Quality assurance
View guidance and documentation on governance procedures and system solutions utilized by UWE Bristol to assure regulatory compliance for all professional practice placements.
Professional practice placements
Practice placements used by professional programmes across departments of the College of Health, Science and Society at UWE Bristol, must meet the requirements of the statutory regulatory organisations such as NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council) or HCPC (Health and Care Professions Council).
The information provided on this page will help ensure that our professional practice placements meet the quality assurance standards by using the College strategies and information that is monitored through the university policy systems and that of the placement providers.
Quality assurance standards
The QA standards set out by professional regulatory organisations define the requirements and roles for both education and placement providers.
Quality assurance process
Placement quality monitoring and enhancement is an ongoing process and requires regular and frequent reviews of the standards in practice. The reviews ensures quality is maintained and also developed, and this is achieved through annual reporting as best practice.
The reporting system consists of an educational audit process for an effective practice learning culture, and takes into account student evaluation and feedback.
Placement audit and profile
Placement audits inform on the maintenance or improvements to the student practice placement experience through the provision of evidence of standard leve met and highlights areas of potential concerns or agreed actions.
Placement profiles contain comprehensive information for students about their next placement so they can be better prepared. Profiles are often updated at the same time as the audit, to reflect the frequent changes that take place in a placement area.
Initial audit
An initial audit is required for all new placements and is jointly undertaken by a UWE Bristol representative and by a practice placement partner. Initial audits are now done online, please see guides below.
Self-assessment audit
Self-assessment audits are required for all existing placements, in the process of re-auditing a placement. This is completed by the placement provider at regular time intervals. It is then disseminated appropriately at all levels to ensure learning from good practice.
Placement profile
The placement profile represents the exact status of a practice placement at a set moment in time, it sets out the placement structure in our ARC database and it is the only information students can view. Please update the placement profile each time you re-audit a placement.
Audit system
Our audit system on the web is now live and is available to all existing web users. It can be accessed using your current work email address and password. To carry out audit you will need editing permissions, so please visit log in to ARC Single Sign On (placement profile and audit).
New web users can contact an academic practice lead for their practice area, with queries about using the web systems. For those not yet using the system, you will be provided with a login on completion of the new placement and/or web users request form (DOC). See our ARC guides and forms web page for more guidance.
Useful links
You may find the below links helpful:
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