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27 January 2003

Press release

Issued by the: Higher Education Funding Council for England, Standing Conference of Principals, Universities UK, Higher Education Staff Development Agency, Institute of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, Learning and Teaching Support Network

New body proposed to enhance learning and teaching in higher education

A committee set up to review arrangements for improving the quality of learning and teaching in higher education in the United Kingdom has proposed creating a single central body. The new organisation is provisionally called the Academy for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education.

The three main agencies responsible for quality enhancement have played a major part in the review and believe that the proposals to bring together their functions in a new academy could offer real benefits to the sector. The agencies are:

  • Higher Education Staff Development Agency (HESDA)
  • Learning and Teaching Support Network (LTSN)
  • the Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (ILTHE).

The recommendations are contained in the final report of the Teaching Quality Enhancement Committee, which was set up by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, Universities UK and the Standing Conference of Principals to review quality enhancement arrangements.

The members, subscribers and other stakeholders of the existing agencies will be consulted fully before any changes are implemented.

The report concluded that enhancing the quality of learning and teaching is primarily the responsibility of higher education institutions, and the subject groups and individuals within them. The role of the new Academy for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching will be to support institutions, subject groups and individuals.

Sir Ron Cooke, formerly Vice-Chancellor of the University of York, who chaired the Committee, said: 'Quality enhancement is about developing the effectiveness of a student's learning experience. We recognise that the agenda for quality enhancement is evolving rapidly, for instance as student numbers grow and technology advances. We believe the Committee's recommendations offer an exceptional opportunity - not only for the sector to reaffirm its commitment to quality enhancement, but also for it to respond to the changing agenda and more effectively to meet the needs of staff and students.

'I very much welcome the positive and forward thinking approach of HESDA, ILTHE and LTSN. They have identified the opportunity to deliver more comprehensive support to the higher education sector through integrating and developing their functions. We all believe that the higher education sector as a whole will be better able to maximise the value of the funds invested in support of learning and teaching if we have a single unitary body rather than three separate agencies.'

Caroline Bucklow, the ILTHE's acting Chief Executive, said: 'We recognise the importance and potential of these exciting new developments, but at the same time can assure our members that we will be consulting them fully prior to any moves towards implementation. Staff joining the ILTHE now will have a strong voice in decisions about the aims, activities and governance structure of any new body to support quality enhancement in higher education.'

Professor Rick Trainor, the LTSN Steering Committee Chairman, said: 'The new academy will build on the existing strengths of the LTSN. The LTSN has extremely strong subject and generic approaches to promoting good practices in learning, teaching and assessment. These will provide the academy with a foundation for delivering support to individual practitioners and disciplinary communities as well as institutions.'

Professor David Rhind, the HESDA Chairman, and Sally Neocosmos, HESDA's Chief Executive, said: 'HESDA welcomes proposals for closer working with the ILTHE and the LTSN; we are convinced that this is in the general interest. We are pleased that HESDA's institutional membership and the breadth of its commitment to professional and vocational development for all staff groups is seen as a considerable strength in the Quality Enhancement proposals. Irrespective of what comes out of the final, detailed feasibility tests of the proposals, we will seek to work closely with our colleagues in ILTHE and LTSN on a continuing basis.'

The funding and representative bodies for UK higher education have welcomed the report. They have agreed that, given the widespread importance of the topic, the report should now be the subject of consultation and they look forward to further discussion on the how the recommendations may be implemented.

ENDS

Further information

For further information or interviews, please contact:

Fiona Waye at SCOP, Greg Wade at UUK and David Young at UUK would welcome your comments on the Teaching Quality Enhancement Committee's recommendations.

Notes to editors

1.    Links to the final report of the Teaching Quality Enhancement Committee (TQEC) are available on the Higher Education Funding Council for England's web-site (www.hefce.ac.uk).

