Question+4

** Scenario 2: The roles and responsibilities for Quality Assurance outside of the institution **

Your programme/course has been selected for an audit by the QAA. Your Department Head/Dean has asked you to lead the team that prepares the documentation and interviewed by the auditors

• Question 4: What processes can the QAA audit within an institution?

What does an Institutional audit look at? Institutional audit usually focuses on seven areas: Introduction and background (to the institution) Management of academic standards Approach to quality enhancement Collaborative arrangements Management of academic quality Institutional arrangements for postgraduate research students Published information In all of these areas, the audit is interested in how the institution manages its learning and teaching activities. Audit wants to find out how the institution knows that it is doing a good job, how it knows when things go wrong, and how it knows what to do to put them right. Auditors understand that not everything in an institution might be perfect, and that providing imaginative and innovative teaching can be challenging. But they will expect an institution to be aware of this and to be taking effective steps to manage risk.

The QAA is provided with a self evaluation document which should contain the following; **Aims and outcomes**; the effectiveness of measures taken to ensure that staff and students have a clear understanding of the aims and intended learning outcomes of the programmes.

**Curricula**; the effectiveness of curriculum design and content in enabling the intended learning outcomes to be achieved.

**Assessment**; the effectiveness of student assessment in measuring the achievement of the intended learning outcomes of programmes.

**Achievement**; evidence of the extent to which students achieve the learning outcomes set.

**Teaching and learning**; the effectiveness of teaching and learning, in relation to programme aims, the intended learning outcomes and curriculum content.

**Student progression**; the effectiveness of strategies for recruitment, admission and academic support and guidance to facilitate students' progression and completion of the programme.

**Learning resources**; the adequacy of human and physical learning resources and the effectiveness of their utilisation. In particular, the evaluation should demonstrate a strategic approach to linking resources to intended learning outcomes at programme level.

**Governance and management**: general governance

**Governance and management**: **finance and risk management** (eg insurance, contingency), and the effectiveness of measures taken to maintain and enhance academic standards and the quality of learning opportunities. governance, management, financial control and quality assurance arrangements in order to determine whether they are sufficient to manage existing operations and respond to development and change.

**Governance and management: maintenance and enhancement of standards** and quality assurance of the provision and the effectiveness of this approach for the programmes under review the use made of quantitative data and qualitative feedback from students, external examiners/verifiers and other stakeholders in a strategy of enhancement and continuous improvement.

**Information regarding modular structures/collaborative arrangements**; The QAA will evaluate how well the internal mechanisms for assuring academic standards and quality are working. Sources of evidence will include student and staff feedback, external examiners'/verifiers' reports, quantitative data, employers' views, previously published subject review reports, other reports if available and internal review report.

With this information the QAA is able to audit all the processes listed to assess that the self evaluation document is accurate, that areas of improvement have been acted upon from previous reviews and so conduct an assessment of the institution.