Support for HE

The JISC supports the Higher Education sector, both HEIs and Higher Education delivered in Further Education colleges, by providing the expertise, independent advice, guidance and resources to promote the effective and innovative use of Information and Communications Technology.

Each RSC in the UK has an HE Coordinator and part of their role is to ensure that wherever RSC activities and services would be of relevance to HE practitioners and management, it is disseminated to the HE sector effectively. The RSC is committed to developing effective and meaningful contact with HE, providing advice on e-learning and establishing and facilitating regional Communities of Practice.

• Good Practice and Innovation
• ALT - the Association for Learning Technology
• The Higher Education Academy
• UCISA
• Universities Scotland
• QAA Scotland
• Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA)
• The Scottish Funding Council (SFC)
• Smarter Scotland

Good Practice and Innovation

HE in FE JISC funded Projects

JISC has funded a number of projects to implement, pilot and evaluate a range of technologies with learners in the HE in FE context. These projects will all be piloting existing technologies, with an emphasis on evaluating the learners' experience of the implementation JISC website HE in FE Page

• Useful Resources
• JISC CETIS Site
• JISC e-Learning Focus site
• JISC TechDis Service
• JISC Legal website

Back to top

ALT - the Association for Learning Technology

ALT is a professional and scholarly association which seeks to bring together all those with an interest in the use of learning technology. Join ALT as an individual or organisational member.
http://www.alt.ac.uk/

The Higher Education Academy

The Higher Education Academy is an independent organisation funded primarily by grants from the four UK funding bodies. The Academy provides a nationwide focus for enhancing teaching, learning and students' experience in higher education.
www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/institutions

Subject Centres

The Academy provide subject-specific support network for practitioners in the HE sector, promoting increased sharing of subject knowledge and good practice. This nation-wide network of Subject Centres is spread throughout 25 higher education institutions around the UK.

Scotland has a distinctive higher education system, and Academy Scotland has been developed to recognise and support this. For more information on specific subject areas, the following Academy Subject Centres have web pages dedicated to Scotland:

Subject Centre web pages

Bioscience
Engineering
English
History, Classics and Archaeology (HCA)
Health Sciences and Practice (HSAP)
Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies (LLAS)
Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine (MEDEV)
Social Policy and Social Work (SWAP)
UK Centre for Legal Education (UKCLE)

Management, Leadership and Quality Enhancement

The Academy has produced two good practice guides:

Good practice guide on understanding and running exam boards (DOC 133KB)
Good practice guide on producing a Higher Education strategy (DOC 112KB)

Back to top

UCISA represents the whole of higher education, and increasingly further education, in the provision and development of academic, management and administrative information systems, providing a network of contacts and a powerful lobbying voice.
http://www.ucisa.ac.uk

Universities Scotland exists to represent, promote and campaign for the Scottish higher education sector. Through this work, it seeks to assist the sector to deliver its essential contribution to the economic, social and cultural needs of Scotland, and to the enhancement of Scotland's international reputation.
http://www.universities-scotland.ac.uk

Back to top

QAA Scotland works closely with the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Funding Council, as well as organisations such as Universities Scotland, and the National Union of Students in Scotland, to develop and operate arrangements that reflect the distinctive needs of higher education in Scotland.

In Scotland, enhancement-led institutional review (ELIR) has been designed by the QAA in collaboration and consultation with Universities Scotland and its member universities and colleges, the student bodies in Scotland and the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council. It is an integral element of the enhancement-led approach to managing quality and standards in Scottish higher education.

ELIR focuses on the deliberate steps taken by each university or college of higher education to continually improve the learning experience of students. ELIR >>
http://www.qaa.ac.uk

The SQA is an executive non-departmental public body (NDPB) sponsored by the Scottish Executive Education Department. It is the national body in Scotland responsible for the development, accreditation, assessment and certification of qualifications other than degrees. The overall aim of the SQA is to manage the qualifications system below degree level to allow students to fulfill their potential to participate in the economy, society and communities of Scotland.
http://www.sqa.org.uk

The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) allocates resources for teaching and learning, research and other activities in Scotland's colleges and universities in support of the Scottish government's priorities.
http://www.sfc.ac.uk/

Back to top

Smarter Scotland - raising awareness of initiatives to create a smarter Scotland supporting sustained productivity growth, competitiveness and prosperity. The Executive wants to ensure that everybody has access to learning opportunities that can help them achieve their full potential - giving children and young people the best possible start in life as they move from school to university and college or into the workforce, ensuring employability and adaptability throughout life.
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education