In this episode, QAA brings together four Subject Benchmark Advisory Group Chairs to explore how the latest Benchmark Statements address Generative AI, ethics, inequality and professional practice across Art & Design, Social Policy, Sociology and Social Work. Hear practical insights on critical and responsible AI use, safeguarding independent thinking, and embedding sustainability, accessibility and real‑world skills to ensure graduates are prepared for an evolving academic and profession...

In a special podcast released to mark the publication of this year's suite of revised Subject Benchmark Statements, QAA's Quality & Standards Manager Dr Andy Smith talked with two of our Advisory Group Chairs: the University of Westminster's Kate Cheyne, Chair of the Advisory Group for Architecture, and the University of Plymouth's Dr Péter Bokody, Chair of the Advisory Group for the History of Art, Architecture & Design Statement. The podcast focuses on how recent changes in t...

How can sustainability stay central in higher education amid financial pressures? In this thought-provoking episode, Dr. Rehema White (University of St Andrews) and Charlotte Bonner (EAUC CEO) challenge the idea that sustainability is a luxury. Instead, they argue it is core to higher education’s mission—equipping graduates to navigate complexity and drive positive change. We explore how sustainability intersects with priorities like quality education, decolonising curricula, and student we...

In this podcast, we share Professor Phillip Dawson's keynote address on Assessment Design for a time of AI, which he presented at our 2025 Quality Insights Conference last month. Phillip is co-director of Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE) at Deakin University, Australia. Having initially studied AI and cyber security before his PhD in Higher Education, he’s now a leading expert on assessment validity in the digital age. Artificial intelligence is ca...

In the latest edition of the QAA podcast, our Chief Executive Vicki Stott talks with Paul Greatrix – who last month retired from his position as Registrar at the University of Nottingham at the end of a 36-year career in higher education. Together, Vicki and Paul consider the changes that the sector has gone through over the last few decades and the challenges it faces today, as they anticipate the developments ahead in 2025. Topics include the challenges and opportunities raised by the lifel...

Our latest podcast focuses on the challenges and opportunities raised by approaches to student engagement. Hosted by QAA's Dr Matt Denton, this episode considers how strategies for learner engagement might develop to address the needs of a higher education environment which has, in recent years, been radically affected by the impacts of a series of traumatic developments: the Covid-19 crisis, the cost-of-living crisis and the ongoing student mental health crisis. Our podcast considers how edu...

Our latest QAA podcast marks the International Day of Action for Academic Integrity (IDOA). This global event takes place online on 16 October and will include a panel convened by QAA and chaired by our Chief Executive Vicki Stott. Hosted by QAA's Dr Kerr Castle, this new episode features Loughborough University's Professor Sandie Dann and IDOA co-chair Professor Mary Davis: Sandie is a member of a team from Loughborough which has led a new QAA-funded Collaborative Enhancement Project e...

Chaired by our regular host Dr Kerr Castle, QAA's latest podcast explores the effective evaluation of higher education practices and initiatives, and how to make approaches to evaluation meaningful and manageable. Kerr's guests this month are Liz Austen, Professor of Higher Education Evaluation at Sheffield Hallam University, and Stella Jones-Devitt, Professor of Critical Pedagogy at Staffordshire University. Between 7 November and 12 December, the Quality Assurance Agency will run a...

In QAA's latest podcast, our regular host Dr Kerr Castle chairs an expert panel for a lively discussion reflecting on what we've learnt from TEF 2023. Kerr is joined by Professor Claire Pike (Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education Enhancement at Anglia Ruskin University), Roscoe Hastings (Director of Teaching Enhancement and Excellence at the University of Exeter), and our very own Helena Vine, the Lead Policy Officer for England here at QAA. During the conversation, they chat about what we...

This latest QAA podcast marks the publication of the new edition of the UK Quality Code for Higher Education. Our guests are Dr Helen Driscoll, interim PVC for learning & Teaching at the University of Sunderland, Swansea University's Dr Kate Chapman, co-organiser of the QAA Programme Leaders Network, Rachel Sutton, Associate Director of Quality at the University of London, Charlotte Baker, president of Winchester SU, and Ruth Burchell, Quality Enhancement & Standards Specialist at QAA...