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DenyAcceptWe have been working on progressing sustainability in the Higher Education sector for many years through our programmes and campaigns, engaging directly with institutions and supporting them to integrate sustainability into their teaching and learning. We have found that some of the barriers to making this happen across all subjects can be strict programmes’ regulatory requirements, set by bodies external to the institutions themselves.
Through this project, working together with the EAUC, we are advocating for the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) and Professional, Regulatory and Statutory Bodies (PSRBs) to better integrate sustainability and student voice into their Higher Education programme guidance and requirements.
In February 2024, we convened the QAA, PSRBs, students, employers and university representatives for a consultation at St George’s House. The event explored the case for a reformed curriculum centred on responding to the climate and nature emergency. The resulting report recommended a number of actions to progress this work:
Action Area 1: Organisational Change
Action Area 2: Enabling student leadership and empowerment
Action Area 3: Advocating for system change
The QAA is the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. They regulate and provide quality guidance for higher education across the UK and internationally, as well as working in partnership with HE providers and colleges to provide challenge, support and frameworks.
They produce the Subject Benchmark Statements which define the standard that should be expected of a graduate in each subject. The SBSs therefore have a huge impact on course content and how universities write curriculum. They are reviewed every 5-7 years.
One of the recommendations from the St George's House report was "a student-led ‘tracked changes’ approach to benchmark standards, with individuals suggesting small changes that could be made to ensure that sustainable practice is 'baked in'." We have employed student staff to complete holistic sustainability reviews of the existing QAA Benchmark Statements, directly championing student voice and leadership. Subject experts are also quality assuring their work. We will be publishing our reviews in the next few months - keep an eye out for the launch!
Further recommendations around the benchmark standards highlighted the opportunity to more thoroughly embed sustainability at the point of the standards' review.
There are 6 subjects which are currently undergoing review by the QAA's Advisory Groups: Social Policy, Social Work, Sociology, Art and Design, History of Art, Architecture and Design, and Architecture. In November and December 2024, we ran consultations with students and recent graduates of the subjects covered by these 6 benchmarks, where as a group they suggested changes – similarly to our student staff-led reviews.
We are working with the QAA to:
PSRBs stands for Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies. These are organisations such as e.g. General Medical Council, Engineering Council. These organisations also provide frameworks and standards for degree programmes – not just the QAA. They often lead on the QAA process, and their members join the review panels. PSRBs are recognised as one of the influencers of curriculum from a ‘top down’, centralised basis.
There are 211 Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PSRBs) in the UK. PSRBs have oversight or authority over a profession or group of professionals, and collectively represent around 13 million members across the UK. They engage with the tertiary education sector as regulators who accredit or endorse courses and qualifications that meet their professional standards, providing a route for graduates into their professions.
PSRBs also provide Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and have ongoing professional standards requirements for their members. PSRBs have considerable influence over tertiary curriculum content, and can shape what is taught in further education institutes and universities. Graduates from these programmes go on to become societal decision-makers, including in key subjects such as STEM subjects, law, planning and health. The influence of PSRBs on curriculum content varies according to the accrediting institution, subject, course and the degree of engagement of the education institute with the PSRB.
For many tertiary providers, PSRB standards or criteria form the basis for curriculum design. This is particularly the case when graduation with an accredited course is a requirement for employment within particular professions. Curriculum managers also use occupational standards and the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA)’s subject benchmark statements to guide content.
We are working with regulatory bodies to improve their internal structures and influence their own accreditation frameworks for better sustainability and student voice inclusion.
We are working on bringing together key organisations producing rankings of UK universities, to engage and energise them to further integrate sustainability assessment criteria into the production process of university rankings. Watch this space for further updates!
If you have any further questions, suggestions, or would like to bring this work to your PSRB, please email Marta Nowicka.