The Quality Assurance Fit for the Future (QA-FIT) project is approaching its conclusion. The project consortium has released a policy brief highlighting key issues for the upcoming revision of the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG), while placing this revision in the broader context of policy development in the EHEA and the EU. These topics, along with discussions on the future of the ESG, and quality assurance and internationalisation, were central topics in the project’s final webinar. The recording and presentations from this are available on the ENQA website.
Additionally, a final project paper is in the pipeline. It will set out some key considerations for ESG revision and consider how the ESG can be updated to stay relevant and meet the expectations of stakeholders, as expressed through the project consultations. At the same time, the paper will highlight some of the success factors of the ESG that should be maintained, such as its broad acceptance among stakeholders and applicability in diverse contexts. Some of these issues will be discussed at a concluding policy event in Brussels on 7 November.
In parallel to this, the revision of the ESG is underway, with the first meeting of the Steering Committee having taken place on 30 September. The material from the QA-FIT project forms an important evidence base for the revision process, and has allowed the Steering Committee to commence directly with discussing updates to the introduction of the ESG, setting the principles and purposes of the document. Further information about how the revision is being implemented is available here.