Quality Audits have recently been introduced by the Oman Accreditation Council (OAC) as the first stage of the Higher Education Institution (HEI) accreditation process. External quality audits are an internationally respected method for facilitating improvement efforts by higher education institutions, and for providing the public with a level of assurance that the quality of higher education institutions is being attended to through external review. By participating in this process, Oman joins many of the leading higher education sectors of the world that practise external quality audits. The emphasis of quality audit is on ‘fitness for purpose’, evaluating the effectiveness of an institution’s quality assurance processes against its stated goals and objectives. This is useful for determining an HEI’s strengths and opportunities for improvement as well as the effectiveness of the HEI’s quality management systems. This paper outlines the rationale for introducing quality audits into the higher education sector in Oman and, with extensive reference to international research on external quality assurance, explores the potential for quality audits to act as a driver of change. While acknowledging that external quality audits are just one potential driver of institutional change, the paper explores various aspects of the quality audit process that may have an impact on institutions. Although quality audits are at their infancy stage in Oman, there is evidence to suggest that their introduction has the potential to drive change in the sector.

Quality Audits have recently been introduced by the Oman Accreditation Council (OAC) as the first stage of the Higher Education Institution (HEI) accreditation process. External quality audits are an internationally respected method for facilitating improvement efforts by higher education institut...