STEP (Scotland’s Tertiary Enhancement Programme) is the new national enhancement programme for the Scottish tertiary sector. It is designed to enable Scotland’s colleges and universities to work together to improve and enhance learning, teaching, the student experience, and staff development across tertiary provision. It is one of the delivery mechanisms of Scotland’s Tertiary Quality Enhancement Framework (TQEF) and is underpinned by the TQEF principles. At the heart of the programme are collaborative enhancement projects that will produce outcomes and outputs of value to the entire tertiary sector.

STEP runs on a four-year cycle that moves through three distinct phases – Discovery, Implementation, and Reflection – during which projects are designed, delivered, and evaluated. The programme is sector-owned and jointly managed by The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) and College Development Network (CDN).

The topic for the first cycle of STEP (2024-2028) is Supporting Diverse Learner Journeys. This topic was determined through extensive engagement with colleges and universities during 2023-24, including sector-wide co-creation events in October 2023 and March 2024 and a sector-wide survey in April 2024.

For more information about STEP, follow link below.