Quality control, assurance and assessment – the link to continuous improvement

Discusses the different forms of external enquiry into the operations of HEIs that constitute existing quality control, assurance and assessment processes and procedures. Proposes that external scrutiny of operations should adopt an approach that ensures accountability,enhances quality, is practical, efficient, effective and offers a degree of autonomy. Asserts that putting continuous quality improvement into practice in higher education requires the implementation of key principles of procedure and practical team approaches which are currently far from endemic across institutions. Describes and explains how the identification of specific roles and responsibilities within academic teams can provide one way of successfully establishing the link between quality control, assurance and assessment and the process of continuous quality improvement in the provision of higher education.