The project employs a mixed-methods comparative analysis examining quality assurance approaches across co-ops, apprenticeships, placements, and employer-engaged modules. We will conduct document analysis of QA frameworks from all three partner institutions, followed by semi-structured interviews with academic quality leads, employer partners, and workplace supervisors. Student focus groups will ensure diverse representation, including international students, mature learners, and students from different disciplines. All analysis will be guided by QAA Principles 8 and 11, with student collaborators actively involved in co-creating the project outputs.

The project will produce a suite of practical resources for the sector. These include an employer-academic QA bridge framework providing operational guidance for assuring academic standards when industry partners deliver learning, and a workplace learning assessment toolkit offering practical resources for consistent evaluation of professional competencies across academic and workplace settings. We will also develop employer partner quality criteria with indicators for assessing whether employers have capacity to support degree-level learning, alongside a self-assessment audit tool enabling any institution to evaluate and enhance their workplace learning QA. Underpinning these outputs is a robust evidence base drawing on comparative analysis across multiple models from academic, employer, and student perspectives.

These resources address an urgent sector need. They will support institutions in meeting OfS graduate outcomes accountability and inform TEF evidence on employability and student outcomes. By providing frameworks validated across diverse student populations and institutional contexts, the project enables sector-wide consistency in workplace learning quality.