CHAPTER 2E+WQUALITY ASSURANCE AND IMPROVING QUALITY
Valid from 01/08/2024
General quality assurance functionsE+W
50Quality assurance frameworksE+W
(1)The Commission may publish quality assurance frameworks.
(2)A quality assurance framework is a document setting out guidance and information on matters of policy and practice concerning—
(a)criteria for assessing the quality of tertiary education;
(b)processes for assessing the quality of tertiary education;
(c)the roles and responsibilities of—
(i)persons assessing the quality of tertiary education,
(ii)providers of tertiary education as regards the quality of tertiary education, and
(iii)any other persons as regards the quality of tertiary education as the Commission considers appropriate;
(d)consideration of the views of learners about the quality of the tertiary education they receive;
(e)the professional development of members of the tertiary education workforce;
(f)any other matter the Commission considers relevant to assurance of the quality of tertiary education.
(3)The Commission may revise, replace or withdraw any quality assurance framework published under this section.
(4)Before publishing a framework (or any revised framework) or withdrawing a framework under this section, the Commission must consult—
(a)each registered provider,
(b)Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales (“the Chief Inspector”), and
(c)any other persons the Commission considers appropriate.
(5)The persons mentioned in subsection (6) must, so far as relevant to the exercise of their functions, have regard to a quality assurance framework published under this section.
(6)The persons are—
(a)the Commission;
(b)the Chief Inspector;
(c)a designated body (see section 56).
(7)Nothing in this section affects the Commission’s other powers to issue guidance.
(8)“Members of the tertiary education workforce” has the same meaning as in section 5.
Prospective
51Duty to monitor, and promote improvement in, the quality of regulated tertiary educationE+W
The Commission must monitor, and promote improvement in, the quality of tertiary education—
(a)provided by, or on behalf of, registered providers (so far as the tertiary education relates to the providers’ categories of registration);
(b)funded or otherwise secured by the Commission.
Prospective
52Advice and assistance in respect of quality of tertiary educationE+W
(1)This section applies to tertiary education, or a particular course of tertiary education—
(a)provided by, or on behalf of, a registered provider,
(b)funded or otherwise secured by the Commission, or
(c)provided in Wales and not falling within paragraph (a) or (b).
(2)The Commission may provide, or make arrangements for the provision of, advice or other assistance to any person for the purpose of—
(a)improving the quality of the tertiary education or course, or
(b)preventing the quality of the tertiary education or course from becoming inadequate.
(3)For the purposes of this section, the quality of tertiary education, or of a course of tertiary education, is inadequate if it is not adequate to meet the reasonable needs of those receiving the education or undertaking the course.
Prospective
53Reviews relevant to quality of tertiary educationE+W
The Commission may carry out, or arrange for another person to carry out, a review of any matters that it considers relevant to the quality of tertiary education, or a particular course of tertiary education—
(a)provided by, or on behalf of, a registered provider,
(b)funded or otherwise secured by the Commission, or
(c)provided in Wales and not falling within paragraph (a) or (b).
Assessment of quality in higher educationE+W
54Assessment of quality of higher educationE+W
(1)The Commission must assess, or make arrangements for the assessment of, the quality of higher education provided—
(a)by each registered provider;
(b)on behalf of each registered provider (whether by another registered provider or by an external provider).
(2)The duty in subsection (1) applies to the assessment of higher education relating to the provider’s category of registration.
(3)The Commission may assess, or make arrangements for the assessment of, the quality of higher education provided in Wales by any tertiary education provider.
(4)The Commission must publish a report of each assessment carried out under this section.
(5)The Welsh Ministers may, by regulations—
(a)require assessments under subsection (1) to be conducted at intervals specified in the regulations;
(b)require reports under subsection (4) to be published before the end of a period specified in the regulations.
(6)Before making regulations under subsection (5), the Welsh Ministers must consult the Commission.
(7)In this Part, references to an external provider are references to a person who—
(a)is not a registered provider, but
(b)is responsible for providing all or part of a course of higher education on behalf of a registered provider;
and references to a governing body in relation to an external provider that is not an institution are references to the persons responsible for the provider’s management.
(8)For the purposes of subsection (7)(b), the Welsh Ministers may make provision by regulations about the circumstances in which a person is (or is not) to be treated as responsible for providing a course (or part of it).
Prospective
55Action plans following assessments under section 54E+W
(1)This section applies to assessments conducted under section 54(1)(a) and (b) and published in accordance with section 54(4).
