Quality by Design

Marking the recent completion of QAA's publication of the twelve sets of Advice and Guidance which support the application of the current iteration of the UK Quality Code for Higher Education, QAA's Quality and Standards team hosted Quality by Design, a full-day event held at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in London on Wednesday 4 November, which shared insights into the uses of some of the key sector reference points curated by QAA: the Quality Code and its Advice and Guidance, the Subject Benchmark Statements, the Characteristics Statements and the Qualifications Frameworks.

A packed programme of speakers from across the four nations of the UK included Dr Ellen Buck (Pro Vice-Chancellor Education & Student Experience at Middlesex University), Stephen Bunbury (Reader in Law at the University of Westminster), Jamie Lukas Campbell (Queen's University Belfast), Kate Cheyne (Head of the School of Architecture and Cities at the University of Westminster), Professor Catriona Cunningham (Head of Learning and Teaching Enhancement at Edinburgh Napier University), Professor Mary Davis (Academic Integrity Lead & Professor of Education & Student Experience at Oxford Brookes University), Damian Duffy (Principal & Chief Executive of Belfast Metropolitan College), Josh Gulrajani (Director of Quality, Performance and Impact at the University of Wolverhampton), Leigh-anne Hargreaves (Head of Quality at the University of Sunderland), David Kernohan (Deputy Editor at Wonkhe), Professor Anita Krishnan (Professor of Accounting Education at the University of Southampton Business School), Niamh McAuley (Education Officer at Lancaster University Students' Union), Sung Him Ng (Kings College London), Ginny Page (Director of Programmes in the Gatsby Charitable Foundation's education team), Professor Hanya Pielichaty (Professor of Sport, Gender & Inclusive Education at the University of Lincoln), Gill Scott (Gill Scott Consultancy Ltd), Shirley Tian (University of Edinburgh), Professor Mandy Tonks (Interim Pro Vice-Chancellor Education and Student Experience at Cardiff University) and Lewis Wilson (Vice President Higher Education at the National Union of Students UK). They were joined by QAA's Quality & Standards Specialists Si Bullock and Ruth Burchell, Quality & Standards Manager Dr Andy Smith and Executive Director of Quality Assurance and Enhancement Rob Stroud.

Rob opened the event by thanking the hundreds of colleagues across the sector who have contributed to the development of these key reference points and by stressing the importance of the UK sector's global reputation for quality and the crucial role which these reference points, aligned with European and international expectations, play in this.

"Critically, these reference points belong to the sector," he said. "They are not the product of any single regulator or government, and they are not tied to any one funding or accountability regime. They have been co-created by the sector, for the sector… with QAA acting as their independent custodian. That shared ownership and independence is precisely what allows them to work across different systems and to command respect within each of them. Regulators and funders in each nation can draw on them in the way that best suits their own arrangements, without the foundations themselves fragmenting.

"Producing and maintaining these reference points is part of QAA's charitable purpose – it is work we undertake for the public benefit. No organisation commissions it, and no organisation pays for it directly. That matters, because it helps to protect their independence: the reference points are not shaped by whoever funds them. But I would be less than candid if I did not acknowledge that it also presents a real challenge in resourcing. It is a challenge we have risen to time and again – and I believe that what we have today is arguably one of the strongest sets of reference points the UK has ever had."

Andy then presented an introduction to the new sector reference points, exploring what they mean for the sector, how providers can use them to support the student journey, and how those reference points can become an integral part of the way the sector connects quality and standards processes across the UK.

He emphasised that, rather than being merely a collection of separate documents, the quality architecture is an interconnected set of frameworks.

"It supports programme design, quality assurance, enhancement above the baseline, student progression and confidence in academic standards.​ The future challenge is creating qualifications that are flexible, understandable and trusted," he said.

The day included sessions on: embedding academic integrity across programmes while supporting the responsible use of emerging technologies and developing inclusive approaches that recognise the diverse experiences which students bring to higher education (with Professor Mary Davis and Stephen Bunbury); practical approaches to developing modules and programmes that align with occupational standards, secure employer confidence and support flexible learner journeys, progression and lifelong learning (with Ginny Page and Gill Scott); the use of Characteristics Statements in course design and review to build confidence in qualifications by communicating their value and purpose to students, employers, professional bodies and international partners (with Dr Andy Smith); and the value of Subject Benchmark Statements in designing degrees for the future and helping providers articulate the knowledge, skills and attributes that graduates should develop throughout their studies (with Professor Hanya Pielichaty, Kate Cheyne and Professor Anita Krishnan).

Observing that the quality of domestic and transnational partnerships is a subject of increasing significance, QAA's Ruth Burchell introduced a session on the quality assurance of that area of provision, led by Sunderland's Leigh-anne Hargreaves. Leigh-anne detailed how her institution has recently redeveloped its quality processes for partnership activities to ensure alignment with core sector principles and practices, through its mechanisms for annual partnership review and for the approval, reapproval and modification of partnerships. In doing so, she emphasised how the Quality Code Advice and Guidance empowers quality professionals as a shared reference point for specifying process expectations and for informing best practice in assuring quality and standards.

