As many colleagues will be aware, the future of subject-based
academic review has been under discussion at national level during
the last 2 or 3 months.  Following these discussions, a jointly
prepared consultation paper (01/45) has recently been published by
HEFCE, UUK, SCOP and the QAA. Please note that this paper relates
only to England.   It can be downloaded from:

http://www.hefce.ac.uk/Pubs/hefce/2001/01_45.htm

In essence, the proposals in the paper are to develop
further the process of institutional level review in such a way
that there would in future not be a separate review
programme at the subject level.  However, the details in the paper
are quite complex and there are circumstances in which reviews of
individual departments or programmes could be conducted by subject
specialists.   If you need further information you are strongly
advised therefore to read the original document.

The document is being sent for consultation to all Higher Education
institutions and HEFCE funded further education colleges and to a
wide range of other interested parties in England.  It is also
being distributed for information to all Higher Education
Institutions in Scotland, Wales and N. Ireland where separate
discussions about future arrangements are in train.  It is apparently
still the intention to try to retain a UK wide framework as far as
possible but at this stage it is by no means certain that this will
be achieved.

The period of consultation closes on Friday 26th October 2001. The
LTSN-GEES Subject Centre will try to keep its three discipline-based
communities up to date with any further developments in the quality
field.

The LTSN Subject Centre for Geography, Earth
& Environmental Sciences
University of Plymouth
Room 509, The Moneycentre
Drake Circus
Plymouth PL4 8AA
Tel. 01752 - 233531
Fax. 01752 - 233534
www.gees.ac.uk