QAA Membership Podcast

In this episode, QAA brings together four Subject Benchmark Advisory Group Chairs to explore how the latest Benchmark Statements address Generative AI, ethics, inequality and professional practice across Art & Design, Social Policy, Sociology and Social Work. Hear practical insights on critical and responsible AI use, safeguarding independent thinking, and embedding sustainability, accessibility and real‑world skills to ensure graduates are prepared for an evolving academic and professional landscape.

In a special podcast released to mark the publication of this year's suite of revised Subject Benchmark Statements, QAA's Quality & Standards Manager Dr Andy Smith talked with two of our Advisory Group Chairs: the University of Westminster's Kate Cheyne, Chair of the Advisory Group for Architecture, and the University of Plymouth's Dr Péter Bokody, Chair of the Advisory Group for the History of Art, Architecture & Design Statement.  
The podcast focuses on how recent changes in their subject areas are reflected in the new iterations of their Subject Benchmark Statements – and started by talking about the impact of Generative AI on their disciplines. 
Find the full Subject Benchmark Statements and supporting resources on the our website: www.qaa.ac.uk/subject-benchmark-statements

How can sustainability stay central in higher education amid financial pressures?

In this thought-provoking episode, Dr. Rehema White (University of St Andrews) and Charlotte Bonner (EAUC CEO) challenge the idea that sustainability is a luxury. Instead, they argue it is core to higher education’s mission—equipping graduates to navigate complexity and drive positive change.

We explore how sustainability intersects with priorities like quality education, decolonising curricula, and student wellbeing, offering a unifying framework rather than a competing agenda. The conversation also touches on compassionate education, eco-anxiety, and empowering students as change-makers.

Our guests share inspiring examples from UK institutions and reflect on the ongoing journey of embedding sustainability in meaningful, context-specific ways. They leave us with hopeful insights about the future of education and its role in shaping a more sustainable world.

Tune in for an essential conversation about higher education’s purpose in challenging times.

Resources and further reading:
Perspectives and Practices of Education for Sustainable Development, Edited By Rehema M. White, Simon Kemp, Elizabeth A. C. Price, James W. S. Longhurst (https://www.routledge.com/Perspectives-and-Practices-of-Education-for-Sustainable-Development-A-Critical-Guide-for-Higher-Education/White-Kemp-Price-Longhurst/p/book/9781032588018)
QAA's newly revised and updated 2025 Subject Benchmark Statements (https://www.qaa.ac.uk/the-quality-code/subject-benchmark-statements#april-2025)
QAA and Advance HE's Education for Sustainable Development guidance (https://www.qaa.ac.uk/the-quality-code/education-for-sustainable-development)
QAA-funded Education for Sustainable Development Collaborative Enhancement Projects (https://www.qaa.ac.uk//en/membership/benefits-of-qaa-membership/collaborative-enhancement-projects/education-for-sustainable-development):
ESD and Academic Quality
Monitoring and evaluating education for sustainable development in Higher Education
Developing Phenomenal Learning: A toolkit for implementing Phenomenon-Based Learning as part of a future-proofed SDG HE curriculum
Students driving curriculum quality for sustainability - developing criteria and tools

In this podcast, we share Professor Phillip Dawson's keynote address on Assessment Design for a time of AI, which he presented at our 2025 Quality Insights Conference last month. 

Phillip is co-director of Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE) at Deakin University, Australia. Having initially studied AI and cyber security before his PhD in Higher Education, he’s now a leading expert on assessment validity in the digital age.
 
Artificial intelligence is capable of producing outputs that satisfy the requirements of some high-stakes assessments across a range of disciplines including law, medicine and engineering. This has driven concerns about a new wave of artificial-intelligence-enabled cheating, as well as questions about the sustainability and authenticity of current assessment practices. 

This presentation explores how assessment needs to change for a time of artificial intelligence. It draws upon work the Phillip has done as one of the leaders of the major Australian project Assessment reform for a time of artificial intelligence, which was funded by the Australian higher education regulator. The presentation’s main focus is resolving the tension between preparing students for a world pervaded by artificial intelligence, and ensuring the integrity and security of assessment.

Key points covered are:

1. Assessment matters, but so does what is assessed (does it need to change in a time of AI?)
2. Validity matters more than cheating (is AI panic more of a threat to validity than AI itself?)
3. Future-authentic assessment (prepare for their future, not our past)
4. Reverse scaffolding (use AI once you can do it yourself)
5. Zone of Proximal Development (tools for production vs tools for learning)
6. Cognitive offloading (extraneous vs intrinsic)
7. Evaluative judgement (but it can’t be the only thing)
8. Make structural not discursive changes (no bogus rules)
9. No such thing as AI-proof assessment (beware of anybody who says they have one
10. Swiss Cheese programmatic - layers of imperfect assessments tell us more than one good one
If you would like to view Phillip's slides, go to the video version of this podcast: https://youtu.be/8ANOlnypHFw 

Don’t forget, if you’re a QAA Member, you can book your place now for our in-person Member Network Conference on 2 April and access a range of thought-provoking and topical presentations and discussions from across the sector just like this one. Click the link to find out more: https://events.qaa.ac.uk/event/abc3576c-0f95-491f-af9d-8ee5cca86eec/summary

In the latest edition of the QAA podcast, our Chief Executive Vicki Stott talks with Paul Greatrix – who last month retired from his position as Registrar at the University of Nottingham at the end of a 36-year career in higher education.
Together, Vicki and Paul consider the changes that the sector has gone through over the last few decades and the challenges it faces today, as they anticipate the developments ahead in 2025.
Topics include the challenges and opportunities raised by the lifelong learning agenda – and the importance of robust credit transfer mechanisms – the proliferation of artificial intelligence, and the financial pressures currently affecting the sector.
Don’t forget, if you’re a QAA Member you can book your place now at our online Quality Insights Conference on 26 and 27 February and access a range of practice presentations from across the sector and thought-provoking discussions just like this one. Click the link to find out more: https://events.qaa.ac.uk/event/df00c374-fa07-40d1-a833-37686a2bda31/summary