1. QQI Statutory QA Guidelines, January 2016
Karena Maguire
QQI Statutory QA Guidelines,
January 2016

2. QA in General
Quality Assurance
In an education and training context, quality assurance has to do with matters such as:
whether the education, training, research and related services provided by a provider are fit for their professed purpose;
the trustworthiness of the qualifications awarded or recognised;
accountability, openness and transparency; and
the standards of awards.
In all cases, quality assurance is the responsibility of the provider.

3. Recap since December 2014 Legal obligations for DABs and Linked
Institutional Approach to Review
Quality and Quality assurance
European Standards & Guidelines
QA Guidelines
IEM

4. Legislation and Linked Providers
QQI issue and publish guidelines for the establishment of provider QA procedures (relevant and linked providers)
DABs ensure that linked providers have regard to QA guidelines
QQI may issue different guidelines for different providers or groups of providers
Before issuing guidelines QQI consult with providers and HEA

5. QA Guidelines
Communicate expectations about the quality of provision, assessment and the teaching and learning experience in the Irish education and training community;
Bring greater coherence into, and between, different parts of the education and training system;
Are the starting point for providers’ establishment of their own QA procedures.
are a “springboard” for improvement and enhancement for all providers, not
a compliance checklist;
Will be adapted and continuously evolve to remain fit-for-purpose for the needs
of the education and training community and the qualifications system;
Can be expected to have different purposes and different impacts in each sector and topic that they address. The impact of the guidelines upon a provider will
depend upon the scope of their provision and the sector in which they operate.

6. QA Guidelines
Do not prescribe the manner in which providers must implement their QA procedures.
Are intended to guide providers through their legal responsibilities for the development of quality assurance procedures
Providers shall have regard to when establishing QA procedures
Focus on a provider’s scale and scope of activity will determine the level of complexity of their QA procedures
Highlight the central role of the Internal provider QA system

7. Core 1 applicable to all providers Significant overlap in requirements
general statutory requirements
European International Standard practice
Recognition that providers have more diverse provision (HE & ELT/HE& FE&ELT/ )
less burden in one core
Assisting inter-institutional collaboration (Consortia)
One core for learners and stakeholders

9. Core SQAGs: Chapters GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT OF QUALITY
Management of Quality Assurance
DOCUMENTED APPROACH TO QUALITY ASSURANCE
PROGRAMMES OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
STAFF RECRUITMENT, MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
TEACHING AND LEARNING
ASSESSMENT OF LEARNER ACHIEVEMENT
SUPPORTS FOR LEARNERS
MANAGEMENT INFORMATION AND DATA
PUBLIC INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION
OTHER PARTIES INVOLVEMENT IN EDUCATION AND TRAINING
SELF-EVALUATION, MONITORING AND REVIEW

10. Sector Specific QA guidelines
These guidelines a supplement to the Core QA guidelines. They capture the varying relationships QQI has with the different groups of providers and the standing that those providers are afforded by virtue of their position as reflected in the legislation, e.g. DABS; IOTs; Private Independent/ETBs
PEU; DABs; Relevant Providers

11. Guidelines for DABs - Sector
Additional legislative requirements for DABs based upon their standing as:
Autonomous independent awarding bodies
Designated Awarding bodies cooperating with the NFQ; awards to be recognised; responsibilities for Linked Providers
Quality assurance of linked providers captured formally
DABs to ensure Linked providers have regard to QA Guidelines – Core and other as appropriate

12. Guidelines for Independent/Private
scope and complexity reflected in the guidelines
Governance and legal context – sustainable –
Additional policy context for programmes …
Scope of the quality assurance procedures
Staffing and the full range of awards

13. Topic Specific Guidelines
This includes topics that are optional for providers depending upon the range and type of their provision:
Flexible Distributed Learning
Apprenticeship
Research - June 2016!
More……..

14. Flexible Distributed Learning
Additional specialist guidance to stakeholders on good practice in the quality assurance and enhancement of delivery models for education and training where learners may be remote from:
Other learners
Teachers and assessors
The provider physical campus
Learning resources and support services
For all or part of their programme of study
Feedback on terminology; structure; content; fit for purpose

15. Timeline for consultation
15 February, 2016 – Core; Sector; FDL
15 February, Apprenticeship