This paper considers the likely shape of the next UK Research Excellence Framework (REF). It explores some of the recommendations from the 2016 Stern Review (those concerned with "outputs") and their envisaged impact on the exercise. Drawing on lessons learnt from the previous round of the REF, and some wider commentary, the paper…

Despite numerous criticisms of the UK National Student Survey (NSS) institutional managers still strongly support its use in informing student choice, quality and assurance and quality enhancement activities. This article outlines a granular and nuanced benchmarking system for the NSS which provides both a "raw" score (weighted student…

Education is often seen as a contrast (or even contest) between being a process of liberal education (with the aim of fostering life-long independent, innovative and creative thinking useful throughout life) and delivering vocational education (immediately applicable skills and competencies, ready for the world of work--"employability").…

The renewal of strategy development and implementation is important in the context of the changing higher education landscape. Changing government policy and the political agenda require a university to engage in careful strategy development and implementation which result in long-term sustainability. The political interest of the government will…

As the author's contribution to a series marking the Golden Jubilee of the Association of University Administrators, he reflects on changes in quality assurance over the past twenty years and speculates on what the future may hold for quality as the association moves into a new and very different competitive regime. He begins by discussing the…

Higher education systems worldwide are currently facing a trio of competing challenges: increasing access and absorbing demand; promoting and safeguarding quality; and reducing and minimising costs to students, taxpayers and other investors. The growth of private (profit and not-for-profit) educational provision worldwide, in addition to other…

It might not have been quite what he had in mind when he said it, but Aristotle was right: good quality assurance must be a habit embedded at every level within higher education, not an isolated occurrence. But even good habits can become mere routine, in danger of being emptied of their original purpose and meaning. Periodically, review and…

Strategic planning and quality management have been developed independently of each other, but they meet in practice in many kinds of organisations. Strategic planning and quality assurance integrate different aspects of higher education institutions (HEIs) to ensure high-quality educational outcomes. This paper investigates the role of these two…

Although the world is changing, quality management remains an area of relative calm. Many institutions continue to use elaborated versions of a model that is developed by the Council of Academic Awards and conceived at a time when higher education was not so exposed to market forces, when the policy and regulatory environment was relatively…

Implementation of IT "solutions" in the context of changes to business processes and efficiency is a common trigger for using formalised project management techniques. The trigger may include topical activities such as job evaluation schemes or quality assurance accreditation. This has led to a blurring of the boundary between projects and…