The Proposed Scottish System for Quality Assurance

George Macdonald Ross

The QAA in Scotland

At the time of writing (April 2002), the proposed Scottish system for quality assurance is out for consultation. As its title implies, the consultation document, HEC 02/2002: An Enhancement Led Approach to Quality Assurance, lays more stress on quality enhancement than its English counterpart. In the jargon, 'quality assurance' means checking that quality is as it should be, and 'quality enhancement' means improving quality from whatever level it is already at. I for one find the Scottish approach much more attractive, and I hope that one of the long-term effects of devolution will be that England will be forced to come into line with the Celtic fringe on educational matters.

As under the English system, institutions will be responsible for conducting major programme reviews at least every six years. Reviews should take account of the qualifications framework, subject benchmark statements, and the QAA code of practice. The documentation required to be available will be broadly the same.

The main differences are the following:

  • The first cycle of audits will take place over four years (as opposed to three in England), starting in AY 2003-04.
  • There will be no audit trails of individual subjects; but if evidence suggests that a department is failing, there will be an external review.
  • Audit teams will include a representative of professional bodies, a student (or a representative of a student body), and possibly someone from outside the UK.
  • Published information should be directed towards the different interests of different stakeholders - in particular, applicants, students, and employers.
  • There will be no published summaries of external examiners' reports.
  • There will probably be more emphasis in canvassing student opinion, and active involvement of students in internal reviews.
  • There will be 'quality enhancement engagements', focussing on different broad areas and different subject groupings in different years. For example, the focus might be on Arts subjects in 06/07. Cross-curricular themes might be employability (03/04), responding to student needs (04/05), and assessment (05/06). Each enhancement theme would be managed by a committee, which would produce a report at the end of a two-year period. It is envisaged that the LTSN will be closely involved in such activities.


Created on: April 17th 2007

Updated on: April 24th 2009