Quality assurance

The TEF’s new name may be less misleading, but its incentives remain just as perverse, says Roger Brown

Senior QAA reviewer claims it is unfair to compare alternative providers to universities when they charge different fees

Quality assurance professionals call for system to verify refugees’ education credentials before ‘next crisis’

Former education minister says government will table bill for creation of new degree standardising body

Martin Kurzweil and Wendell Pritchett cast their eye over the possible future direction of quality assurance under Trump

Challenge means that institution’s entry into teaching excellence framework based on 2009 report

Leading scholar says many countries have ‘neither the will nor the capacity’ to manage growth

UK government asks for new guidance to help universities tackle custom essay writing services

Fabrizio Trifirò explores the difficulties of quality assurance across borders

Education ministry is analysing a report into the quality of higher education and may close down substandard institutions

Author of paper into the issue says international higher education is a ‘long way off’ clear principles

Despite having some questions about how the bill will be implemented, Douglas Blackstock believes it is a force for good

Judy Clements warns English and Welsh universities may have to contribute more towards adjudicator to meet demand

A sociologist who helped to forge new qualifications and quality assurance regimes has died

Banning ghostwriting services from advertising won’t stop students cheating, but four simple steps could hobble them, says Geoffrey Alderman

Treating students as consumers has precipitated a rush to the bottom to give them exactly what they want, says John Warren

They can cause confusion about qualifications and embarrassment for institutions, so why are they awarded? Malcolm Gillies investigates

Smaller, newer alternative providers are less likely to pass higher education review, analysis says

Beefing up the independent adjudicator’s role would benefit the sector and students alike, says Matthew Wyard

Three institutions agree to changes over fees, course costs and progression

BIS-appointed anti-fraud agency says criminals could use photos to access latest designs

Progress needed on equity, quality assurance and research, says University of Chile academic

Consultation on ‘smaller’ watchdog comes after Hefce took quality assessment work in-house

Quality Assurance Agency says university should even out disparity in number of tutorials and essays set by colleges

OIA says recommended payouts topped £485,000 in 2015 despite reduction in the number of cases

QAA finds lax entry standards at Cardiff college formerly led by principal with ‘falsified’ PhD

The Office for Students will kill off institutional autonomy, says Geoffrey Alderman, and the sector has only itself to blame

As funding council plans to keep independent reviews, Colin Riordan says UK-wide system must be protected

Agency is preferred bidder for four of six quality tenders offered by Hefce, alongside HEA and Leadership Foundation

Contract terms bring criticism of funding council, but it defends ‘normal commercial practice’

Theresa May said to want UK-wide quality system retained to protect overseas recruitment licence checks

University boards need the right skills if they are to ask the right questions, says Gill Evans

A UK-wide, co-regulatory system is pitched by the QAA at its annual conference while Hefce focuses on changes needed for England's market regime

Hefce's new standards regime will enable universities to focus on what matters to students, says Susan Lapworth

Involving companies in quality assurance described as ‘logical next step’

Breaking up the quality assurance system would ruin the global reputation of UK higher education, Aldwyn Cooper warns

Revised proposals may not lighten the burden on institutions, warns vice-chancellor

Funding council also plans to register itself as England’s official quality body

Countries make a commitment to deepen partnership in quality assurance for transnational education

The outgoing independent adjudicator talks to THE about eight years at the OIA and the future of sector regulation

Critics warn against giving quality work to outsourcing companies

Agencies could also be well placed to collaborate on monitoring higher education standards

Decision has rekindled row over universities’ role in validating HE courses in FE

Third of country’s higher education institutions were closed in 2014 after criticism of standards

The most popular higher education articles of the year, based on website traffic

Higher Education Funding Council for England says proposals will be reviewed but wins broad support for principles

Durham pro vice-chancellor warns that institutions would be forced to challenge a worse-than-expected judgement

King’s College London research finds that ability of metrics to predict problems in higher education providers is ‘extremely limited’

Involvement in global quality assurance is crucial to signing up more overseas students, says Fiona Crozier

European Quality Assurance Forum told ‘surprisingly little work’ conducted on value of members’ activities

Judy Clements to join Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education next April

Mike Ratcliffe looks at why institutions have traditionally had to serve an ‘apprenticeship’, ahead of Green Paper set to change the rules

Fifteen per cent of recommendations issued to further education colleges by watchdog relate to courses leading to the FTSE 100 firm’s qualifications

Higher Education Regulatory Funding Authority set up with British support

University Campus Suffolk researchers find ‘natural progression’ into higher education is not found at every institution

Move would jeopardise sector’s global brand, senior figures warn

Interim chief executive Douglas Blackstock warns teaching excellence framework will lack credibility without external assessment

Increased role for governing bodies also questioned in responses to Hefce’s quality assessment consultation

Report recommends that branch campuses are scrutinised within institutional reviews of UK awarding bodies

Agency to design and conduct nationwide inspection regime