(2)The governing body of a registered provider that provides the higher education assessed, or on behalf of which the higher education is provided (as the case may be), must—
(a)prepare a written statement of the action it proposes to take in the light of the report and the period within which it proposes to take it;
(b)send the statement to the Commission and, if the assessment was conducted by a designated body, the designated body.
(3)The governing body making the statement must publish it.
(4)Compliance with the duties under subsections (2) and (3) is to be treated as an ongoing registration condition that applies to the registered provider for the purposes of section 39 (directions in respect of failure to comply with ongoing registration conditions) and section 41 (de-registration).
Prospective
56Exercise of higher education assessment functions by a designated bodyE+W
(1)Schedule 3 makes provision—
(a)about the designation of a body to exercise the assessment functions;
(b)about oversight of the designated body by the Commission;
(c)for the body to charge fees.
(2)For the purposes of this Chapter, “the assessment functions” are the functions of the Commission under section 54 (assessing the quality of higher education).
(3)Where a body has been designated under Schedule 3 to exercise the assessment functions, the functions under section 54 do not cease to be exercisable by the Commission.
Inspection of further education or training etc.E+W
57Duty of the Chief Inspector to inspect and reportE+W
(1)The Chief Inspector must inspect—
(a)further education or training funded or otherwise secured by the Commission;
(b)further education or training funded or otherwise secured by the Welsh Ministers;
(c)further education or training funded by a local authority;
(d)further education or training where the Commission or a local authority is contemplating giving funding to the provider of the further education or training;
(e)education or training provided for persons of compulsory school age by a tertiary education provider in Wales that is an institution within the further education sector or the higher education sector;
(f)education or training provided in Wales and specified by the Welsh Ministers in regulations (if any).
(2)Paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of subsection (1) do not apply to—
(a)education of a kind that may or must be inspected under Part 1 of the Education Act 2005 (c. 18) (school inspections), or
(b)if the funding mentioned in those paragraphs is given for a specific purpose, education or training at which that support is not directed.
(3)The Chief Inspector must publish a report of each inspection carried out under this section including views on—
(a)the quality of the education or training inspected,
(b)the standards achieved by those receiving that education or training, and
(c)whether the financial resources made available to the provider of the education or training are managed efficiently and used in a way which provides value for money.
(4)The Welsh Ministers may, by regulations,—
(a)require inspections under subsection (1) (except paragraph (d)) to be conducted at intervals specified in the regulations;
(b)require reports under subsection (3) to be made before the end of a period specified in the regulations.
(5)Before making regulations under this section the Welsh Ministers must consult—
(a)the Commission;
(b)the Chief Inspector.
Prospective
58Power of the Chief Inspector to inspect and reportE+W
(1)The Chief Inspector may inspect, and report on, any education or training described in section 57(1).
(2)The Chief Inspector may inspect, and report on, any education or training—
(a)which is not of a kind described in section 57(1), but
(b)which could be funded in one of the ways mentioned in that section,
if the provider of the education or training asks the Chief Inspector to do so.
(3)The Chief Inspector may charge for the cost of an inspection conducted under subsection (2).
(4)Subsections (3) to (5) of section 57 apply to a report under subsection (1) as they apply to a report under that section.
(5)The Chief Inspector may arrange for a report of an inspection carried out as a result of a request under subsection (2) to be published.
Prospective
59Duty to provide information and advice to the CommissionE+W
(1)This section applies in relation to education or training described in section 57(1) that is funded or otherwise secured by the Commission.
(2)The Chief Inspector must keep the Commission informed about—
(a)the quality of the education or training to which this section applies,
(b)the standards achieved by those receiving that education or training, and
(c)whether the financial resources made available to those providing it are managed efficiently and used so as to provide value for money.
(3)When asked to do so by the Commission, the Chief Inspector must—
(a)give the Commission advice on such matters, relating to education or training to which this section applies, as the Commission may specify;
(b)inspect such education or training, or such class of education or training, to which this section applies as the Commission may specify;
(c)report on the result of an inspection conducted under this section.
Prospective
60Duty to provide information and advice to the Welsh MinistersE+W
(1)This section applies in relation to education and training described in section 57(1) that is not funded or otherwise secured by the Commission.
(2)The Chief Inspector must keep the Welsh Ministers informed about—
(a)the quality of the education or training to which this section applies,
(b)the standards achieved by those receiving that education or training, and
(c)whether the financial resources made available to those providing it are managed efficiently and used so as to provide value for money.
