There are numerous quality review processes in place, in addition to the QAA, although governors are unlikely to encounter them all. However, from time-to-time issues may emerge which will need to be addressed by the governing body. In order to provide a coordinated approach to quality reporting, some institutions produce an annual report on quality issues for the governing bodies.
The total volume of external quality review processes (including those of the QAA) has been of increasing concern to institutions, and discussions have been taken place with the funding bodies on trying to reduce the volume of such reviews, and eliminate any duplication that might exist.
The main external processes are as follows:
Professional and statutory bodies, for example, in engineering, law, accountancy, surveying, psychology, medicine, and professions allied to medicine, provide accreditation (an approval system) for programmes and awards offered by institutions in these subjects. They accredit those programmes (and the standards within them) which lead directly to a licence to practise and membership of the professional body or those programmes that form the initial phase of professional training.
Since 1996, OFSTED has been required to inspect the provision of both primary and secondary initial teacher training (ITT) courses in England using a framework agreed with the Teacher Training Agency (TTA). The TTA has a statutory function to accredit and fund providers of ITT. The counterpart agencies of the TTA in 
Scotland and 
Northern Ireland are the respective General Teaching Councils (GTCs). In 
Wales, the inspection function is undertaken by the Office of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspectors of Schools in Wales (ESTYN), in 
Scotland by HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) and in Northern Ireland by the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI).
Where any aspect of an institution’s provision is judged to be of poor quality and thus not complying with the Secretary of State’s criteria, a further inspection and report is made. The inspection is measured against national standards. The quality of training is judged by the extent to which provision across all aspects of the course is of consistently high standard.
The GMC Education Committee is accountable for ensuring that every medical school in the UK implements its 1993 recommendations on basic medical education (‘Tomorrow’s Doctors’). From 1995 the GMC has undertaken two rounds of visits to medical schools. These visits dovetail with QAA visits and are informal and designed to be facilitative and supportive of curricular change, rather than judgmental. For this reason they contain no graded assessments of the quality of the provision available, or the quality of the student experience.
Since 1 April 2002, the NMC has taken over responsibility for the quality assurance of nursing, midwifery and health visiting educational programmes leading to registration or recordable NMC qualifications in England. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, there will be service levels agreements with the new education bodies in each country. At present, the NMC is in the process of commissioning an independent review of its quality assurance processes for programmes leading to registerable and recordable programmes.
The General Dental Council is the statutory regulatory body of the dental profession in the United Kingdom. It is charged with promoting high standards of dental education at all its stages, including both undergraduate and postgraduate education. The Council undertakes regular formal visits to all UK Dental Schools which involves thorough reviews to judge whether or not the courses offered are 'sufficient' within the meaning of the 1984 Dentists Act, so that, on graduation, dentists are competent to practise. The Council publishes requirements for the undergraduate dental curriculum which all schools must meet. A revised and updated edition of the requirements was published in March 1997, entitled The First Five Years.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, the General Optical Council, and the Health Professions Council also have powers relating to the accreditation and monitoring of education, training and examination in their respective areas.
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland the QCDA is a guardian of standards in education and training, and in Scotland the responsible body is the Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework. Both bodies advise their respective governments about the curriculum, about the ways in which learners are assessed, and about qualifications in both general and vocational education and training - not degrees. Both the QCDA and the SCQF are responsible for developing a framework of national qualifications and for developing, regulating and monitoring these qualifications and national occupational standards.The QCDA is due to close later in 2011.