Quality Enhancement Review outcome

We have received a positive outcome and judgement in an independent Quality Enhancement Review. Find out more about the review process and the quality and standards of our educational provision.

The Quality Enhancement Review takes place every six years and is the method by which Welsh higher education providers are reviewed by the Quality Assurance Agency to demonstrate to the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales that the education we provide is of appropriate academic standard and quality against a set of baseline regulatory requirements. In addition, the review looked at how we plan, implement and evaluate improvements in the student learning experience.

The review team visited the University in February and March 2020 to meet with staff, students, governors and placement providers.

Based on the information presented, the review team made no recommendations and judged that:

• Cardiff University meets the requirements of the European Standards and Guidelines Part 1 for internal quality assurance.
• Cardiff University meets the relevant baseline regulatory requirements of the Quality Assessment Framework for Wales.

We were commended for the opportunities provided by our on-campus research internships to engage students with research activities to enhance their learning and future career prospects.

The review team also highlighted that placement providers spoke very positively about Cardiff University placement students and the way in which the University engages with them and how the placements are set up.

The review team also affirmed the steps being taken to improve the revised annual monitoring process that enables a more responsive approach to the review and enhancement of student experience.

Whilst the review team did not make any formal recommendations, we will be formulating an action plan to reflect on the wide range of productive discussions with the review team on a range of learning and teaching activities.

This is an excellent outcome for the University which means that we have robust arrangements for securing academic standards, managing academic quality and for enhancing the quality of the student experience.

Claire Morgan, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Student Experience and Academic Standards, said: “We are extremely grateful to all staff, students and the Students’ Union, who took part in the QAA’s robust process to measure our quality and standards.

“The report is excellent news for Cardiff University. It provides a clean bill of health and means our students can have renewed confidence in our academic standards and the quality of their education.

“Despite the report, we are not complacent – especially in these extremely difficult and challenging times.

“We will take our time to review and reflect on all the report’s findings. We are committed to ensuring an educationally outstanding and consistently high-quality student experience, with excellent teaching and services for all our students.”

Read the Quality Enhancement Review report

Our last external quality assurance review was the Institutional Review in 2014.