Complementary Process
To complement the Institutional Review process, QQI also conducts system-level reviews and other reviews.
System Review (Review of Reviews)
In July 2013, we commenced a review of the institutional review models used by the legacy agencies (IUQB, HETAC and NQAI). A draft Terms of Reference was published for consultation in May 2013.
Feedback was generally supportive, some changes were made to the Terms of Reference and the review team was appointed in August 2013.
As part of the review process, the team met with over 60 stakeholders and canvassed their views during the week of 11-14 November 2013.
An online consultation form was also available to anyone who could not attend the meetings or who wished to inform the team of their views in advance of the meeting. The team's report, entitled Review of Reviews, was published in May 2014.
We also conducted a stakeholder feedback process and commissioned an analysis of the institutional review findings of our legacy bodies following publication of the Review of Reviews.
All these documents are available in QSearch and can be viewed below.
ENQA Review of QQI
In 2012, QQI became a member of
Enqa, the umbrella organisation for quality assurance agencies in the
European Higher Education Area.
Membership of Enqa means an agency complies with the
European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG). The ESG apply to Higher Education institutions and external quality assurance agencies.
Enqa policy requires that newly amalgamated agencies undergo an external Enqa-coordinated review within two years of amalgamation. Enqa appointed an external review team to evaluate how QQI meet and comply with the ESG.
The review consisted of a
self-evaluation report prepared by QQI which was submitted in March 2014, followed by a site visit to QQI in May 2014. The report of the review panel was completed in July 2014.
At its meeting in September 2014, the Enqa Board accepted the review report and reconfirmed QQI’s membership for a further five-year period. The report of the external panel is available
here.
