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Quality Terminology

In higher education some terms concerning academic quality are used in specific ways. The main terms are as follows:

‘Academic standards’ refers to the levels of achievement (in knowledge, understanding and competence) that students reach to achieve their awards.
‘Quality’ is concerned with the conditions necessary to enable attainment of standards, in other words, how well learning opportunities help students to achieve their awards. It is the responsibility of each institution to offer good quality education and to ensure that appropriate standards are achieved.
‘Quality Assurance’ is the term generally used to refer to the processes of monitoring and ensuring quality. They focus on different aspects of students’ experience, for example the quality of learning resources, the support and guidance given to students, the quality of teaching and the extent to which the experience meets students’ needs.
‘Quality Enhancement’ is the way in which institutions seek to improve student learning through development in teaching and learning, assessment, through staff development and the sharing of good practice.

The Quality Assurance Agency (the Scottish flag QAA Scotland in Scotland) provides substantial guidance on how different aspects of quality are defined and implemented in higher education.

Governing bodies will also wish to know how their institutions use other techniques including benchmarking to assure quality more generally in business and other processes.

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