Since the publication of its first edition in 2012, when it replaced the QAA's Code of Practice, the UK Quality Code has been a key reference point for the HE sector, encapsulating the shared principles that underpin the maintenance of academic standards and the management of quality assurance and enhancement processes.
The last edition was published in 2018. Much has of course changed in the higher education environment in the years since then.
In July 2022, we at QAA agreed with what is now the Quality Council for Higher Education that the time was right to start a sector-wide conversation about the scope and structure of the Code. This extensive programme of engagement and consultation has resulted in the creation of the new edition of the UK Quality Code for Higher Education, which is published today.
The 2024 edition of the Code is very different from the previous iteration. For a start, it's a rather fuller document, although it's still designed to be clear, concise and accessible.
Its core content comprises a set of principles focused on twelve key areas: managing quality and standards; engaging with students as partners; resourcing delivery; the use of data; monitoring and enhancing provision; external review and accreditation; programme design, development and approval; partnerships with external organisations; student recruitment and admissions; supporting students; teaching, learning and assessment; and concerns, complaints and appeals.
Each of these principles is accompanied by a list of key practices to underpin its application. QAA is currently establishing groups of sector representatives to formulate the chapters of more extensive advice and guidance which will further support the implementation of these practices.
The new edition of the Code is focused on supporting providers in their own management of quality and standards through the promotion of an understanding of shared principles and effective practice. It's a resource owned by the sector and created for the benefit of the sector – its efficacy, success and prestige, both at home and overseas – and ultimately for the benefit of students.
You can dive straight into the full document on our website, but let me here briefly explore half a dozen of the central themes that run through the new Code.
While previous iterations were intended to apply exclusively to higher education, the 2024 Code has now for the first time been designed to be applicable to the practices and perspectives of the wider tertiary sector and offer practical help to a wide range of post-secondary education providers.
This approach reflects developments towards the integration of the tertiary sectors in Scotland and Wales, and is also intended to facilitate transition between different levels of tertiary study throughout the UK.
Reflecting the emphasis of QAA's work with its member organisations in England and with providers across the devolved nations of the UK, as well as our international reviews and consultancies, the new edition of the Code is founded upon a conviction that the enhancement of quality is the proper focus and aim of quality assurance activities.
We hope that providers will use the UK Quality Code to work on a continuing basis to improve the quality of their provision and the ways in which learning is supported – and that colleagues across the sector who work in the design, development and delivery of programmes, quality processes and learning strategies will find the Code a helpful go-to guide to the shared principles and key practices that underpin such activities.
The new edition of the Code clearly reflects the sector's commitment to ensuring not only that learning strategies are centred upon the needs, aspirations and interests of the students themselves, but also that students play key roles in the processes of quality assurance and enhancement.
This isn't just about ensuring that robust, effective and timely mechanisms are in place to promote the student voice, student feedback and student representation – vital though those mechanisms clearly are. It also recommends that students are active in the design, development, approval and review of provision, of learning, teaching and assessment strategies, and of quality processes themselves.
In short, this model sees students not as passive consumers but as proactive partners in assuring and enhancing the quality of the learner experience.
Recent public interest in partnerships has highlighted the importance of consistency, transparency, compliance and appropriate rigour in the management, assurance and oversight of the quality of such collaborative activities.
Guidance offered in the new edition of the Code is designed to ensure the sustainability of these arrangements, through the clear agreement and communication of the responsibilities of all parties involved, the use of measures to mitigate risk, and the involvement of such activities in providers' regular processes of monitoring and review.
The Code sets an expectation for the assurance and enhancement of the quality of provision to be underpinned by regular and transparent processes of monitoring and review run by providers themselves. Such activities should involve the input of both internal and external peers, as well as students and employers in areas of industry related to the fields of study.
Providers are also expected to monitor and evaluate the impacts of enhancements which result from these processes, and to communicate the outcomes of these processes to students, staff, governors and external stakeholders.
The Code invites and encourages providers to reflect upon how their approaches to the management of quality and standards may promote the development of inclusive and equitable experiences for all students and staff.
It also advises that providers monitor how their provision is able support all students to fulfil their potential and to ensure that no individual or group is disadvantaged or excluded by teaching practices or curricula.
It anticipates that the engagement of students as partners in both the development and monitoring of provision will support this focus on inclusivity.
As part of this inclusive approach, reflective of both student and sector perspectives, the 2024 Code also recognises and highlights the value of the enrichment of the student experience through renewed emphases upon diversity and sustainability.
Much of the focus the themes described above contributes to the 2024 Quality Code's alignment not only with UK sector-agreed expectations but also with the European Standards and Guidelines (ESG), whose development has been led by the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) on behalf of the member organisations of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA).
This alignment is significant for a number of reasons.
In practical terms, it helps to facilitate the mobility of UK students and graduates through the EHEA, allowing that their credits and qualifications can be recognised by providers and employers through that area.
And, while the Quality Code denotes consistency of standards and quality processes across the UK, so its alignment with the globally recognised ESG affords an international recognition of the status and reputation of the quality of tertiary education in the UK.
We believe that this is essential to promote trust and confidence in the sector, both domestically and on the world stage – and to reinforce the sector's confidence in itself.
The creation of the new Quality Code has taken a huge amount of work from our colleagues at QAA and across the UK tertiary sector. These are just some of the things that make that effort worthwhile.
