Towards the Establishment of Program Evaluation System in Japanese Higher Education: Learning from the Quality Code Adopted in the United Kingdom

Despite global trends in quality assurance emphasizing degree-specific learning outcomes, Japanese higher education has yet to develop an effective evaluation system at the degree-program level. Recent Japanese educational policies strongly suggest the need for ensuring program-level learning outcomes and corresponding evaluation systems. As such, this paper explores how to establish sound program evaluation processes in Japanese higher education by identifying an international example and examining its essential components. Firstly, this paper analyzes recent policy trends with survey results related to quality assurance systems in Japanese higher education. It explores the development and implementation of program-level evaluation practices, internal quality enhancement processes and external quality assurance mechanisms. Secondly, it will refer to the quality assurance systems adopted by higher education in the United Kingdom and discuss its key elements. The parallels between the recent reforms and the policies implemented by the United Kingdom suggest potential comparative value that could be a useful reference for the enhancement of the Japanese system. This transnational analysis will also elucidate the benefits and challenges of articulating program-level internal and external quality assurance frameworks. Lastly, this paper draws on the specific case of England to illustrate how a program evaluation framework could further the enhancement efforts of the Japanese system.