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 of Higher and Further Education Training and Employment (DHFETE) 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 business plan; with an interim report against such objectives in mid-March. This report is the interim report that covers the period August 2000 to January 2001.
2. The QAA's Business Plan 2000-03 was published in October 2000. 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, and summarises the main points from the Agency's monitoring of achievement against those objectives.
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:
3. The Agency has carried out ten of the eleven continuation audits that were scheduled for the first half of the year; the other has been re-scheduled for later in the year. Eight of the scheduled 29 follow-ups to audits carried out in 1999-2000 have been completed; the remainder will be completed within the year as scheduled. Audit teams have been established for audits up to December 2001.
4. The three planned audits of overseas collaborative provision (Greece, Israel and Hong Kong / China) will be completed by May 2001. The schedule for 2001-02 will be 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.
5. 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. One application for university title is currently under active consideration.
6. On recognition and quality assurance of Access to HE courses, the Agency carried out the two AVA reviews that were scheduled in the period up to December 2000. It has also completed two of 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 is working to strengthen the public information available on Access and is carrying out an information review. The results of the information review will be presented to a conference for AVAs to be held in May 2001 (this conference will replace the planned SCAVA Annual Conference). Work with the Scottish Advisory Committee on Credit and Access (SACCA) in developing a revised strategy for access in Scotland is proceeding.
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:
7. The Agency carried out 170 of the 176 (current method) subject review visits in England and Northern Ireland that were scheduled in the period up to 31 January 2001. Two visits have been cancelled in the light of up-to-date information on size and nature of the provision, and four have been deferred (three to a later date in 2000-01; one to the Autumn term 2001). One additional review has been carried out.
8. Visit schedules have been agreed with the institutions for the full period up to December 2001. This will complete the programme of current method subject reviews. Thereafter the academic review method will be used in all parts of the UK.
9. Introduction of the academic review method is proceeding as planned. The initial programme of 25 academic reviews in Scotland in 2000-01 is under way. Programmes of academic reviews in 2001-02 and 2002-03 in Wales have been agreed. For England and Northern Ireland, the Agency initiated, in Summer/Autumn 2000, a survey of institutions' provision in the subjects scheduled for academic review in the period up to Summer 2003, and their preferences on timing of those reviews. The Agency is now conducting follow-up discussions with many of those institutions (up to the end of April 2001) with a view to finalising the academic review programmes in England and Northern Ireland for the period January 2002 to July 2003. It should be possible for the Agency to meet the majority of institutional preferences on timing of reviews subject to discussing with some institutions a more even spread of reviews in particular subjects. The proposed programme of institutional reviews in 2001-02 is being discussed with institutions, and work is proceeding to develop an outline schedule for the period thereafter.
10. The introduction of the academic review method in Scotland is underpinned by a contract between SHEFC and QAA. The arrangements for contract monitoring and information exchange between the two bodies are working well. The progress of the 25 academic reviews is monitored closely from the Agency's Glasgow Office. 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 completed by the end of the year.
11. The Agency has reached agreement with the relevant funding bodies in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on benchmarking nursing, midwifery and health visiting, and health-related subjects; draft benchmark statements have been issued for comment. The Agency and the Department of Health in England have exchanged a letter of intent paving the way for a contract to set up a programme of prototype reviews in those subjects in 2001-02 and a full programme from 2003-04. That contract should be agreed in Spring 2001. 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.
12. The subject review method in England and Northern Ireland has always included a number of FE colleges (FECs) in its scope - primarily those receiving direct funding from the HEFCE. The HEFCE now has funding responsibility for a wider range of provision in a greater number of FE colleges, with consequent implications for the extent of the Agency's work with FECs in England. 115 reviews in FE colleges are scheduled in 2000-01; 31 of these had been completed by the end of January 2001. The Agency has participated in seminars run by HEFCE and FEDA to help orientate FECs to the subject review method and to the Agency's expectations, and to help the Agency understand the context and concerns in FE colleges. 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:
13. 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 at its November 2000 meeting.
14. The Scotland framework was relatively uncontroversial. The EWNI paper provoked a much wider range of responses. Employers and other stakeholders generally favoured the four undergraduate levels model as proposed, seeing this as an appropriate way to accommodate a wider range of qualifications below the Honours level. However, the majority of respondents from the sector argued against four undergraduate levels, citing specific concerns about the place of the ordinary degree and foundation degree and the problems of accommodating existing credit structures within such a framework, and favoured three undergraduate levels. Given the range of responses received, the Board agreed that there should be three undergraduate levels for EWNI. There had also been a wide range of opinion on the implementation period, with stakeholders questioning the need for a six year period as proposed, and many in the sector questioning whether six years would be sufficient. The Board agreed that there should be a common start date rather than a common end point; students entering programmes from the start of 2003-04 should be joining programmes that are consistent with the expectations in the frameworks. The Board also agreed to invite comment on draft guidance on implementing the EWNI framework. This was issued in November 2000 for response by mid-December. In January 2001 the Board agreed the final text of the frameworks and associated guidance. The materials were published in February.
