interest relating to qualifications frameworks and related matters. The Joint Forum includes representatives of the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), the Qualifications Curriculum and Assessment Authority for Wales (ACCAC) and the Curriculum Council, Examinations and Assessment for Northern Ireland (CCEA), as well as members from professional bodies and higher education institutions. There continued to be periodic liaison meetings between the Agency and QCA at Chairman/Chief Executive level. The Agency is represented on QCA working groups (health; finance; engineering).
8. The QAA's Glasgow office maintains a wide range of contacts with stakeholder and related bodies in Scotland, for example with the SQA on developing qualifications frameworks, and with Universities Scotland and SHEFC on the development and introduction of academic review.
9. All students unions receive QAA communications, and there has been some student involvement in working groups, for example the code of practice on complaints and on placement learning, and the development of progress files. There have also been informal meetings with NUS officials on specific issues. The student voice is heard at QAA Board meetings through the student observer. A new student observer was appointed in January 2001.
10. In terms of relations with overseas and international bodies, the Agency is active in the European Network for Quality Assurance (ENQA) and the International Network of Quality Assurance Agencies (INQAAHE). Agency staff participated in conferences in Barcelona, Lisbon and Salamanca. Papers were presented by Agency staff at the 2001 INQAAHE conference. In practice, much of the Agency's international work is conducted from its offices in Gloucester. During the year parties of overseas visitors - mainly overseas government officials or senior university staff - were received from Australia (x3), Brazil, China (x2), Colombia, Egypt, France, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malaysia (x2), Netherlands (x2), New Zealand, Norway (x3), Oman (x2), Palestine, Romania, Thailand and Zimbabwe. The Agency has also assisted other Agencies in Europe by providing the names of persons who might be willing to act as subject specialist reviewers.
11. The Agency has held bilateral discussions with a number of other European agencies - including Denmark, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and The Netherlands - on the implications of the Bologna declaration. The Agency maintains close contact with DfES, as the lead government department on the Bologna declaration. The QAA / DfES conference on qualifications and the Bologna declaration held in November 2000 was well attended and received considerable coverage in the press.
12. The Agency has a close working relationship with the British Council. Many of the parties of visitors received by the Agency are sponsored by the British Council. The Agency has provided expert speakers for events organised or supported by the British Council in the UK and overseas. Agency staff have also acted as tutors on British Council sponsored staff development programmes for evaluation agencies in India and Indonesia.
Strategic Aim: Working Effectively
Corporate Objectives:
- To achieve efficiency, effectiveness and economy in all of the activities of the Agency
- To ensure that the Agency's organisational structures remain appropriate to the discharge of its responsibilities.
Achievements:
1. Efficiency, effectiveness and economy are addressed through the Agency's business planning and budgeting process. The identification of a programme of work for the coming year, set out in a costed annual operating plan, is discussed with the funding and representative bodies. Those bodies have a legitimate expectation of efficiency and economy in our work and submit our proposals to close scrutiny. The agreements reached with those bodies are subsequently captured in contracts (with the funding bodies) and institutional subscription levels (agreed with the representative bodies), to deliver the agreed programme of work. Subscription levels have been reduced for the year 2001-02. The Agency's business planning capacity is being strengthened through the development of a range of resource strategies to ensure that the Agency has, and makes the best use of, the resources it needs to deliver its objectives. Work on developing an information strategy is well advanced, and work on human resources, finance and risk management strategies is proceeding. Work will also be undertaken to develop a value for money strategy, to implement fully the policy on procurement, to review and improve the effectiveness of our internal and external communications, and to develop our performance measurement systems.
2. Organisational structures are reviewed each year at an early stage in the business planning process. The Agency has developed broad competency profiles for each category of staff. A Personal Performance and Development (PPD) review process provides opportunities to review staff performance and to identify training and development needs. A training and development plan is being developed. The Agency is working towards recognition as an Investor in People.
3. Mr Mike Killingley, Senior Manager, Executive Education, HSBC Bank plc, and Mrs Elizabeth Reid, Chief Executive of the Technology Colleges Trust, have joined the Board as independent Board members (in succession to Dame Margaret Seward and Mr Hugh Smith). Ms Alexandra Lewis, Postgraduate Students' Officer, University of Birmingham Guild of Students, and Chair of the National Postgraduate Committee, succeeded Patrick Barron as student observer in January 2001.
4. The membership of the Board of Directors at July 2001 is shown below.
|
Sir Ronald Miller, CBE Chairman of the Court, Napier University; formerly Chair, Dawson International plc Mrs Elizabeth Reid Chief Executive, Technology Colleges Trust Mr Philip Robinson Director, University College Chichester Mrs Valerie Stead, OBE Director of Quality Assurance, Kent Institute of Art and Design Professor William Stevely Principal, The Robert Gordon University Professor Roger Williams Vice-Chancellor, University of Reading
Invited observer representing Mr Paul Cohen Invited observer representing students Ms Alexandra Lewis |
Top