Expanding on GuildHE’s response to the HEFCE publication Revised operating model for quality assessment (which can be read below), Gordon McKenzie, Chief Executive of GuildHE has written a blog post, ‘Quality Assessment through the looking glass’, which can be read on Wonkhe via: https://wonkhe.com/blogs/quality-assessment-through-the-looking-glass/

Responding to the HEFCE publication Revised operating model for quality assessment, Gordon McKenzie, Chief Executive of GuildHE, said:

‘The HEFCE QA Review has been a helpful opportunity to reflect on the core aims and purposes of a national system to assess quality in UK higher education.

GuildHE have consistently stressed the importance of maintaining the strengths of the current system including building on our global reputation for high quality education through a UK-wide quality assessment system that recognises institutions’ own strengths and is based on peer-review with student engagement and co-regulation at its heart.

We welcome the commitment to preserving the autonomy of providers; the desire to encourage innovation in teaching and learning; and the fact that HEFCE have listened to the sector in areas such as shelving proposals for a register of external examiners.  With a Higher Education Bill on the horizon we urge HEFCE to work closely with BIS to ensure that the new quality assessment model is implemented in a way that is wholly consistent with the new policy landscape that the Bill sets out. This includes being prepared to adjust the timing and details of implementation as necessary to minimise disruption and secure a long term framework for quality assurance in the best interests of students.’