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QSN 19th Annual Conference 2026

Quality Without Apologies: What is Academic Quality in 2026?

Beyond metrics and algorithms: reclaiming purpose, judgement, and trust.

 

We’re excited to share that bookings are now open for the QSN Annual Conference 2026!
We will be returning to Conference Aston in Birmingham on Wednesday 16 – Thursday 17 September.

📅 Please note the change from our usual Thursday–Friday format — the conference will run Wednesday–Thursday this year.

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Bookings

So that we can collate your workshop choices with your booking, please make your conference booking using this form.

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In a sector increasingly shaped by metrics, regulation, and artificial intelligence, the meaning of “academic quality” is under pressure. Is quality still what we think it is, and who is it for?

This conference brings together perspectives from regulatory practice, assessment, and policy to explore how definitions of quality are shifting in 2026. As data, dashboards, and algorithmic tools play a growing role in how quality is measured, there is a risk that its deeper purposes, protecting standards, supporting meaningful learning, and sustaining public trust, are obscured.

Moving beyond technical compliance, the discussion will return to first principles: the role of human judgement, the importance of clarity in standards, and the need to articulate quality confidently in a contested landscape. It will also examine emerging faultlines, such as differential outcomes, curriculum–assessment alignment, and the implications of AI for authorship and assessment, and ask whether current approaches remain fit for purpose.

At its core, this conference explores a clear argument: in a rapidly changing environment, quality matters more than ever, but only if we are prepared to define it, defend it, and refocus it on the people it ultimately serves.

 

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2026 Conference prices

  • Season Ticket – 1 place
    • 1x Includes, full conference package, conference dinner and one night B&B on Thursday 18th
  • Season Ticket Plus – 2 places
    • 2x Includes, full conference package, conference dinner and one night B&B on Thursday 18th
  • Standard – Registration can be purchased for £550 per person
    • Includes, full conference package, conference dinner and one night B&B on Thursday 18th
  • Non-member

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Programme

Full programme to be announced soon. In the meantime, you can view the available breakout sessions below.

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Breakout Sessions


Session
Speakers
A The changing size and shape of Academic Quality in UK Higher Education: Are we truly transformed?

Transformation has become a defining feature of UK higher education – but what picture emerges when we step back and look across the Academic Quality profession itself? Using a sector-wide snapshot of institutions across the UK, this workshop will identify emerging trends before asking the bigger question: what do these changes tell us about the identity, purpose and future of Academic Quality?

  
B Confident Partnerships: Growing Collaboration While Securing Standards.

 

As institutions increasingly look to partnerships to support strategic ambitions, quality professionals have a key role in helping organisations grow confidently and sustainably. Through practical examples and discussion, this session will explore how effective partnership oversight can enable innovation while maintaining trust in quality and standards.                      

 

  
C Lifelong Learning Entitlement– will it take us a lifetime to achieve?

 

  
D Improving outcomes for students – the role of the student voice and the NSS.  
E Quality connections – a further chance to network and connect with colleagues in an informal session.

 

  

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Car Parking

Car Parking at Conference Aston: This must be booked online, prior to arrival. Please visit www.conferenceaston.co.uk/carparking where you can book and pay for your space online. You will then be sent an email permit to display in your windscreen and an entry code for the car park. Please ensure you book this, prior to setting off, as we cannot guarantee availability at the venue car park, on the day.

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Contact

If you require any support please contact QSN@ahep.ac.uk . 

Event Details

  • Conference Aston - Aston University Address: Aston University, Aston St, Birmingham B4 7ET
  • 16-17th September 2026

Schedule overview

The Full Agenda

Registration for this event is now closed.

Meet Our Sponsors

evasys

For over 25 years, evasys is the leading provider of evaluation and insight solutions to the UK and Irish Higher Education sector. Not just a module and course evaluation tool, evasys customers are delivering a diversity of surveys such as Pre-arrival, First Year Experience, Student Satisfaction, Student Union Elections, Apprenticeship surveys and more.

Our senior team brings extensive first-hand experience having all worked in universities. This deep understanding of sector culture and workflows means we deliver implementations and ongoing support that are both efficient and aligned with institutional needs not matched by other evaluation providers. We’re proud to be working with new customers such as the University of York, the University of Sussex, Cumbria University, and the University of Cambridge Judge Business School.

evasys is a specialist Higher Education evaluation solution with AI powered comment analysis and extensive dashboard analytics underpinned by a team with HE expertise, which is why it is the dominant choice for UK and Irish universities.

We are by the sector, for the sector.

 

TimeEdit

TimeEdit is the Academic Operations Platform for higher education. Trusted by 250+ universities and colleges across the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, TimeEdit connects Curriculum, Workload, Scheduling, and Student Engagement on a single connected foundation, so the work flows the way it was always meant to.

Founded in Sweden in 1992, TimeEdit has spent more than 30 years building exclusively for higher education. Not as a vertical to serve, but as the only world it operates in. More than 3 million students navigate their academic year through the platform.

Academia runs on TimeEdit.

AHEP Consulting

AHEP Consulting is the consulting arm of the Association of Higher Education Professionals, committed to excellence in higher education management. Our consultants bring extensive experience across the sector, delivering projects and reviews that drive meaningful improvement and impact. We work closely with our clients to enhance professional service practices and strengthen sector performance. 

Our unique consultant model combines the expertise of HE professionals with the strength of AHEP’s network. Each consultant is an AHEP member with deep sector knowledge, allowing us to offer bespoke solutions that balance external insight with sector-specific understanding. By working collaboratively, we draw on diverse skills and perspectives to deliver inclusive, multi-faceted outcomes that reflect best practice and innovation in higher education.