Douglas Blackstock appointed as Chair of the sparqs Trustee Board 28 May 2026
We are delighted to announce that Douglas Blackstock has been appointed as the new Chair of the sparqs Trustee Board. Douglas is the successor to Sir Andrew Cubie, who has held the post for the last seven years. We are… Read More
Rob McDermott appointed as STAG College Co-Chair 28 May 2026
We are very pleased to confirm the appointment of Rob McDermott as the College Co-Chair of sparqs’ Tertiary Advisory Group (STAG). Rob, who is Head of Quality, Teaching and Enhancement at Forth Valley College, has been undertaking the role on an… Read More
Update on the design of a PGR Experience model for Scotland 28 May 2026
We are pleased to share an update on our work to create a model of the Postgraduate Research Experience to complement the existing model available for taught students. The PGR model will play a key role in quality enhancement processes… Read More
Have you planned your Course Rep Training for 2026-27? 28 May 2026
As colleges and universities across Scotland look ahead to the next academic year, if you’ve not already made your plans, now is a good time to think about how your institution will deliver Course Rep Training in 2026-27! Further to… Read More
Some prompts for planning for the year ahead! 28 May 2026
A few prompts and reminders which might be helpful to students' associations and institutions around this time of year, some of which we’ve already flagged in recent articles…. Course Rep Training planning Following on from the reminder in our early April news… Read More
Updated education officer induction and outduction resources 22 Apr 2026
We are delighted to announce our annual update to our induction and outduction resources for education officers, designed to support institutions and students’ associations during their annual officer handover processes. The two updated resources we’ve published include: Education officer induction resource Education officer… Read More
'Talking Student Partnership' interview with Holly McAdams 22 Apr 2026
Our 'Talking Student Partnership' interview series continues with another video conversation from Scotland’s tertiary education sector! The next interview in our series features Holly McAdams, Vice President Academic at Heriot-Watt University Students’ Union. In our interview, Holly reflects on her two… Read More
Our recruitment for ATs is still open... deadline 9am on 11th May! 22 Apr 2026
A reminder that our 2026-27 Associate Trainer recruitment is still open for applications - deadline 9am, Monday 11th May 2026! Calling all student reps! Do you have experience as a course/apprentice or other representative role? Will you be a student or apprentice during… Read More
Planning for the year ahead: a combined meeting of STAG, NEON and SESN in May.... plus an extra SESN in April! 01 Apr 2026
A reminder that sparqs’ three stakeholder forums will gather again in May for our annual, joint, in-person meeting to explore sparqs' future work. If you plan to join us, please register as soon as you can... On Tuesday 12th May 2026… Read More
Reminder: sparqs is recruiting for a Development Consultant! 01 Apr 2026
A reminder that we are currently recruiting for a Development Consultant to join our staff team. The closing date for applications is 9.00am on Monday 13th April 2026. sparqs is a charity funded by the Scottish Funding Council to work with Scotland's… Read More
A reminder about SEAPs before officer handover 01 Apr 2026
As we approach the end of the academic year, this article is a reminder about the Self-Evaluation and Action Plan (SEAP) process. In particular, we want to remind institutions to seek perspectives and input from outgoing students' association officers before… Read More
That's Quality! 2026 is open for bookings! 01 Apr 2026
We are pleased to announce that our annual That's Quality! programme for student officers and students’ association staff is now open for summer 2026 bookings! The full programme now comprises the self-study module and the extended residential event: The online self-study module… Read More
sparqs is recruiting student Associate Trainers for 2026-27 01 Apr 2026
sparqs 2026-27 Associate Trainer recruitment is open for applications - deadline 9am, Monday 11th May 2026! Calling all student reps! Do you have experience as a course/apprentice or other representative role? Will you be a student or apprentice during 2026-27? ....if so, and you… Read More
Course Rep Training – your plans for 2026-27 01 Apr 2026
This article is a prompt for Course Rep Training Organisers (Representation Co-ordinators and those with similar remits in colleges and universities across Scotland) to consider your plans for delivering Course Rep Training (CRT) during 2026-27, if you haven’t already done… Read More
sparqs is recruiting for a Development Consultant! 13 Mar 2026
We are currently recruiting for a Development Consultant to join our staff team. sparqs is a charity funded by the Scottish Funding Council to work with Scotland's university and college sectors. Our mission is to foster a culture of partnership between… Read More
Launch of sparqs' new Academic Development Toolkit 10 Mar 2026
We are delighted to publish our new Academic Development Toolkit, launched on 10th March 2026 at the first of three invitation-based events for academic development colleagues within the Scottish tertiary sector. We’re thrilled that more than 30 colleagues will be joining us… Read More
Planning for the year ahead: a combined meeting of STAG, NEON and SESN 10 Mar 2026
Following previous successful combined events, sparqs’ three stakeholder forums will gather again in May for a joint, in-person meeting to explore sparqs' future work. On Tuesday 12th May 2026 sparqs’ Tertiary Advisory Group (STAG), National Education Officers’ Network (NEON), Student Engagement… Read More
Additional SESN meeting on 30th April 2026! 10 Mar 2026
Please note that we have scheduled an additional meeting of the Student Engagement Staff Network (SESN), taking place on Thursday 30th April 2026 – online via MS Teams, from 10.00am until 12noon. The network is aimed at staff in universities and colleges… Read More
Contribute to the design of sparqs’ Postgraduate Research Experience model! 04 Feb 2026
sparqs is undertaking a project to create a model of the Postgraduate Research Experience to accompany the model available for taught students. The model will play a key role in quality enhancement processes across Scotland, and sparqs is keen to… Read More
Student partnership in staff development project update - events and project outputs coming soon! 04 Feb 2026
We are delighted to share that outputs from our ‘Student partnership in staff development’ project will be launched in March 2026. As part of this, we have invited academic developers from across the Scottish Tertiary sector to attend a practice sharing… Read More