About us

sparqs (student partnerships in quality Scotland) is an agency which, as our name suggests, puts students at the heart of decisions being made about the quality and governance of the learning experience.

For an overview of some of our work, view our video which showcases the highlights of our Celebrating Achievement 2017 publication.

sparqs was founded in 2003 and gained charitable status in December 2015. We are funded by the Scottish Funding Council to advance education by promoting an environment where students are able to make a positive and rewarding difference to their own and others' educational experience.  We support students to shape the nature of their learning and contribute to the overall success of learning provision, regardless of wherever and however they learn.

Originally named 'student participation in quality Scotland', in May 2015, we announced a small but meaningful change to our name, changing 'participation' to 'partnerships' reflecting the progress made in the sector since the inception of sparqs.  The change did not involve a rebrand, rather a phasing in of our new name 'student partnerships in quality Scotland'. 

View our short About sparqs leaflet for an overview of our purpose, principles and values, and key work areas. 

On the following pages you can find out about our strategic directionour governance, and how we work.

Student Engagement Framework

National Education Officers' Network meeting

21 Mar 2024

This meeting of sparqs’ National Education Officers’ Network (NEON) continues our series of meetings for academic year 2023-24. …

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Student Engagement Staff Network meeting

19 Mar 2024

This meeting of our Student Engagement Staff Network (SESN) for academic year 2023-24 continues our series of half-day events for…

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