The first part of this blog explored the background to the current regulatory regime, the nature of the burden on institutions and some initial suggestions for change. Part 2 will look at further proposals for developing a new regulatory framework and ideas for reducing the burden of regulation.
Having established a new UK-wide Single National Quality Agency (or Sinqua) the wider framework would have a number of specific elements:
- The new framework would include explicit recognition of the professionalism of academic staff involved in teaching, learning and assessment. This professionalism is the foundation on which the quality and standards of higher education is built.
- The framework would stress the importance of academic freedom. Over-regulation undermines academic freedom which is cornerstone of quality.
- Similarly, institutional autonomy would be highlighted as another essential component of the framework and indeed one picked out in HERA where the OfS is charged with protecting the autonomy of HEIs.
- In establishing a higher trust environmentan appropriate aggregation of measures and assessment in combination will be explicitly identified as being sufficient to assure that standards are being properly set by institutions and achieved by students and that the educational offer is providing the right quality of learning and student experience.
- Institutional commitment to widening participation needs to be sustained but greater consistency of approach by the regulator is required. Means of enhanced structured engagement between HE institutions and further education colleges have to be developed to enable a more joined up tertiary education landscape.
- The sector does need to deal with grade inflation. There are many reasons for grade inflation and the sector needs to recognise that this has to be dealt with and managed in the interest of sustaining confidence in academic standards, helping employers and supporting graduates. Assessment therefore has to be recalibrated in an agreed way across the sector, either by introducing more granular degree classification – such as upper, middle, lower first class degrees and the same for 2i awards – or by moving to what the rest of the higher education world uses, Grade Point Average. Whichever route is chosen gives every academic and every course in every institution the opportunity to reset. It takes grade inflation off the worry list for a generation.
- Sinqua would be genuinely focused on proportionality and risk-based assessment and would have a strong brief to tackle poor provision which was failing to deliver the outcomes expected by students and society.
