HC Deb 05 February 2004 vol 417 cc1029-30W
Chris Grayling

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will make a statement on the role of the Quality Assurance Agency. [152632]

Alan Johnson

The mission of the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) is to promote public confidence that the quality of provision and standards of awards in higher education are safeguarded and enhanced. It fulfils this role by conducting regular audits of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and reviewing of HE provision delivered in Further Education Colleges (FECs). It also provides advice and guidance to HEIs and other stakeholders, defining clear and explicit standards which form a reference point for review activities. This includes a qualifications framework, subject benchmark statements, programme specifications and a code of practice for institutions.

Chris Grayling

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the annual budget is for 2003–04 of the Quality Assurance Agency. [152640]

Alan Johnson

The Quality Assurance Agency's work is financed through two main sources of income: subscriptions paid by individual universities and colleges; and contracts with the HE funding bodies and Government Departments. QAA's estimated budget for 2003–04 is £10 million. This sum is made up of:

  1. (a) Funds from UK funding bodies and institutional subscriptions (£8.5 million),
  2. (b) Funds from Department of Health for reviews of all NHS funded healthcare programmes in England (£1.5 million).