Coherent Systems for External Quality Assurance

This paper addresses the question of whether or not it is desirable, feasible, or (in the longer term) stable, to combine the functions of quality improvement and accountability in national arrangements for quality assurance in higher education. The paper reviews some of the disadvantages of having multiple agencies, and also notes the tendency for accountability agencies to add an advisory function as well. The paper notes that the functions usually required of an external quality system include accountability, improvement and certification, and discusses how and by whom these functions could be carried out, with appropriate checks and balances, in a stable situation. The paper considers purposes, systems, motivation and conditions for accountability and improvement in higher education, in the context of a rapidly developing situation, in which the functions and forms of external quality agencies may be expected to change rapidly.