Quality assurance is anything that a provider does to maintain, improve and ensure the quality of the learner experience and its outcomes for the learner, while policies and procedures are the documented approach to achieving this.
Quality assurance policies and procedures operate at all levels, and provide guidance to management and staff on how to approach their work.
Background to QA Developments
There is a new regulatory and legal context to quality assurance including the enhanced corporate role for City of Dublin ETB. Previously City of Dublin ETB colleges and services were providers in their own right and had quality assurance (QA) agreements directly with the Further Education and Training Awards Council (FETAC), which preceded QQI.
In 2012, FETAC was taken into the Qualification and Quality Assurance Authority of Ireland (QQI) along with other previous statutory bodies. QQI is an awarding body but also the external quality assurance agency for all education and training providers in Ireland including City of Dublin ETB.
City of Dublin ETB was established under The Education and Training Boards Act 2013. Following ministerial approval, the City of Dublin Vocational Education Committee was officially dissolved as of 1st July 2013 and the City of Dublin Education and Training Board was officially established. City of Dublin ETB is the statutory and primary provider of programmes of Further Education and Training (FET) in Dublin City.
In 2014, Regularisation of Arrangements Agreements were signed between all ETBs and QQI. City of Dublin ETB took on the provider role and responsibility for previous college and service QA agreements and must move towards a more ‘unified system’ of QA. This required City of Dublin ETB to move from the 22 legacy QA agreements to four consolidated QA procedures governing four services Adult Education Service and Education Service to Prisons, Colleges of Further Education, Youthreach and Training Centres.
City of Dublin ETB Quality Governance Structures 
The Chief Executive is supported by the Senior Management Team including the FET Director(s) has executive authority and reports to the Board of City of Dublin ETB on strategic planning and QA developments in-line with the approved City of Dublin ETB Further Education and Youth Services Strategy (2015-2020). This corporate strategy is approved by the Board on a 5 year basis and provides for the highest level statement of strategy, and includes the following key goals for City of Dublin ETB are to:
- Continue to develop and provide inclusive, professional, high quality education, training and youth services in Dublin City.
- Deliver programmes that provide suitable qualifications for, and progression routes into more advanced education courses, training programmes and employment.
- Be recognised as a primary provider of such courses and programmes in Dublin City.
- Develop a comprehensive youth service in Dublin City.
- Have in existence a well-managed, efficient and fully accountable national awarding authority for student grants.
City of Dublin ETB must also adhere to the ETB Code of Governance published by the Department of Education and Skills, which places a strong emphasis on risk management. City of Dublin ETB is required to evaluate risk as part of effective risk management, and the Risk Management Policy should takes account of the risks to the ETB that would significantly obstruct or undermine the achievement of its objectives as set out in the strategy statement[7]. This includes risk registers for every centre with the FET Director responsible for risk management at corporate level, and reports to the City of Dublin ETB Audit Committee which then reports such matters to the City of Dublin ETB Board. The Board then, articulates and approves the response to the identified risk. Financial planning oversight occurs through the City of Dublin ETB Finance Committee, which also reports to the Board of City of Dublin ETB.
Service Spheres
There are 5 service spheres within City of Dublin ETB further education and training services which include:
- Youthreach
- The Training Centres which provide training services directly and which includes indirect provision of training through the management of contracted training and funding provision to community providers including LTIs, and CTCs which operate City of Dublin ETB QA system (TQAS)
- The Adult Education Service providing programmes directly and indirectly through the funding of community providers operating their own quality assurance systems
- The Prison Education Service and
- The Colleges of Further Education
There are management teams for each service and centre, which reflects the nature of their service, and includes monthly management team meetings. These teams provide for the strategic planning at service and centre level in conjunction with the FET Director with responsibility for the service and represent the core management structures with relevant lines of authority. The Principal of each recognised school which include Colleges of Further Education report to their own Board of Management. These Boards of Management are classed as City of Dublin ETB sub-committees, which also includes inter alia the City of Dublin Youth Services Board, and also report directly to the Board of City of Dublin ETB. These sub-committees provide independent oversight at school and in some cases service level. City of Dublin ETB Board approval is required for their activities as per the Education and Training Boards Act 2013. The Board of City of Dublin ETB approves the agreed City of Dublin ETB Further Education, Training and Youth Services Strategy every 5 years.