(3)When asked to do so by the Welsh Ministers, the Chief Inspector must—
(a)give the Welsh Ministers advice on such matters, relating to education or training to which this section applies, as the Welsh Ministers may specify;
(b)inspect such education or training, or such class of education or training, to which this section applies as the Welsh Ministers may specify;
(c)report on the result of an inspection conducted under this section.
Prospective
61Additional functions of the Chief InspectorE+W
(1)The Welsh Ministers may, by regulations, confer other functions on the Chief Inspector in connection with the education or training described in section 57(1).
(2)The functions conferred by the regulations may (among other things) include functions with respect to training of or for teachers, lecturers, trainers or other persons engaged in the provision of such education or training.
Prospective
62Action plans following inspections by the Chief InspectorE+W
(1)This section applies if the Chief Inspector publishes a report of an inspection.
(2)But it does not apply to a report of an inspection conducted—
(a)as a result of a request under section 58(2), or
(b)under section 63.
(3)The person responsible for the management of the provider of the education or training which is the subject of the report must prepare a written statement of the action which the person proposes to take in the light of the report and the period within which the person proposes to take it.
(4)The person making the statement must publish it.
(5)Subsection (6) applies if—
(a)a person subject to the duties in subsections (3) and (4) is the governing body of a registered provider, and
(b)the education or training which is the subject of the report relates to the provider’s category of registration.
(6)Compliance with the duties in subsections (3) and (4) is to be treated as an ongoing registration condition that applies to the registered provider for the purposes of section 39 (directions in respect of failure to comply with ongoing registration conditions) and section 41 (de-registration).
(7)Subsection (8) applies if the education or training which is the subject of the report is funded by the Commission or the Welsh Ministers under Part 3 of this Act.
(8)Compliance with the duties in subsections (3) and (4) is to be treated as a requirement of the terms and conditions of funding under this Act.
Valid from 01/11/2023
63Area inspectionsE+W
(1)The Chief Inspector may inspect—
(a)the quality and availability of a description of education or training, in a specified area in Wales, for persons who are aged 15 or over,
(b)the standards achieved by those receiving that education or training, and
(c)whether the financial resources made available to those providing that education or training are managed efficiently and used in a way which provides value for money.
(2)The Chief Inspector must carry out an inspection of the type described in subsection (1) (“an area inspection”) if requested to do so by—
(a)the Commission;
(b)the Welsh Ministers.
(3)The education or training that may be made the subject of an area inspection is any education or training described in section 57 or within the remit of the Chief Inspector as a result of any other enactment.
(4)But the power to require the Chief Inspector to carry out an area inspection may only be exercised—
(a)in the case of the Commission, in respect of a description of education or training funded or otherwise secured by the Commission;
(b)in the case of the Welsh Ministers, in respect of a description of education or training other than education or training funded or otherwise secured by the Commission.
(5)An area inspection may extend to considering—
(a)the manner in which any financial resources have been applied by a person described in subsection (6) in respect of the education or training inspected, and
(b)whether any such financial resources have been applied in a way which provides value for money.
(6)The persons mentioned in subsection (5) are—
(a)the Commission;
(b)the Welsh Ministers;
(c)a local authority.
(7)The following persons must provide such information as the Chief Inspector may reasonably require in connection with the inspection—
(a)persons responsible for the management of any provider of education or training which is the subject of an area inspection;
(b)any local authority within the area which is the subject of an area inspection;
(c)the Commission;
(d)the Welsh Ministers.
(8)On completing an area inspection, the Chief Inspector must publish a report.
(9)The Welsh Ministers may, by regulations—
(a)make further provision with respect to the duty to provide information imposed by this section;
(b)require reports under subsection (8) to be published before the end of a period specified in the regulations.
(10)For provision on reporting on sixth forms found to be causing concern in an area inspection, see sections 44C and 44E of the Education Act 2005 (c. 18).
(11)In subsection (1)—
“persons who are aged 15” (“personau sy’n 15 oed”) includes persons for whom education is being provided at a school who will attain that age in the current school year;
“specified” (“penodedig”) means—
(a)
in the case of an area inspection requested under subsection (2), specified in the request;
(b)
in the case of an area inspection carried out by the Chief Inspector other than by request, specified by the Chief Inspector.
