As a university, we value the highest academic and professional standards,
and aim to be internationally recognised for the quality of the University’s
teaching, learning facilities and educational experience offered to students.
Our strategy for teaching and learning places students at the centre, engaging
them in collaborative learning in a supportive and well-resourced academic
environment. We aim to enhance the quality of student learning through
investment in the learning environment and in our staff.
The teaching quality
management structure, including a quality framework and teaching quality management
structure, supports these aims, and is designed to ensure that the continuous
improvement of the student experience is at the core of
quality assurance and enhancement activity, and
that all members of staff take personal responsibility for the quality of their
contribution to the student experience.
On this page:
The Academic Standards and Partnerships Office (ASPO) is part of the Academic Section, and provides resources and guidance on the policies, procedures and processes relating to academic standards and quality at the University. If you have any questions about the information provided here, please contact the ASPO team.
The University’s individual processes for quality assurance and enhancement are designed to interconnect in order to create an approach which is rigorous and effective. They include course and module approval, student feedback, external examiners, annual review of courses and periodic review.
The QAA is an external agency that publishes guidance on the expectations that all providers of UK higher education are required to meet. The UK Quality Code for Higher Education (the Quality Code) is a key element of the guidance produced by the QAA, as well as other guidance such as the subject benchmark statements, which set out requirements for a range of subjects and levels. The QAA carry out reviews of institutions and publish institutional review reports which highlight areas of good practice, make recommendations for how to improve academic standards and quality, and comment on how well an institution meets its responsibilities.
The QAA have produced videos to help explain what the QAA mean by quality assurance in higher education, what processes are used by institutions and the QAA, and how students are involved in these processes.
Courses which are accredited by a professional, statutory or regulatory body, are assessed by the relevant organisation to ensure they meet the professional standards and quality required for their future careers.
Academic standards represent the level of achievement that a student has to reach to gain an academic award. For equivalent awards, the threshold level of achievement should be the same across the UK.
Academic quality is how well the learning opportunities made available to students enable them to achieve their award. It is about making sure that appropriate and effective teaching, support, assessment and learning opportunities are provided for them.
The QAA defines quality assurance as the ‘'systematic monitoring and evaluation of learning and teaching, and the processes that support them, to make sure that the standards of academic awards meet UK expectations, and that the quality of the student learning experience is being safeguarded and improved.'
The QAA defines quality enhancement as “taking deliberate steps at institutional level to improve the quality of learning opportunities.”
The QAA defines learning opportunities as “the provision made for students' learning, including planned programmes of study, teaching, assessment, academic and personal support, resources (such as libraries and information systems, laboratories or studios) and staff development.”
Page last updated: 16 August 2013