QAA leads the development of Subject Benchmark Statements. These Statements are reviewed on a cyclical basis to ensure they are as useful as possible for discipline communities and can inform a range of purposes across the sector, including course design and providing support for securing academic standards.

We are inviting expressions of interest from the academic community, employers, professional, statutory and regulatory bodies (PSRBs) and students to join the Subject Advisory Group for the new Subject Benchmark Statement in Public Policy and Public Administration - an applied subject that includes the policy making process and its implementation in practice. As such, it is a subject area that draws upon political science and business management, and this Statement will support providers that teach and assess in the fields of public policy and public administration.

Advisory Group selection and membership

Our aim is to ensure that membership of the Subject Benchmark Statement Advisory Group is fully representative of the rich diversity of the UK higher education sector. Both the membership of the Advisory Group and the development and content of the Statement will embody QAA's commitment to promoting equality, diversity and inclusivity across all our work.

The Subject Chair and Deputy Chair(s), working with QAA, are responsible for selecting Advisory Group members. To allow us and the Chairs to appoint sufficiently representative groups, we welcome expressions of interest from academics and students from diverse backgrounds. The membership of the Advisory Group will be drawn from the four nations of the UK, have significant academic standing and subject expertise in the field, and be appropriately balanced between academic and professional practice, where relevant to the subject. 

Please note that academic representatives will only be drawn from higher education providers who are QAA Members. A major benefit of being a QAA Member is the opportunity to shape and inform our policies, standards and sector reference points, of which Subject Benchmark Statements are a key aspect. Membership of the Advisory Group will also include: 

• different types of providers (including different methods of programme delivery and different subject specialism)  
• industry or employer groups (where applicable for the subject)
• professional, statutory and regulatory bodies (where applicable for the subject)
• representatives of the principal subject association(s) and/or network(s)  
• a current or former student, student body or an organisation representing the interests of students in the subject area.

For subject areas where apprenticeship standards exist, it may also be helpful to include a member of the relevant Apprenticeships Trailblazer group.

Expectations and commitment

Your provider/employer will need to release you for between six and eight Advisory Group meetings during normal working hours (09.00-17.00) over the course of nine to 12 months. These meetings will usually be no longer than three hours. We will also require group members to draft, write and review text outside of group meetings, and there may be some out-of-session communications. The development period of new Subject Benchmark Statements usually takes between nine and 12 months, so you will need to make a commitment to the time period of the review. There is no remuneration for a role on a QAA Advisory Group. Advisory Group meetings will take place online using Microsoft Teams, and documents will be held centrally on a QAA SharePoint site.

Additions to the Statements

QAA is committed to ensuring that Statements reflect developments in the subject communities and agendas in the higher education sector. The revised Statement will include consideration of the following topics, so we are keen to hear from the academic community who have both subject expertise and awareness or experience in one or more of the following areas:

• education for sustainable development  
• equality, diversity and inclusivity - with a focus both on inclusion in the context of curriculum content and student characteristics
• accessibility and the requirements of disabled students
• enterprise and/or entrepreneurship education.