QAA Scotland publishes guide to National Review of Awarding Arrangements

QAA has published the guide for institutions to its National Review of Awarding Arrangements in Scotland.

In response to the systemic risks identified by the Targeted Peer Review (TPR) of the University of Glasgow undertaken in October 2025, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) commissioned QAA to undertake a national review of awarding arrangements in Scotland to provide assurance, beyond that provided by existing quality assurance mechanisms, that the issues identified through the TPR at the University of Glasgow do not represent a systemic issue within the Scottish tertiary education sector.

The National Review has been designed to be delivered by QAA across four phases comprising:

1. a desk-based review of existing evidence;
2. the development of a review methodology for deep-dive reviews into a sample of providers;
3. the delivery of these deep-dive reviews of individual institutions focused on key lines of enquiry identified;
4. learning and enhancement activity by which learning from this work will be fed back to Scotland's tertiary education sector through both the publication of a summary report and a sector-wide discussion on practice in this area.

The first two phases of this process have now been completed.

The review guide provides details of the methodology for Phase 3 of the National Review.           

QAA has developed a sampling methodology to determine a shortlist of institutions to include in review process. Institutions are also given the opportunity to put themselves forward to be included within this sample. Inclusion in the sample does not suggest that there is a concern about the awarding arrangements at an institution. Institutions that are selected to undergo deep-dive reviews will have met several criteria within the sampling methodology. The sampling criteria have also been published.

The focus of the review process is to determine whether an institution’s arrangements for the awarding of qualifications are being applied consistently, effectively and transparently, and that academic standards are being maintained. Each review will be carried out by a team of three trained peers including a student reviewer, and will include an on-site visit by the review team. The review team will undertake a desk-based analysis of the evidence base, including a self-evaluation document completed by the institution, and will draw up a visit schedule and lines of enquiry, which will be shared with the institution. The review visit will take the form of several meetings at the institution, including with students and Student Association/Union representatives.

Phase 3 of the National Review will not result in formal judgements about the academic standards of institutions' awards but will result in the identification of recommendations for action to address any areas for development or weaknesses and areas of good practice.

The review guide provides full details of this process and its indicative schedule, as well as the template for the self-evaluation document and information on how institutions may volunteer to be considered to be part of the sample.

The full document is available on the QAA Scotland website.