The sector's hopes of a return to self-assessment, or at least the application of a universal light touch when it comes to quality assurance, seem to have been dashed with the ministerial reshuffle.
Perhaps ironic is the fact that the new minister for higher education's own experiences of less than exemplary practice were gained while a student at an institution that has recently been in the vanguard of the sector's fight against the excesses of the QAA's demands.
Phrases involving the concept of shooting oneself in the foot spring to mind.
Ian Reid
Professor of physical geography
Loughborough University