Quality
This includes quality assurance, quality assessment, and quality enhancement in the higher education sector in Wales.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) carries out reviews of every higher education institution (HEI) in Wales. The process is called ‘institutional review’.
Its purpose is to meet the public interest in knowing that Welsh HEIs are providing higher education qualifications of appropriate academic standard and quality.
The process requires each institution to publish a range of information about teaching quality and standards, which will be monitored by the QAA. Some of this information is available on institutions' websites, and some is available on the Unistats website.
A new review process began in academic year 2009/10. Further information is on the Quality Assurance Agency website.
Our quality assessment responsibilities under the further and higher education act, 1992, are addressed by our Student Experience, Teaching and Quality Committee.
HEFCW has a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Estyn and the QAA. The MoU was developed to provide a framework for working relationships between HEFCW, the QAA and Estyn, to ensure efficient and effective cooperation in relation to the new Institutional Review Process for Wales. It commits to avoiding duplication of effort, identifying activities of mutual interest where collaboration would benefit learners in higher education, and sharing expertise in support of continuous improvement of the quality of education.