Quality processes never stand still, nor should their value and efficacy be taken for granted, as effective practices evolve to meet changing circumstances, expectations and challenges. In a thoughtful and self-consciously provocative presentation, Wolverhampton's Josh Gulrajani explored approaches to radically reimagining externality to align assurance, enhancement and risk.

He pointed out that institutions in England may have hundreds of external examiners on their books despite there being no explicit regulatory requirement for them to do so.

So why, he asked, do they? Can we be confident that such mechanisms ensure that provision remains relevant, industry-aligned, sector-leading and aligned with sector standards? And, once a programme is up and running, how often are we engaging employees in ensuring that provision remains relevant?

He presented, as an alternative approach, the idea of an external assurance framework which would draw together multiple activities, multiple viewpoints (including industry advisory boards, PSRBs and external examiners, where required as critical friends), systematic reviews of the alignments of provision with Subject Benchmark Statements, and increased central oversight and ownership, with a university standards panel (involving both internal and external members), underpinned by a core principle of risk-based quality assurance.

Meanwhile, student engagement in quality processes was a central feature of discussion during the day. Chaired by the NUS's Lewis Wilson, a panel of students – Niamh McAuley, Shirley Tian, Jamie Lukas Campbell and Sung Him (Isaac) Ng – considered why quality and standards should matter to students and to what extent students and student representatives need to understand quality and standards processes and sector reference points.

"Students are the most affected by what quality is," Lewis said. "Students are the ones who most feel it. Students having a voice in what quality looks like and how it measures things is really important."

He went on to ask his fellow panellists (all members of QAA's Student Strategic Advisory Committee): "It's easy for us to see as we're all self-proclaimed quality nerds – all of us in this room – but why should quality and standards matter to the average student?"

Isaac supposed that "ideally students don't have worry about it at all" – but pointed out that "it's like having clean drinking water – you don't care about it till you don't have it".

He observed that for all students "understanding how things work in different universities with different resource constraints would be helpful".

Shirley underlined the need to incorporate more diverse student voices into quality processes, and emphasised the value of co-creation – whereby the education which students receive grows out of that active engagement and conversation – and the importance of students having the agency necessary for them to be able to co-create best practices.

Jamie agreed: "It's about access. And it's about students being co-designers and co-leaders in their own education... It's part of being a good civic student.

"When a student enrols in an institution they sign their terms and conditions and they need to have a fundamental awareness of quality issues."

He and Isaac suggested that at the very least institutions could provide new students a brief explainer of those key points.

Niamh also highlighted the importance of "co-creation and partnership" and stressed that value for money is increasingly significant for students.

"Your degree should be fit for you," she said.

She supposed that students need to have a "basic understanding" of the sector's key reference points but that it's unrealistic to expect that every student has an in-depth knowledge of quality processes.

She added that student representatives should be able to empower the students they represent through sharing their understanding of quality processes and the language of those processes. She also noted that it's very important that the student voice is present and heard centre stage by the sector at events like this.

Our student panel was followed by a session led by QAA's Andy Smith and Si Bullock which scoped feedback on future revisions to the Frameworks for Higher Education Qualifications of UK Degree-Awarding Bodies.

The day ended with a session chaired – with his trademark blend of incisive focus and good-humoured wit – by Wonkhe's David Kernohan, in which senior sector leaders from all four nations of the UK discussed strategic approaches to assuring quality and maintaining standards.

David began by asking the eminent panel how their institutions managed to approach working within the "sheer complexity" of multiple and multi-layered quality systems.

Cardiff University's Professor Mandy Tonks said that it's crucial to "ensure that what you are measuring is not in a bean-countery way" – and to keep the student at the centre of it all.

Edinburgh Napier University's Professor Catriona Cunningham emphasised that in Scotland "we're very proud of our culture of enhancement... as an ongoing process and conversation" – which, she similarly stressed, needs to be made "meaningful and not tick-boxy".

Middlesex University's Dr Ellen Buck agreed that we want to be talking about enhancement and ensuring we are mindful of what we are doing with our students, how they are experiencing it and their outcomes.

She commended the speakers on the student panel earlier that afternoon. She stressed that "they are our hope" – and that if we follow the direction such students set we can't go far wrong.

Belfast Metropolitan College's Damian Duffy agreed that as an FE College his institution is also very focused on delivering the best outcomes for students... even when they're enraged by a 15p hike on the price of a plate of curried chips in the college canteen.

We need, he said, to put both learners and the needs of employers at the heart of what we do.

David had opened the day's closing session by observing that he was very aware that everyone in the room had their trains or pints to get to – and by promising that this session would be even better than either of those. By the end of an energetic, insightful and fascinating filled session – and day – full of ideas, collegiality and laughter – he'd more than made good on that pledge.

He went on to highlight the quality of the speakers on the panel and throughout the day. That was also a point on which all present could agree.

As Mandy Tonks had said, despite the challenges facing providers, one of the great qualities and strengths of the UK sector is the way in which we can come together to talk with and learn from, each other, through networks, forums and events such as this.

QAA's Rob Stroud closed the day thanking everyone who had taken part and shown themselves so willing to learn from and share with each other: "There are a lot of rays of hope that I take from today."