This week sees the launch of the new Quality Council for UK HE. The council will bring renewed focus to representation and advocacy for UK’s universities, ensuring that students are getting the highest quality education and that academic standards are protected.
It will bring together higher education providers, sector bodies and students so that all parts of the sector are represented and involved in driving forward this work. In the face of repeated challenge, the council’s role is to promote the exceptional quality of UK higher education to make sure that its outstanding reputation is preserved.
The new Quality Council replaces the UK Standing Committee for Quality Assessment (UKSCQA), which was originally founded in 2016 with the overall mission of assessing and measuring the quality of UK higher education. Many functions of the body will be similar to those of UKSCQA, but there are important differences.
Purpose and activity
The council will be sector-led and sector-owned, presenting a united voice in promoting and protecting the quality of HE in the UK. It will bring together experts from across the sector and all parts of the UK to provide insight, evidence and best practice for higher education providers. Its broad and encompassing membership means that the council is genuinely sector-wide and UK-wide. The council will include representation of providers from large multi-faculty to small and specialist, independent providers and further education colleges.
This means it can promote learning from research and best practice wherever it happens, and can advocate for the whole of the sector to UK and international stakeholders. It will also feature stronger student representation, ensuring that the needs and experiences of students are front and centre in all four nations of the UK.
Alongside acting as a voice for the sector, it will also be a site of consultation, enquiry and the sharing of best practice. This will allow us to address key challenges such as the impact of AI, tackling essay mills, designing curricula for the future, the experience and importance of international students and emerging tertiary systems. This development role is in addition to its more formal oversight of new work in the quality space, for example including supporting the updated UK Quality Code, being delivered by QAA.
A key role is to have oversight of the UK’s shared commitment to quality principles and take a UK-wide approach, celebrating our commonalities across the different nations and their regulator systems. The four funders and regulators, now attending as foundational bodies with observer status, can learn more about how the sector is addressing issues of quality and provide updates to inform the work of the council. However, the new council will have the independence to act as an individual and distinct entity. This is especially important in this current period of turbulence and change as the UK HE sector and approaches to quality continue to rapidly evolve.
World-leading
But there is also a broader purpose – to better communicate and reassure stakeholders worldwide of the exceptional quality of UK universities and the education they provide. This new body will represent and champion the diversity of the sector, and the education offered by providers, be they universities, independent providers, or further education colleges. From lifelong learning and degree apprenticeships, to short courses and traditional academic programmes, the Quality Council for UK HE’s remit will be truly representative of higher education in the 21st century.
Now more than ever, as questions continue to be raised about the quality and value of our sector, it is essential that we are not complacent. We need to step up and demonstrate clearly and transparently why students, employers, policy makers and taxpayers can and should feel confident about the quality and standards of UK higher education.
That is where the Quality Council has a vital role to play, in responding to those concerns. Where these concerns genuinely reflect areas in need of improvement, the council will work to coordinate and find solutions. There is also a role for the council to play in translating the language and practice of professional education quality experts to make their insights accessible to a wider audience.
The outcomes and quality that UK HE provides are extraordinary national achievements, which deserve to be represented, protected and upheld. They also deserve to be improved and challenged, sometimes incrementally and sometimes radically. The Quality Council for UK HE will play a vital role in achieving this.
