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QAA Briefing Visit: 4-6 February

Originally published 4 February 2004


The Briefing Visit for the University’s Institutional Audit will take place on 4-6 February. This Briefing Visit will see a team of auditors from the QAA engaging with selected staff and students to gain feedback and information about the institution’s structures and processes in order to assess the quality and standards of the University.

To see the Briefing Visit Schedule please see the following PDF file. http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/insite/info/quality/institutionalaudit/schedule.pdf


Beginner’s Guide to QAA

What does QAA stand for?

Quality Assurance Agency

Who are they?

The Quality Assurance Agency is an independent body funded by subscriptions from universities and colleges of higher education. It was established in 1997 to provide an integrated quality assurance service for UK higher education.

What do they do?

The agency conducts institutional audits and reviews of universities and colleges of higher education to ensure that appropriate standards are being achieved and a good quality education is being offered.

What does an institutional audit entail?

An institutional audit does three things:

  • It examines how effectively the University adheres to the QAA Code of Practice.
  • It looks at the accuracy, completeness and reliability of the information published by an institution about the quality of its programmes and the standards of its awards.
  • It explores examples of the institution's internal quality assurance processes at work.

How do they go about doing it?

A group of four to seven auditors from the QAA makes an initial briefing visit to the University to meet with representatives of both the institution's staff (normally those who are involved in quality management at a senior level) and its students (represented by the Students’ Union). These meetings are geared at bringing the audit team up to date on institutional developments and changes within the University. They also identify matters of interest to the student body.

This is followed by an audit visit, where auditors scrutinise a range of matters directly relevant to students, including the quality of the information provided for them, the ways in which their learning is facilitated and supported, and the academic standards they are expected to achieve, and do achieve in practice.

In preparation for this visit, the University has submitted Institutional Self Evaluation Documents and the Students’ Union has submitted an evaluation on behalf of the Study body.

More about the QAA Code of Practice

  • It is a set of guidelines to assist institutions in maintaining and enhancing the academic quality and standards of their programmes, awards and qualifications for students and other interests.
  • The Code covers areas ranging from Assessment of Students, External Examining, Programme Approval and Review to Recruitment and Admission.

    What happens after an Institutional Audit?

    The audit team reviews all the evidence gathered from meetings and documents examined. The Agency then publishes a report, which will either confirm or refute the information published by the University on the quality of its programmes and the standards of its awards.

    For more information about the QAA code of practice visit
    http://qaa.ac.uk/public/cop/codesofpractice.htm or visit the University of Warwick Teaching Quality web site at http://www.warwick.ac.uk/go/quality