2.    The TQEC was established by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), Universities UK (UUK) and the Standing Conference of Principals (SCOP). Its remit was to review the arrangements that support the enhancement of quality in learning and teaching in UK higher education; to identify any gaps or overlaps in the work of the four main agencies in this field (Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA), ILTHE, LTSN, and HESDA); and to seek ways of improving effectiveness and value for money. The Committee also looked at the induction and support of external examiners.

3.    The Committee commissioned a programme of research with the following stakeholders: HE staff and students; bodies with an interest in quality enhancement; graduate recruiters, employers and business groups; and professional bodies. Suggestions and comments have been received from a wide range of organisations, and many individuals have attended focus groups or meetings.

4.    The quality enhancement agencies have played a full and positive role in the work of the Committee and have contributed to the recommendations in its final report. The key recommendation in the report is that a new unitary body - provisionally called the Academy for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education - should bring together and supplement the functions of HESDA, the ILTHE and the LTSN. This key recommendation derives from the wish of these three agencies to form a strategic alliance, creating a new organisation to support the work of higher education institutions in promoting and delivering high quality learning and teaching.

5.    The Committee has been aware of parallel discussions that are taking place within the UUK/SCOP Steering Group on Leadership and Management in higher education. The Committee believes that its own recommendations on quality enhancement should be compatible with any new proposals which may come out of the discussions on leadership and management.

TQEC final report: additional points

6.    The additional points in the report include:

  • quality enhancement is about proactively developing the student learning experience to ensure better outcomes. It is different from quality assurance - the primary responsibility of the QAA - which is about auditing processes and systems to ensure that institutions are able to deliver the quality standards they have defined for themselves
  • the report recognises that the needs for quality enhancement are changing. This is partly as a result of widening participation and the change in the student population; partly as subjects change, and students and employers place greater emphasis on new ways of learning, including work-based and practice learning; partly as new technology and more flexible methods of teaching (including e-learning) change the nature of the student experience; and partly in response to pressures on university and college resources, and academic staff time.

7.    The Committee expects the funding for the new Academy to be made up from the four main funding streams which already support the three agencies:

  • institutional subscriptions
  • individual membership fees
  • funding bodies' contributions
  • contract income.

8.    The Committee also looked at the arrangements for external examiners. Its report makes recommendations to enhance the work of a system of peer monitoring that is already of very high quality. This will include engaging institutions in systematic arrangements for both initial and continuing professional accreditation and development.

Next steps

9.    Implementation of the Committee's recommendations will require co-ordinated action by a number of bodies, chiefly the three agencies and their sponsoring bodies and members. Each will need to consult its members and subscribers, and to seek a formal decision of its governing body. A range of other bodies, including the funding bodies in Wales and Scotland who participated as observers at the TQEC, also have an interest in promoting the quality enhancement of learning and teaching in higher education. The Committee recommends that the funding bodies and representative bodies consider undertaking a broader consultation on the recommendations.

Notes on HESDA, the ILTHE and the LTSN

10.    The Higher Education Staff Development Agency (HESDA) promotes strategic staff development and training in UK higher education; provides specialist advice, support and resources to members in their planning and delivery of staff development and training; and collaborates with partners in strategic human resource development initiatives. Based at the University of Sheffield and with a UK-wide remit, it has 150 institutional members representing over 95 per cent of the higher education workforce. It has been the National Training Organisation for higher education since 1997. Particularly active in leadership and management development at all levels, HESDA runs the Top Management Programme for the sector.

11.    The Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (ILTHE) is the professional body for all who teach and support learning in higher education in the UK. Launched in 1999 following the Dearing Report (the report of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education), it is now a fast-growing membership body which exists to enhance the status of teaching, improve the experience of learning and support innovation. It currently has over 14,000 individual members and has accredited 133 programmes of staff development at 107 HE institutions.

12.    The UK-wide Learning and Teaching Support Network (LTSN) promotes high quality learning and teaching in higher education through the development and transfer of good practices in all subject disciplines. It is funded by the four higher education funding bodies in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The LTSN offers subject-specific expertise through 24 subject centres, and generic expertise on learning and teaching issues that cross subject boundaries through the LTSN Generic Centre.