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It is to be hoped that the subtle and sensitive negotiations aiming to streamline the national approach to quality assurance are concluded quickly, and in such a way as to minimise the expenditure of institutional resources while maintaining an appropriate level of rigour.

Institutions are facing a continuing period of resource constraint and will not be able to continue indefinitely with traditional approaches to teaching and learning. A concentration on curriculum and staff development is needed as a matter of urgency: it is through these that the quality of higher education will best be secured for the future.

It is to be hoped that the emergent national quality structure will provide strong support for the developmental activities that will be needed in the years to come: the streamlining of audit and assessment - though necessary - is, in comparison, a second-order consideration.

MANTZ YORKE Liverpool John Moores University