Collective planning structures which operate at a supra serve or ETB level include:
The FET Quality Assurance and Strategic Planning Council (QASPC) will form Subgroups reporting into it as required. The Groups required are as follows:
a) The Quality Assurance Development Group (QADG) will focus on the development and enhancement of the QA Policy and Procedures.
b) The Strategic Performance Development Group (SPDG) will have overall responsibility for monitoring and supporting the achievement of agreed City of Dublin ETB-SOLAS FET targets.
c) The Programme Management and Development Group (PMDG) will focus on the need to manage the existing QQI programmes and to recommend and oversee development of new programme proposals. This will enable quality assured programme development and facilitate the re-validation of existing programmes in a strategic manner within the context of City of Dublin ETB Strategic Planning. Programme development will be monitored by this group.
d) City of Dublin ETB-led programme boards will report on the quality and delivery of validated programmes for which City of Dublin ETB is the lead/ co-ordinating provider.
City of Dublin ETB QA Governance Structures
- CIty of Dublin ETB FET Quality Assurance and Strategic Planning Council (QASPC) Terms of Reference
- City of Dublin ETB Quality Assurance and Development Group (QADG) Terms of Reference
- City of Dublin ETB Strategic Performance and Development Group (SPDG) Terms of Reference
- City of Dublin ETB Programme Management and Development Group (PMDG) Terms of Reference
- City of Dublin ETB Quality Teams Terms of Reference
Quick links to quality review guidelines
To achieve this, we have to ensure that all our activities are geared toward ensuring our
- Services are delivered professionally and to a high quality
- The delivery of our services contributes to both the personal development of our learners as well as to the overall social, economic and cultural development of Dublin City
To achieve our mission we have to look at our key activities which facilitate the achievement of this mission – this is reflected in our strategic commitments relevant to further education and training:
- promoting professional excellence in teaching and training, and quality outcomes in learning
- providing a positive, agile, empowering working environment
- encouraging staff development
- recognising achievements at every level
- promoting professional excellence in our education and training support services and in our administration
- promoting professional excellence and quality outcomes in youth work services
- delivering education and training, and supporting youth services that are inclusive, multi-denominational, and bound by an appropriate relationship of care and respect.
- responding to the needs of the learner as economic, societal and employment needs emerge. The personal needs of the learner i.e. to improve their literacy for personal reasons. They may in that process and to achieve that end, undertake modules at levels 2 and 3.
- embracing individuality, diversity, and inclusivity
- advocating civic, social, community and global responsibilities
- advocating for student, staff, parent and community participation in City of Dublin ETB education, training
What is a Quality Assurance System?
The term “quality assurance (QA)” describes
“the processes that seek to ensure that the learning environment (including teaching and research) reaches an acceptable threshold of quality. QA is also used to describe the enhancement of education and training provision and the standards attained by learners.”[1]
UNESCO defines quality assurance (QA) as
“…an ongoing, continuous process of evaluating (assessing, monitoring, guaranteeing, maintaining and improving)…”[2]
Quality assurance is about assuring and enhancing quality in the learning environment to ensure it meets appropriate standards and the standards attained by learners.
For our quality enhancement and assurance system to be effective, it should be geared towards helping us achieve our mission/strategic objectives.
The purpose of the QQI Statutory Guidelines and their underpinning principles is to help inform providers (City of Dublin ETB) to help inform providers when developing an effective quality assurance system for their context and purposes. The aim of the quality assurance system is to ultimately enable City of Dublin ETB to ultimately to enable its mission:
“To provide professional high-quality education and training services for people in Dublin city that contributes both to the personal development of the individual as well as to the overall social economic and cultural development of the city”.[3]
To achieve this high quality, we must ensure the following:
- our programmes are designed, developed, and adapted where necessary to meet the needs of learners and contribute to the economic, social and cultural development of Dublin City
- the way in which we deliver our programmes of education and training, and related services meets the needs of our learners and contribute to the economic, social and culture development of Dublin City
The effectiveness of our quality assurance and enhancement system should be judged by the degree to which it helps us to achieve the above goals. There are many stakeholders involved in contributing to the quality of our programmes and the way in which they are delivered to learners. These stakeholders include:
- Teaching/Training, support and administrative staff
- Centre Management
- City of Dublin ETB FET Support Services – Quality Assurance FET Development Unit/ Professional Development (PD)/ Employer Engagement/ Digital Learning-TEL/ Psychological Services/ Outdoor Education Service/ Data Analytics/ Learner Support and Engagement Service
- Corporate Services – HR/Finance/Procurement/Building and Maintenance
- Community/industry partners
- Higher Education Institutions
- Sectoral Partners/Representative Bodies– FESS/ ETBI/ ETBs/ HEIs/ QQI/ Dept. of Further, Higher Education, Research and Innovation/ NGOs
Many of these stakeholders are both beneficiaries of City of Dublin ETB’s quality assurance system and key contributors to it. Teaching and learning are at the heart of what we do, and many of these stakeholders directly contribute to this in over 70 FET centres across City of Dublin ETB.
