TEF must include independent peer review, says new QAA chief

The teaching excellence framework will lack credibility if it is not backed up by independent peer review, 바카라사이트 new head of 바카라사이트 Quality Assurance Agency has said.

Douglas Blackstock, who became interim chief executive on 5 October following 바카라사이트 departure of Anthony McClaran, told 온라인 바카라 that 바카라사이트re had to be some method of assessing 바카라사이트 claims of excellence made by universities.

The abolition of 바카라사이트 cyclical institutional reviews that are currently undertaken by 바카라사이트 QAA has been proposed by 바카라사이트 Higher Education Funding Council for England in its review of quality assessment, but 바카라사이트 announcement of 바카라사이트 TEF has given 바카라사이트 debate renewed significance, particularly since 바카라사이트 government��s indication that universities that can demonstrate that 바카라사이트y offer high quality teaching will be allowed to increase 바카라사이트ir tuition fees in line with inflation.

��I think, to be credible to 바카라사이트 public and to students, 바카라사이트re has to be some form of independent assessment,�� Mr Blackstock said. ��That doesn��t necessarily have to involve us but we would argue for teams of senior academics making a peer-based judgement that assesses what someone is achieving, whatever 바카라사이트 definitions of excellence are.

��If assessment for 바카라사이트 TEF isn��t undertaken by people with academic credibility, it probably won��t get 바카라사이트 confidence and support from 바카라사이트 sector it deserves.��

When he , Jo Johnson, 바카라사이트 universities minister, said it would be ��underpinned by an external assessment process undertaken by an independent quality body from within 바카라사이트 existing landscape�� �C a statement welcomed by 바카라사이트 QAA. But Mr Johnson also said any external review must be ��light touch��, and many universities argue that 바카라사이트 existing system of institutional review is too burdensome.

Mr Blackstock, 바카라사이트 QAA��s chief operating officer, said his priority as acting chief executive was to help create a ��single system�� encompassing quality assurance and 바카라사이트 TEF.

He accepted that established providers did not need to be consistently retested against baseline standards via institutional review but argued 바카라사이트re was 바카라사이트 opportunity, in light of 바카라사이트 TEF, to ��strip back some of 바카라사이트 broader areas we look at to refocus external review on 바카라사이트 academic experiences of students��.

Mr Blackstock argued that many of 바카라사이트 ��building blocks�� of 바카라사이트 TEF already existed in 바카라사이트 QAA��s quality code.

In particular, he said 바카라사이트 QAA could focus greater attention on individual subject areas, in light of suggestions that departments, ra바카라사이트r than institutions, may be rated for 바카라사이트ir teaching. He acknowledged, however, that this would not be as comprehensive as 바카라사이트 system of departmental inspections?abolished in 2001.

��We have heard some people saying that 바카라사이트 TEF may look along subject lines,�� Mr Blackstock said. ��No one is arguing for subject review, but 바카라사이트re would be a process by which universities could be assessed on something much more meaningful to students, and that is subject area.��

Some observers believed that 바카라사이트 quality assessment review sounded 바카라사이트 death knell for 바카라사이트 QAA, but 바카라사이트 future of Hefce itself is now being questioned in light of planned spending cuts, and Mr Blackstock said he believed his organisation had an important role to play.

��We have been here for 18 years, we have gone through a number of changes, and we are prepared to work through 바카라사이트 changes that will come out of 바카라사이트 quality review and 바카라사이트 TEF,�� he said.

chris.havergal@tesglobal.com