Stockholm university

UKÄ’s review of Stockholm University’s quality assurance system completed

The Swedish Higher Education Authority, UKÄ, has given Stockholm University’s quality assurance system an overall assessment of approved with reservations. “However, Stockholm University also received praise in many important areas,” says Astrid Söderbergh Widding, President of Stockholm University.

Photo: Ingmarie Andersson/Stockholm University

Stockholm University is commended for many key areas within the quality assurance system, such as the work of achieving a deep-rooted quality culture, the clear division of responsibilities, the valuable quality dialogues, well-thought-out policies and the resources for pedagogical development.

“The assessment shows that the determined work that Stockholm University has put into developing the quality assurance system for education in recent years has yielded results,” says Astrid Söderbergh Widding.

However, UKÄ believes that there are two assessment areas that are not met: ‘Student and Doctoral Student Perspective’ and ‘Working Life and Collaboration.’ Here, UKÄ calls for a better system in the implementation and follow-up of these areas.

“We will consider the review that UKÄ has done, it is good to get an indication of where we may need to continue to improve and develop further in terms of different parts of the quality assurance system,” says Clas Hättestrand, Vice President at Stockholm University, who has led the development of the university's quality assurance system for education.

“We will now thoroughly review UKÄ's decision. Once we have done so, we will develop a plan with the measures the university needs to take. Following that, we have two years to put these measures into effect and submit an action report to UKÄ. A new assessment will then be made of the two questioned areas, and after that Stockholm University will hopefully receive the assessment approved,” says Clas Hättestrand.

“It is important to emphasise that UKÄ's assessments do not refer to the quality of Stockholm University's education or students' results, but the evaluation refers to the system we use for quality assurance of the education, for example routines for course evaluations and educational reviews,” Clas Hättestrand concludes.

 

About the review:

The Swedish Higher Education Authority, UKÄ, is reviewing the internal quality assurance work at all universities and colleges for the period 2017-2022. The aim is to obtain an overview of the quality based on six assessment areas:

  • Governance and Organisation
  • Preconditions
  • Design, Implementation and Outcomes
  • Gender Equality
  • Student and Doctoral Student Perspective
  • Working Life and Collaboration

The review results in one of three assessments: approved, approved with reservations or quality assurance work called into question.

Within the first four assessment areas, Stockholm University receives a satisfactory assessment, while the assessment areas ‘Student and Doctoral Student Perspective’ and ‘Working Life and Collaboration’ are judged unsatisfactory. Stockholm University's quality assurance system receives the overall assessment approved with reservations.

Link to the decision