Key Aspects of Quality
Embedding a Quality Culture
It is essential that a positive quality culture is protected, promoted, and embedded at all levels of our services. This can be described as the totality of City of Dublin ETB’s teaching and learning community working in a coherent and cohesive way towards implementing the quality agenda. City of Dublin ETB is committed to the active development of a culture which recognises the importance of quality, quality assurance and quality improvement and enhancement. The development of this culture requires:
- a holistic approach towards quality assurance where continuous improvement is key. Procedures that are integrated into the normal activities of City of Dublin ETB, with minimum unnecessary administrative requirements.
- a commitment to the provision of adequate resources to enable and facilitate the implementation of the quality assurance procedures, the consistent application of these and quality improvement plans.
A balanced, organisation-wide approach to the implementation of quality assurance procedures to ensure that:
- the burden of procedures does not obscure the purpose of establishing a quality culture.
- a standardised approach does not obscure the ownership and primary focus on quality improvement.
Self-Evaluation: Monitoring and Review Procedures
Self-evaluation, which includes procedures for monitoring and review is an essential part of a quality culture, allows us to listen to our key stakeholders and reflect on our practice, to celebrate our successes and identify areas where we need to develop our practice further.
It is important that we have an open community that values critical reflection and fosters personal and professional development for both learners and staff. This reflection is a positive part of our annual cycle of activities. Self-monitoring procedures include:
- A system of appropriate quality measures:
appropriate quality measures are identified as those which can be checked in monitoring, for example, learner satisfaction ratings, completion / certification rates, relevance of outcomes to the marketplace, error levels. - Gathering evidence of achievement of objectives:
when objectives are set, consideration is given to the kind of evidence or information required to determine whether or not the objective has been met, and how and where and by whom this information will be obtained. Information systems will be important sources of data. - Consideration for prioritising objectives:
important objectives are prioritised even where they are difficult to achieve or to quality assure. Quality assurance is not limited to addressing easily assessed objectives nor committed to addressing inconsequential ones.
Acting on Findings
The evaluation outcomes are used to produce a Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) which sets out a schedule of actions to be undertaken following internal evaluation. It identifies the person(s) responsible for actions and follow-up.
It opens the reporting avenue for staff, centres, and service spheres to input to the City of Dublin ETB through its governance structures for quality assurance.
Quality Maintenance, Enhancement and Assurance | quality review guidelines
- QME and Assurance – Course level review
- QME and Assurance – Course-level results review Exam-board review
- QME and Assurance – Centre-level/Service-Sphere level review
- QME and Assurance – Centre-level/Service-Sphere RAP
- QME and Assurance – Programme Reviews
- QME and Assurance – Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) Guidelines
- QME and Assurance – Organisational level review
- QME and Assurance – Full Reviews Document
- QME Templates
- Course Review
- Programme Review
- Centre Level Review
- Results Reviews
- Organisational Reviews
Monitoring is considered to be:
A continuing function that aims primarily to provide managers and main stakeholders with regular feedback and early indications of progress or lack thereof in the achievement of intended results. Monitoring tracks the actual performance or situation against what was planned or expected according to pre-determined standards. Monitoring generally involves collecting and analysing data on implementation processes, strategies and results, and recommending corrective measures [4].
Self-Evaluation is defined as:
Any process or methodology carried out by a (of a FET provider) FET provider under its own responsibility, to evaluate its performance or position in relation to two dimensions:
-
an internal dimension (ʻmicro levelʼ) that covers services, internal staff, beneficiaries or clients, policy and/or internal organisation, development plan, etc.; and
-
an external dimension (ʻmacro levelʼ) that covers analysis of the educational offer of this institution compared to others: relationship with the territorial system of actors (local decision-makers, unions, local governments, type of labour market and needs of VET, information network, type of populations interested in a learning offer and evolution of the needs, main results of work at national and European levels in the VET sector)[5].
City of Dublin ETB is committed to the processes of evaluating its own performance and centre lead programme self-evaluation processes are part of legacy centre level procedures. There is also a monitoring and self-evaluative dimension provided for in the procedures for conducting Exam Board and Results Approval Panel meetings, in terms of reviewing how programmes have performed over the previous cycle. These procedures have been extensively reviewed and re-developed to strengthen the processes at College and Centre level. It is the aim of City of Dublin ETB to strength these processes further.
