Understanding standards‐based quality assurance: part II ‐ nuts and bolts of the “Dearing“ policy framework
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09684889810242227 |
| Published date | 01 December 1998 |
| Pages | 220-231 |
| Date | 01 December 1998 |
| Author | Norman Jackson |
Introduction
The UK is in the process of developing a new
policy framework for the public assurance of
standards in higher education based on the
recommendations of the National Committee
of Inquiry in Higher Education (NCIHE)
(HMSO, 1997) – known as the Garrick
Report in Scotland and the Dearing Report in
the rest of the UK. The policy development
process is worthy of study in its own right as it
involves a complex, iterative set of activities –
the formulation and testing of ideas through
working papers, workshops, seminars and
conferences; the testing, rejection or refine-
ment of methods/approaches through collabo-
rative development work involving institu-
tions, departments and individuals; and large-
scale formal consultation exercises involving
all HE institutions, and many different interest
groups and representative bodies within and
outside higher education. Gaining consensual
agreement on policies that will affect the
working practices of institutions and individu-
als will not be easy. Considerable effort is
being expended in developing and explaining
the arguments for a particular approach and
seeking the voluntary co-operation of individ-
uals and institutions to demonstrate how the
policies might be put into practice.
The purpose of this article and a companion
paper (Jackson, 1998a) is to contribute to this
general debate by explaining the rationale for,
and conceptual basis of, the NCIHE proposals
and the “nuts and bolts” of policy develop-
ment. It identifies some of the factors that will
need to be considered in the creation of policy
and the initial thinking on the methodologies
and approaches that might be used to underpin
a standards-based quality assurance framework
220
Quality Assurance in Education
Volume 6 · Number 4 · 1998 · pp. 220–231
© MCB University Press · ISSN 0968-4883
Understanding
standards-based
quality assurance:
part II – nuts and bolts
of the “Dearing“ policy
framework
Norman Jackson
The author
Norman Jackson is an Assistant Director in the
Development Directorate of the Quality Assurance Agency
for Higher Education and a Senior Research Fellow in the
School of Educational Studies at the University of Surrey,
UK.
Abstract
Examines the proposals made by the National Commit-
tee of Inquiry in Higher Education (Dearing Report) for a
national quality assurance regime that is focused on
academic standards. Provides a simple conceptual aid to
explain relationships between the elements of the policy
framework. Considers the methodologies that are being
developed by the Quality Assurance Agency and the
implications for institutional and academic practice.
Identifies factors and issues that will need to be consid-
ered during policy development.
I am grateful to all those who have contributed to,
and commented on, the ideas contained in the paper
during public presentations between September
1997-February 1998. The article was prepared and
accepted for publication before the QAA issued its
consultation document but it was revised in the light
of the QAA proposals. The interpretations given are
my own. They do not necessarily represent the views
of the Quality Assurance Agency. They are offered
in the spirit of developing a better understanding of
the idea of standards-based quality assurance, the
factors that need to be considered in creating new
policies and the impact new methodologies will have
on institutional and academic practice. The author
would be pleased to receive comments on this and
the companion article.
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