The Audit Process

In order to ensure that students receive a high quality of service in the DSA process, DIUS recommends that local authorities use only those assessment centres and suppliers who have registered with DSA-QAG.  This is also the stated policy of the Student Loans Company, who will take on responsibility for DSA applications for new students from local authorities in England in 2009/10.

To become a registered member of DSA-QAG, assessment centres and suppliers need to meet criteria specified by DSA-QAG.  These are laid out in the Quality Assurance Framework (QAF) for assessment centres, and the Service Level Agreement for suppliers.

Annual organisational audits aim to ensure that organisations involved are providing the services they subscribe to and at an acceptable quality and in a proper manner.

Our aim is to safeguard the public interest, to monitor the quality assurance system, to inform and to encourage continuous improvement in the management of quality in the sector through setting up a good practice framework and carrying out annual audits to maintain the desired quality standards. We do this by working closely with assessment centres, suppliers, local authorities and student organisations to define standards and quality, and we carry out regular reviews against those standards.

DSA-QAG are not involved with quality assuring the contents of assessments reports produced by qualified assessors within registered assessment centres, nor does it have the remit to be involved with funding awarded by a local education authority or the Student Loans Company. These areas are dealt with specifically by the appropriate body.

Assessment centres and suppliers pay standard membership fees to DSA-QAG. These sources of income provide the mainstream funding for this project.