The University complies with a number of external arrangements in relation to quality assurance and enhancement, including liaison with the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and Quality Assurance Agency for Scotland (QAAS). The SFC developed the Tertiary Quality Enhancement Framework (TQEF), which is the tertiary education sector’s new approach to quality assurance and enhancement for colleges and universities. It is built on the legacy of the last 20 years of Scotland’s leading approach to quality assurance and enhancement.
The TQEF is built on a number of principles, including:
- Excellence in learning, teaching and assessment
- Supporting student success
- Student engagement and partnership
- Enhancement and Quality Culture
- Externality
- Data and evidence
In order to take forward the principles, a number of interconnected delivery mechanisms provide assurance on quality and support institutional and sector-wide enhancement. These include:
- Tertiary Quality Enhancement Review (TQER)
- Annual Quality Engagement (AQE)
- Institution-Led Quality Activity
- Scotland’s Tertiary Enhancement Programme (STEP)
- Use of Data and Evidence for Reporting
Quality Code
The Quality Code sets out the expectations all providers of UK higher education are required to meet. External Quality Review considers the extent to which institutions make systematic use of the Code as an external reference point in their updating of policy and procedure and as reference points in its evaluation and management of institutional policy and practice.
A mapping of the institution's policies and processes to the Quality Code is available within the Academic Quality Handbook (AQH).