Current Quality Assurance in the UK

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Current Quality Assurance in the UK

• Howard Nicholson
• University Librarian
• University of Bath

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Current Quality Assurance in the UK

• Why QA?
• History of recent UK QA
• Current QA strategies in UK

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Current Quality Assurance in the UK

• UK total spend on HE 16,625,712,000
  (say Aus 40 billion)
• UK total research grants 4,015,079,000
  (say Aus 10 billion)
• UK total spend on HE libraries 603,726,000
  (say Aus 1.3 billion)
• UK total spend on HE computing 443,209,000
  (say Aus 1 billion)
• Library Computing as of total 6.2

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Current Quality Assurance in the UK

• EFFECTS OF QA
• Consumerism
• - Public access to reports
• - Media use for league tables
• Money
• - Financial gearing of RAE
• - Concentration in big departments

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Current Quality Assurance in the UK

• THE ESSENCE OF QAA AUDIT
• Evidence-based, on site, once in five years
• Peer review, by visit and inspection
• Scrutiny of internal quality assurance systems
• Student-focused
• All provision, including collaborative partners

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Current Quality Assurance in the UK

• THE ESSENCE OF RAE
• Evidence-based, remote process, every 5/6 yr
• Subject Panels of peer assessors
• Evidence entirely made up of outputs
  (publications, grant levels, patents, etc)
• Results for groups, not individuals, on numeric
  and star rated basis 1 5

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Current Quality Assurance in the UK

• THE ESSENCE OF TQA
• Teaching quality, by visit, documentation and
  observation
• Subject Panels all subjects, all universities,
  six year cycle
• Peer review team, with subject expertise
• Learning resources specifically inspected
• Results as scores, out of 24

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Current Quality Assurance in the UK

• INSTITUTIONAL AUDIT CURRENT METHOD
• Quality framework QAA Codes of Practice etc
• Self-evaluation Document (50-60 pages)
• Students submissions
• Visit by Panel, five days
• Themes (4 or so) for Drilling down
• Report agreed and published outcomes limited to
  one of three judgements, e.g. Broad confidence
• Concept of Earned autonomy

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Current Quality Assurance in the UK

• RAE 2008 CURRENT METHOD
• Quality profiles for all subjects
• Period covered 1.1.2001 31.10.2007
• 15 Main Panels, 67 Sub-Panels, 900 experts
• Evidence up to 4 publications staff details
  research student details grant income
• Web-based submission (details to be announced)
• Results published Dec. 2008 no appeal

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Current Quality Assurance in the UK

• QAA Website http//www.qaa.ac.uk
• RAE Website http//www.hefce.ac.uk/research/asses
  sment
• Review of the Quality Assurance Framework (The
  Burslem Report). August, 2005
• Howard Nicholson
• h.d.nicholson_at_bath.ac.uk

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