§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what assessment he has made of the work of the University of Buckingham. [134796]
§ Mr. WicksThe Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) carries out reviews of the effectiveness of institutional arrangements for the management of the quality and standards of academic provision in all higher education institutions that receive public funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and therefore subscribe to the Agency. The University of Buckingham is an independent university which does not receive any public funding from the HEFCE. There are, therefore, no requirements for any assessments of the work of the University of Buckingham to be undertaken by the QAA. However, the University of Buckingham is a voluntary subscriber to the QAA for academic quality audit.
An academic quality audit of the University of Buckingham was carried out by the former Higher Education Quality Council in the 1992–93 academic year, with the report being published in March 1993. The audit scheduled by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) for the autumn term 2000 has had to be 567W postponed. The next academic quality audit of the University of Buckingham is not now expected to take place until 2002.