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We have expertise in safeguarding academic standards and enhancing the quality of the student experience offered in Scotland wherever and however delivered. We promote excellent, responsive and inspiring learning provided in partnership with students.

 

New for 2023-24


Tertiary Quality Project

QAA is delighted to have been commissioned by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) to lead key areas of Scotland’s Tertiary Quality Project (TQP). The TQP involves the development and delivery of a common approach to assuring and enhancing quality in Scotland’s tertiary sector from academic year 2024-25.


We are leading on two important project workstreams in collaboration with the SFC, sector agencies, and staff and students from Scotland’s colleges and universities.

Quality arrangements for 2024-25

 

Our current external review method is Tertiary Quality Enhancement Review (TQER).


The Tertiary Enhancement Topic is 'The future of learning and teaching: Defining and delivering an effective and inclusive digital/blended offering'. 

Latest news


Register now: Understanding and Supporting Student Transitions in Scotland

Date: May 1 - 2025

As part of Scotland's Tertiary Enhancement Programme (STEP), staff and students from colleges and universities in Scotland are invited to register for Understanding and Supporting Student Transitions in Scotland, a day-long event in Dundee on Thursday 29 May.

STEP is Scotland’s national enhancement programme for colleges and universities and is a key part of Scotland’s Tertiary Quality Enhancement Programme. It is run in partnership between QAA Scotland and College Development Network and is supported by the Scottish Funding Council.

Launched last autumn, STEP is designed to enable colleges and universities to work together to improve and enhance learning, teaching, the student experience and staff development across tertiary education in Scotland.

Our Dundee event will focus on ways to understand and support student transitions in Scotland.

It will feature keynote presentations from the Edge Foundation's Dr Josh Patel, and from Dr Michelle Morgan, Dean of Students at the University of East London. Josh will chart the approaches across the four nations to tertiary collaboration and tertiary journeys, while Michelle will consider the value of adopting a whole-institutional approach to improving the experience, progression, retention and success of both students and staff.

The event will also include presentations introducing three current STEP projects promoting successful student transitions. Nicola Mulholland, Dean for Academic Development at New College Lanarkshire, will talk about a collaborative initiative around transitions learning. Professor Luke Millard, Dean of Learning and Teaching at Abertay University, and Jane Roscoe, Director of Curriculum and Partnerships at Dundee and Angus College, will discuss pathways, process and design to enable student success. Meanwhile, Phil Storrier, Executive Director of Student Experience and Academic Performance at Dumfries and Galloway College, will explore strategies for setting students up for success through enquiry-based learning.

There will also be an opportunity to take part in a discussion on delivering collaborative enhancement activities.

All staff and students from Scottish colleges, universities, students' associations and sector agencies are most welcome to attend.

To register, please visit our website here.


Blogs


Micro-credentials good practice: A tertiary view from Scotland

17/11/2023 - Dr Anne Tierney, Deputy Chair of the Scottish Tertiary Education Network for Micro-credentials

Quality enhancement through collaboration, trust and empowerment (a celebration of the Scottish approach)

28/09/22 - Sir Paul Grice, Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh

Past, present and future: Evaluating Enhancement Themes - a journey through space time?

10/08/22 - Clare Parks, Quality Enhancement Specialist, QAA Scotland


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Read our reports

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