The Oman Academic Accreditation Authority (OAAA: formerly the Oman Accreditation Council (OAC)) has developed a two-stage institutional accreditation system (Quality Audit followed by Standards Assessment). The system is designed to support Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) with their continuous quality improvement efforts and to provide means of holding HEIs accountable to society. The first formal quality audit was carried out in 2008. Since then, twenty-six HEIs in the public and private sector in Oman have been through the quality audit process and 25 quality audit reports have been published on the OAAA website. This paper presents analysis of audit reports findings and what has been learnt from actual quality audit process itself. The authors provide a thematic analysis of the formal conclusions (Commendations, Affirmations and Recommendations) presented in the audit reports in areas of governance and management; student learning by coursework; research; industry and community engagement; academic and student support services; staff support services; and general facilities. The OAAA itself has also been learning from the implementation of its quality audits process: it has regularly reviewed the process with an aim to increasing its overall effectiveness and ensuring that it is appropriate for the Omani higher education sector. Conclusions from this thematic overview show that there are clear trends in terms of areas of strength and opportunities for improvement across the higher education sector in Oman. The initial findings also show that quality is not related to whether HEIs are publicly or privately funded. Feedback from the sector also suggests that the impact of preparing for the quality audit has been as valuable as the process of going through the audit itself.

The Oman Academic Accreditation Authority (OAAA: formerly the Oman Accreditation Council (OAC)) has developed a two-stage institutional accreditation system (Quality Audit followed by Standards Assessment). The system is designed to support Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) with their continuou...