1. Regulatory Frameworks and the UK HE Brand
Quality Strategy Network 13th Annual Conference
Professor John W Sawkins
Deputy Principal (Learning and Teaching), Pro-Vice-Chancellor
Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh

2. The UK Quality Debate Current UK quality debate
Momentum coming from newly established Office for Students
Key element is facilitation of opening of the HE market to alternative providers
An Anglo-centric agenda?
Implications for other parts of UK?

3. Seen through a Scottish lens…
“ O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae mony a blunder free us,
An' foolish notion ”
[Robert Burns (1785) – “To a Louse”]

4. UK Higher Education
Do we have a single UK higher education system and brand
…or not?

5. UK nations…and nuances

6. Education in Scotland
Since the Act of Union (1707) Scotland has protected key elements of its civic society
Legal system
Church
Education system

7. Towards a UK HE System Convergence… Commonality secured through
UK legislation and institutions
University funding and student financing arrangements
Regulatory arrangements

8. Away from a UK HE System Divergence… Devolution
HE policy is devolved across UK nations
e.g. Scotland Act 1998
Different funding and student finance systems (and fee levels)
Different regulatory systems

9. Difference embedded Institutionally Culturally – to stereotype…
England
Political policy narrative about differentiation, competition (opening the market) as means to increase access and drive up standards
Scotland
Political policy narrative about egalitarianism, democratization, collaboration as means to increase access and drive up standards

10. Unsurprising? Difference perhaps unsurprising given
Devolution (asymmetric)
Different political contexts

11. Direction of travel? More divergence…
e.g. subject based TEF, measurement of outcomes through metrics….
…and, critically, the approach to quality

12. UK Quality Arrangements
England
Risk based system
Focused on student outcomes
OfS will not undertake routine assessment of providers (no more Annual Provider Reviews etc)
Wales
New Quality Enhancement Review
Publicly funded providers must undergo external quality review at least every six years
QAA has been commissioned to conduct these reviews.
Key Agency is the Office for Students
Risk based and market driven approach
Key tool is the Register of all officially recognised English HEIs
Must satisfy the ‘initial conditions of registration’ applicable to the relevant category of the Register and any on-going conditions
At institutional level
OfS is not regulating for continuous improvement and enhancement – baseline only
At sector level – OfS is seeking to create the conditions for informed choice, competition, and continuous improvement.

13. UK Quality Arrangements
Scotland
Enhancement-led approach
Emphasising student learning experience and partnership between sector bodies
Reviews on a five year cycle.
Northern Ireland
To be confirmed
Locked into the HEFCE Revised Operating Framework, but looking at how to adapt without major policy changes
Distinctive approach to quality assurance (QA) and quality enhancement (QE) in Scotland:
Emerged in reaction to quality assurance processes that were compliance based and intrusive (‘audit based’)
Founded on the principle that the purpose of quality systems in higher education is to improve student experiences and, consequently, their learning (‘enhancement based’)
The Scottish Quality Enhancement Framework (QEF)
An enhancement-led approach to quality introduced in 2003
5 elements:
Subject/programme level reviews within universities
Enhancement-Led Institutional Review (ELIR)
Public information about quality
Student representation/engagement
National Enhancement Themes

14. There may be trouble ahead….
Focusing on the approaches to quality in England and Scotland
The two systems meet in the UK Quality Code
As systems diverge, by what process is the Code revised?

15. Case Study: Revising the UK Quality Code

16. UK Quality Code Quality Code is important UK – wide ‘HE glue’
Revised in 2018
Revised version published March 2018
But development of underpinning advice and guidance…
Scoping sessions over April
Development sessions across all UK
Writing and reading groups established, working to tight timescales

17. UK Quality Code Final draft due September 2018
Sign-off by UKSCQA (UK Standing Committee on Quality Assessment
UKSCQA has no statutory role, but is the recognised UK forum
Publication in November 2018
But what about the process…..?

18. UK Quality Code UKSCQA (UK Standing Committee on Quality Assessment
Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish Representatives took unprecedented step of writing to the UKSCQA Chair
“…regarding the recent difficult and contentious process that we have all been part of, in relation to the drafting of the Quality Code.”

19. UK Quality Code UKSCQA (UK Standing Committee on Quality Assessment)
Timelines set by the OfS, compressed and inadequate period of consideration and consultation by Committee members
Members from devolved nations noted the lack of regard for their views and needs

20. Risks
Divergence undermines / damages
UK HE system
UK HE brand

21. Looking Ahead
The UK HE community cannot, even if it wished, reverse the direction of travel to return us to some (mythical?) ‘golden age’
We can build creatively on what we have

22. Towards a New Settlement?
Across the UK HE community can we build?
Knowledge and Understanding
Institutions
Culture of mutual respect

23. Towards a New Settlement?
Knowledge and understanding
Higher levels of knowledge and understanding reduce friction, promote efficient working

24. Towards a New Settlement?
Institutions
Create / support institutions where different stakeholders meet to exchange views and work through issues
Places where agreement can be reached over how we relate to each other
Establish and police key ‘boundaries’
Build trust – reduces transaction costs

25. Towards a New Settlement?
Culture of mutual respect
Actively promote a culture of mutual respect and regard for different contexts
Acknowledge the rights and responsibilities of each partner
Potential for realizing mutually beneficial outcomes

26. Conclusion UK HE Quality Are we ‘better together’?
If so, how do we build ?
Knowledge and Understanding
Institutions
Culture of mutual respect