Following up cycles of QAA subject assessments for non-mathematicians

The stated mission of the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) is to promote public confidence that quality of provision and standards of awards in higher education are being safeguarded and enhanced. In addition to auditing institutional arrangements for managing quality and standards, it assesses the quality and standards of teaching and learning at the subject level in each university. A subject review report is published for each institution following each assessment visit. On completion of each subject assessment cycle, i.e. when all universities offering that subject have been reviewed, the QAA publishes subject overview reports…Common threads come out of reviewing the QAA subject reviews with reference to teaching of mathematics: decline of mathematical expertise, lack of mathematical preparedness, diversity in mathematical skills within groups of students, increasing pressure...