Last year, the HKCAAVQ continued its efforts to enhance its accreditation service. In April 2013, we organised a focus group meeting with operators to share our proposed revisions to the guidelines and the new templates developed for NLP accreditation. Following the feedback received in the focus group meeting, the refined NLP guidelines and the associated tools were published on our website in July 2013. In addition, to better define the scope of substantial change and enhance the efficiency of assessing substantial changes, revised guidelines on substantial change to accreditation status were published in the same period.

The HKCAAVQ strives to facilitate operators to undertake accreditation. We organised briefings for operators to help them better understand our accreditation criteria and processes. We also offered tailor-made workshops to enable operators to prepare self-contained accreditation documents and evaluate their own readiness for undertaking accreditation.

To facilitate mutual understanding, we regularly have experience sharing sessions with operators. To promote the use of QF credit, we organised a sharing session with an operator in April 2013 to share their practical experience on the use of QF credit. In March 2014, we also invited an operator to share with us their views on some authentic cases in relation to assignment of QF credit. These fruitful exchanges deepened our understanding of the assignment of credits in different institutions.

The HKCAAVQ employs the Four-Stage Quality Assurance Process (the Process) to accredit providers and their learning programmes under the QF. The four stages are Initial Evaluation (IE), Programme Validation (PV), Programme Area Accreditation (PAA) and Periodic Review (PR).

Following the 2011 review, and consultation with stakeholders in 2012, the Council approved the following refinements to the Process and its implementation progressively from 1 June 2013:

(i) Highlighting the learner-centred philosophy to guide implementation

(ii) Renaming Stage 2 from Programme Validation (PV) to Learning Programme Accreditation (LPA) to align with international practice

(iii) Formalising the combined exercise of Stage 1 Initial Evaluation (IE) and Stage 2 LPA as a standard route while keeping a stand alone Stage 1 or Stage 2 as an option for operators

(iv) Formalising the enabling approach via the establishment of a Facilitating Phase in Stage 1 and Stage 2

(v) Refining the eligibility criteria for proceeding to Stage 3 Programme Area Accreditation (PAA)

(vi) Adding to and aligning the PAA criteria

(vii) Establishing a Standing Panel on PAA Scope

(viii) Standardising validity periods for Stages 2-4

(ix) Refining QF level-linked accreditation status (Initial Evaluation, Programme Area Accreditation, Periodic Review)

(x) Introducing annual reporting and regular monitoring via a central repository

(xi) Refining PAA scope

During the year, we conducted a pre-test on the Facilitating Phase to seek comments from operators on the proposed work models and their associated processes. Operators were also invited to test run the facilitating models in a pilot study. Apart from the Facilitating Phase, the HKCAAVQ established a Standing Panel on PAA Scope to facilitate the processing of PAA case review and better define the PAA scope.

The HKCAAVQ is appointed by the Registrar of Non-local Higher and Professional Education Courses to provide professional advice as to whether a particular non-local course delivered in Hong Kong leading to the award of a non-local academic qualification or professional qualification meets the registration criteria as stipulated in Cap 493. We also advise the Registrar whether a registered non-local course continues to meet the registration criteria through annual assessments.

In the reporting year, the HKCAAVQ continued to work collaboratively with the Non-local Courses Registry to revise the form for annual return and develop a form for course changes in order to improve the efficiency of the assessment service.

Since the inception of the Continuing Education Fund (CEF) in June 2002, the HKCAAVQ has been commissioned by the Government to provide advisory services in regard to the quality assurance of the CEF courses. The HKCAAVQ works closely with the Labour and Welfare Bureau (LWB) and the Office of the Continuing Education Fund through regular tripartite meetings, advises the Government on the suitability of courses to be included in the list of reimbursable courses under the CEF, and assesses proposed amendments to existing CEF courses. The HKCAAVQ also conducts surprise audit visits to ascertain whether the CEF courses are operated in compliance with the approved conditions determined by the LWB.

In the reporting period, the HKCAAVQ has conducted 85 surprise audit visits and assessed 1,201 applications, which included 306 new applications and 844 applications for amendments to registered CEF reimbursable courses.

To prepare the HKCAAVQ for new responsibilities in the future and enhance the professional knowledge of our staff, we invited overseas and local subject specialists to conduct workshops and seminars on a wide range of themes such as “quality audit and accreditation”, “effective questioning techniques” and “balancing costs and quality”. We also invited professional bodies and licensing authorities to speak on accreditation-related topics and share with us their experience in accreditation. These exposures have advanced the expertise of our staff and extended our local and international networks.

With the increase in internationalisation of higher education, the HKCAAVQ will continue to explore opportunities to collaborate with institutions and other quality assurance agencies in different parts of the world. Further, the HKCAAVQ will evaluate its quality assurance practices against the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) Guidelines of Good Practice for QA Agency. The HKCAAVQ will continue to consolidate its knowledge and experience in academic accreditation and work closely with stakeholders to further enhance its services.