Warwick commended in QAA report

The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) has published its report on learning and teaching at Warwick, following a review of the University in February and March 2013.

Key areas of the University have been commended for ‘facilitating the enhancement of learning opportunities’, including the Library services, Student Careers and Skills, the Institute of Advanced Teaching and Learning and the Learning and Development Centre.

A team of QAA reviewers visited the University and judged that academic standards, and the quality of and information about its student learning opportunities, met UK expectations.

QAA is the national agency charged with safeguarding standards and improving the quality of UK higher education.

The review was carried out by an independent team who visited the university twice in January and February, and met with both staff and students.

Recommendations for future actions involved ensuring that course handbooks contain sufficient and accurate information by the beginning of the academic year 2014-15, and to develop robust arrangements for assuring that information produced for students is fit for purpose and is trustworthy.

Mr Harrison, press officer for the Faculty of Arts and Warwick Medical School, commented: “The outcome of the review is highly important to the University as the QAA is responsible for safeguarding standards in UK Higher Education, and for improving the quality of UK higher education. Of course we are always keen to understand how the university is performing. It is reassuring to have our best practice highlighted by the experts, and recommendations from the QAA are always well valued.”

The QAA for Higher Education and the University have a very similar strategic objective: improving standards in higher education and further enhancing the student experience.

Mr Harrison added: “We feel that the report is reflective of the high standards we have set ourselves, and we’re certainly pleased that ‘the enhancement of student learning opportunities’ was commended. We were also pleased that the highly innovative approach to our internal Institutional Review of Teaching and Learning was commended.

”The report itself is important for us to get an external perspective of how we are performing in the context of national expectations.”

These reports are reviewed every few years. The most recent institutional reviews at the University of Warwick were published on 9 April 2009 and 23 July 2004.

The QAA is now proposing to move to a six year cycle, so it is likely the next review will be in 2018-2019.