City of Dublin ETB conducted an Executive Self–Evaluation on quality assurance at corporate level. The findings of this can be accessed here: Executive Self-Evaluation City of Dublin ETB. Since then, there has been an inaugural review in 2022.
The City of Dublin ETB Quality Improvement Plan:
Centres are required to monitor courses from the perspective of programme validation, course approval and information to learners. A monitoring and self-evaluation tool was created for this purpose and issued to all centres.
Quality Maintenance Enhancement and Assurance; Self-Evaluation, Monitoring and Review Policy and Procedures
In June 2020, City of Dublin ETB carried out a review of the impact of Covid-19 on teaching, learning and assessment. This report is available here: Informing The Future – Review of City of Dublin ETB’s Reponses to the COVID 19 Emergency
References:
[1] QQI (2016) Statutory Quality Assurance Guidelines, April 2016/QG1-V2, page 2
[2] UNESCO (2013) Quality Assurance in Higher Education, page 1
[3] City of Dublin ETB (2023) City of Dublin Education and Training Board Service Plan 2023, page 3
[4] UNDP Evaluation Office (2002) Handbook on Monitoring and Evaluating for Results, page 102
[5] Cedefop (2011) Glossary: Quality in education and training, page 159
City of Dublin ETB’s programme development policy enables City of Dublin ETB to pursue key strategic planning goals for service provision to meet learner needs within Dublin City. It is important that the necessary level of co-ordination is achieved to ensure over supply does not occur which can undermine existing delivery. We must also endeavour to ensure course development occurs in line with the needs of learners in the City. It is essential that co-ordination occurs from the learner perspective – which is course offering. City of Dublin ETB is committed to supporting centres in developing their course offering to best meet the evolving needs of learners in Dublin City.
The City of Dublin ETB Programme Management Development Group (PMDG) oversee the development of new programmes in line with relevant sectoral agreements. Please contact the FET Development Unit for additional information.
- P1b Form to Modify an Existing Programme – general modification
- P1c Form to Modify an Existing Module
- P2 Form to Request to develop a new programme
Programme Reviews
Learner Supports and Engagement Service was formed in late 2022 and moved into Winstead in January 2023. It was established to support and empower City of Dublin ETB FET centres to provide a high quality learning experience for all, through the sharing of practice and the collaborative development of policies, resources and toolkits. The national FET Strategy 2020-24 identified learner supports as a key area of strategic focus under the pillar of inclusion and was highlighted again in the recommendations arising from the recent inaugural review of FET in City of Dublin ETB. The Learner Supports and Engagement Service will work with centres on a broad range of areas related to learner supports, including:
- learner voice and learner leadership
- pre-college supports
- admissions procedures, systems and resources
- induction
- recognition of Prior Learning
- disability supports
- language, literacy, numeracy
- study skills
- extracurricular/non-curricular activities and events
Learner Surveys
One of the functions of the Learner Supports and Engagement Service is to support the development of mechanisms to capture learner voice. The annual survey addresses core questions, while allowing for the development of a number of thematic areas of focus. The Quality Assurance and Development Group (QADG) is responsible for the identification of thematic areas. The survey is then developed by the Learner Supports and Engagement Service in consultation with representatives from the five service spheres and is brought to the QADG for approval.
The annual survey is distributed to learners across all FET centres in City of Dublin ETB to establish annual baseline evaluative data. Following completion of the survey, centres are provided with the data from their respective centres while thematic reports provide aggregated data and analysis of the findings across the scheme. These reports will be published on the City of Dublin ETB website.
In addition to the annual learner survey, focus groups are utilised to gain more in-depth insights into learners’ experiences in City of Dublin ETB’s FET provision. Over the coming years, the Learner Supports and Engagement Service will develop and implement a learner-voice framework across the scheme.
Annual Learner Survey
- Annual FET Learner Survey 2023. Report 1 Induction
- Report 2. 2023 Annual FET Learner Survey Extra Curricular and Progression
Learner Support Newsletters
- Volume 2, Issue 5 November 2024
- Volume 2, Issue 4 October 2024
- Volume 2, Issue 3 September 2024
- Issue 8 LSE Newsletter May-June 2024
- Issue 7 LSE Newsletter March-April 2024
- Issue 6 LSE Newsletter Jan-Feb 2024
- Issue 5 LSE Newsletter Nov-Dec 2023
- Issue 4 LSE Newsletter Sept-Oct 2023
- Issue 3 LSE Newsletter May-June 2023
- Issue 2 LSE Newsletter April 2023
- Issue 1 LSE Newsletter March 2023