Introduction

This site brings together the work of the Medr-funded joint Estyn-Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) project to explore effective approaches and strategies used in tertiary education providers to develop and embed a culture of self-evaluation and continuous improvement.

The tertiary sectors within Medr’s oversight cover a diverse range of provision: from school sixth forms to further education (FE) colleges, apprenticeship providers, and adult learning in the community (ALC) partnerships; to higher education (HE) delivered in further education colleges and universities.

In Section 2 we present a set of twelve principles of self-evaluation, developed from our review of the international literature (Section 6) and considering current effective practices in Wales. The principles are intended to be applicable across the diverse range of providers in the tertiary sectors. They are not intended to be ‘statutory’ – providers are not required to use them or the reflective questions that accompany them. They are intended to guide our thinking, respecting the different approaches taken by different sectors, and avoid ‘one-size fits-all’ prescriptions which may not be relevant in all sectors.

Section 3 gives an overview of current self-evaluation and continuous improvement (see Glossary) practices in the tertiary sectors, their strengths and areas for improvement. This draws on evidence derived from Estyn inspections and link visits at FE, apprenticeship  and ALC providers and evidence gathered from school and local authority inspections, QAA reviews and interviews with HE providers, and focus groups with learners and other stakeholders.

Section 4 outlines the areas that provide opportunities to improve self-evaluation and quality improvement practices, based on our analysis of the strengths and areas for improvement across the tertiary sectors, The recommendations we identify are not intended to be ‘statutory’ and will not be applicable to all providers. They are intended to aid reflection about current practice and to signpost where enhancements may have most impact.

In Section 5, we reflect on the roles of Medr, QAA and Estyn in promoting strong self-evaluation and continuous improvement practice across tertiary providers in Wales. The section underpins our commitment to supporting providers to use the twelve principles and promote effective practice across the tertiary system.