Quality Assurance and Improvement at the University of Sydney

The University of Sydney is a community of students, scholars and staff committed to bringing out the best in all its members. Our aim is to provide an environment for teaching, learning and research that stimulates innovation and produces outcomes comparable to the highest international standards. Our record of success is clear, but we aspire continually to surpass it.

These fundamental ideas inform the University's approach to quality assurance and improvement. We apply the same criteria of excellence to quality assurance as to all our other activities. We strive to learn from best practice and our benchmarks for quality assurance are those of the leading research universities around the world.

The University promotes a view of quality assurance as an integral part of the academic enterprise. Its quality assurance agenda is driven by people who are active in teaching, research and administration, rather than from any central institutional 'quality unit'. The University's quality assurance and associated reviews and data collection systems are not designed around the requirements of external audit but form a routine part of its activities in the pursuit of excellence.

Student feedback

Quality enhancement at the University of Sydney is furthered by the collection, analysis, reporting and action on student feedback.

Data about the student degree experience in the University is collected through the Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) (previous year's graduates) and the Student Course Experience Questionnaire (SCEQ) (current students).

Analysis of this data provides a comprehensive picture of trends in the student experience, and the performance of the Faculty in relation to Learning and Teaching Performance Fund Key Performance Indicators (Generic Skills; Good Teaching; Overall Satisfaction), and other related areas (Learning Community, Curriculum, Assessment and Workload, Clear Goals and Standards).

Written observations from students about their experience provide evidence to support the percentage agreement scores, and provide detailed information about key issues in the areas of best practice or areas of concern.

More information on student feedback