Prospective
64Right of entry and offencesE+W
(1)When conducting an inspection under this Chapter, the Chief Inspector has, at all reasonable times—
(a)a right of entry to premises on which the education or training being inspected is provided;
(b)a right of entry to premises of the provider of that education or training which are used in connection with that provision;
(c)a right to inspect, and take copies of, any records kept by that person, and any other documents containing information relating to the education or training, which the inspector requires for the purposes of the inspection.
(2)In respect of education or training provided by an employer in the workplace, the right of entry conferred by subsection (1) may be exercised only if the employer has been given reasonable notice.
(3)The right to inspect conferred by subsection (1)(c) includes the right to have access to, and to inspect and check the operation of, any computer and any associated apparatus or material which is or has been in use in connection with the records or documents in question.
(4)That right also includes the right to such assistance from—
(a)the person by whom or on whose behalf the computer is or has been so used, or
(b)any person having charge of, or otherwise concerned with the operation of, the computer, apparatus or material,
as the Chief Inspector may reasonably require.
(5)It is an offence wilfully to obstruct the Chief Inspector in the exercise of functions in relation to an inspection under this Chapter.
(6)A person guilty of such an offence is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale.
(7)The powers conferred by this section do not include the power to enter a dwelling without the agreement of the occupier.
(8)In this section, “premises” means premises in Wales or England.
Prospective
65Surveys and studiesE+W
(1)The Commission may direct the Chief Inspector to carry out—
(a)a survey of Wales, or of an area within Wales specified in the direction, in respect of matters specified in the direction relating to policy concerned with further education or training;
(b)a comparative study of the provision made outside Wales in respect of matters specified in the direction relating to further education or training.
(2)The Chief Inspector may, without being directed to, carry out a survey or study of that kind.
Prospective
66Annual reportsE+W
(1)The annual report of the Chief Inspector required by section 21(1)(a) of the Education Act 2005 (c. 18) must include an account of the exercise of functions of the Chief Inspector under this Chapter.
(2)The power conferred by that section to make other reports includes a power to make reports with respect to matters relating to education or training described in section 57(1).
Prospective
67Annual plan of the Chief InspectorE+W
(1)The Chief Inspector must, for each financial year, prepare a plan setting out estimates of—
(a)the expenditure necessary, in the financial year to which the plan relates, in order to secure that the functions of the Chief Inspector are exercised effectively, and
(b)the income which the Chief Inspector will receive in that financial year and which may be applied towards meeting the expenses of the Chief Inspector.
(2)The plan must contain proposals for the management of any funds which may be provided to the Chief Inspector in that financial year under—
(a)section 68 of this Act (funding by the Commission), and
(b)section 104(4) of the Government of Wales Act 1998 (c. 38) (funding by the Welsh Ministers).
(3)The plan must be submitted, for the purposes of consultation, to—
(a)the Commission, and
(b)the Welsh Ministers,
by such time before the beginning of the financial year to which it relates as they may jointly direct.
(4)The Chief Inspector may publish the plan after it has been approved by—
(a)the Commission, and
(b)the Welsh Ministers.
Prospective
68Funding of inspections and reports on further education and training etc.E+W
(1)The Commission must provide such funding to the Chief Inspector as it considers appropriate for the exercise of the Chief Inspector’s functions, so far as the functions relate to education or training that is funded or otherwise secured by the Commission.
(2)In deciding what funding it considers appropriate, the Commission must have regard in particular to what the Commission considers the Chief Inspector needs to spend in order to exercise the functions.
(3)Before the beginning of each financial year, the Commission must consult the Chief Inspector about the funding it is to provide to the Chief Inspector in that financial year.
(4)The Commission must—
(a)approve such part (or parts) of the plan prepared by the Chief Inspector under section 67 as relate to functions in respect of which the Commission is required to provide funding under this section, and
(b)determine the amount of the funding it will provide under this section in accordance with the plan in so far as it is approved by the Commission.
(5)But before it approves the plan under subsection (4) the Commission may require the Chief Inspector to modify the plan.
(6)Section 104 of the Government of Wales Act 1998 (c. 38) is amended as follows—
(a)after subsection (1) insert—
“(1A)But the Welsh Ministers are not responsible for providing funding to the Chief Inspector for the discharge of the Chief Inspector’s functions under Chapter 2 of Part 2 of the Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Act 2022 so far as they relate to education or training that is funded or otherwise secured by the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research.”;
(b)in subsection (4A), for paragraph (a) substitute—
“(a)approve such part (or parts) of the plan prepared by the Chief Inspector under section 67 of the Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Act 2022 as relate to functions in respect of which they are required to provide funding under this section, and”.