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Background
In 2001 the the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council, Universities Scotland, the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, and representatives of the student body started a period of collaboration with the aim of developing a new approach to quality assertion. As a result of this work a shift was encouraged from Quality Assurance to Quality Enhancement. As a part of the development of this new approach a framework was established which had five main aspects:
- a programme of subject reviews run by individual institutions, known as Internal Teaching Reviews (ITR), which is conducted over a four year cycle and is then overseen by a panel made up of individuals from within the university and outwith it. This process also includes a self-evaluation document completed by a particular school. Further information on this can be found on http://www.abdn.ac.uk/registry/itr/.
- institution-level review (Enhancement Led Institutional Review, or ELIR), involving all Scottish HE institutions over a four-year cycle. For further details see http://www.abdn.ac.uk/registry/quality/section2.pdf.
- improved forms of public information about quality, aimed at students, employers and the public, and including the Higher Education Achievement Record (HEAR).
- a greater voice for student representatives in institutional quality systems with the participation of SPARQS (Student Participation in Quality Scotland). For further information see: http://www.sparqs.ac.uk/.
- a national programme of Enhancement Themes, aimed at developing and sharing good practice in learning and teaching in Higher Education.