15. The Agency held a well-attended conference in November 2000 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 will be providing advice to Government in advance of an 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.
16. Subject benchmarking work is on track. The current tranche of benchmarking covers the subjects to be reviewed from 2003-04 and includes benchmarking nursing, midwifery and health visiting and health-related subjects under contract with the bodies across the UK that fund the provision in those subjects. In total, 23 draft benchmark statements will be published during the course of this year. A programme of events to increase awareness of the benchmark information and evaluate its use - set in the context of the wider agenda for articulating and maintaining academic standards - will be developed. There is already much evidence of the benchmark statements being used within subject communities, within institutions, and overseas.
17. 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. Eight sections have been published so far; the most recent, on career information, education and guidance, was published in January 2001. A draft of the code on student placements was available for consultation between December 2000 and mid-February 2001. A draft of the section on admissions to higher education should be available for consultation in March 2001. The Agency is reviewing the findings from audit reports with a view to a 'learning from audit' style of publication by the end of the year. A similar review of subject review reports will take 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; a joint policy statement was published in May 2000. Good progress is being made in the development of guidance materials on the use of progress files, and these should be available later in the year.
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:
18. 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. 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.
19. The Agency's Website has been extensively re-developed as a vehicle for effective public communication, and 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.
20. The Agency has published 139 of the 152 subject review reports due to be published by the end of January 2001. 13 are behind schedule, largely as a result of delays in agreeing a final text with the institution concerned. For similar reasons, eight of the 13 continuation audit reports due to be published in this period have been slightly delayed. The overseas audit reports on China and Spain were published on schedule. The reports on Egypt and Cyprus have been slightly delayed. Reports of AVA reviews are being published on schedule. A revised edition of the Brief Guide to Quality Assurance in the UK is likely to be published ahead of the scheduled date of July 2001.The Agency's Business Plan 2000-03 was published in October 2000. Higher Quality 8 was published on 6 February 2001, with publication of the qualifications frameworks and associated guidance. There will probably be a need for only one more edition of Higher Quality in 2000-01.
21. 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 have been 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 consulted on, for example, qualifications frameworks and benchmark statements. In Scotland, there have been discussions with the CBI Scotland and the Scottish Small Business Federation.
22. 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 professional and statutory bodies. Even where collaborative reviews are not possible, for whatever reason, the academic review method will give institutions greater scope to time their academic reviews by reference to the schedule for PSB reviews. The PSBs are routinely included in our consultations on the Code of Practice, the development of benchmark statements and the qualifications frameworks.
23. Employer groups, PSBs, subject associations and student bodies have all been closely involved in developing academic review, alongside the institutions and sector representatives. The Agency is working to promote greater understanding of academic review in the sector through the 'scope and preference' follow-up meetings in Spring 2001, through the heavy programme of visits/presentations to a wide range of bodies, and through a series of workshops that will be held to help institutions prepare effective self-evaluation documents.
25. 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.
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:
30. 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. 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 and finance strategies is proceeding. Work will also be undertaken to develop a value for money strategy and a risk management 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.
31. 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 that help meet the competency profiles. This approach will help to ensure that staffing levels and skills are appropriate to the Agency's needs. A training and development plan is being developed. The Agency is working towards recognition as an Investor in People.
32. Mr Mike Killingley, Senior Manager, Executive Education, HSBC Bank plc, has been appointed as an independent member of the Board to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Hugh Smith of BT. Mrs Elizabeth Reid, Chief Executive of the Technology Colleges Trust, has been appointed as an independent Board member to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Dame Margaret Seward (following her appointment as Chief Dental Officer, Department of Health, England).
33. In May 2000 Patrick Barron, a student at the University of Edinburgh, who had attended Board meetings since January 1999 as a representative of students, retired from the position. He has been succeeded by Ms Alexandra Lewis, Postgraduate Students' Officer, University of Birmingham Guild of Students, and Chair of the National Postgraduate Committee.
Board of directors, March 2001
Mr Christopher Kenyon (Chairman)
Chairman,
William Kenyon & Sons Limited; former Chairman of
Council, University of Manchester
Professor Antony Chapman
Principal, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff
Ms Maggie Deacon
Director of Finance and Development, University of Brighton
Professor Janet Finch, CBE
Vice-Chancellor, Keele University
Mr Mike Killingley
Senior Manager, Executive Education, HSBC Bank plc
Mr Graham Mackenzie, OBE
Chief Executive, ASW Holdings plc
Professor Peter McKie, CBE
Former Chairman, Du Pont (UK) Ltd
Ms Catherine McLoughlin, CBE
Management Consultant and Chair, St George's Healthcare NHS
Trust
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 Government Education
Departments
Mr Paul Cohen
Invited observer representing students
Ms Alexandra Lewis
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