We are seeking a new Chair of the sparqs Trustee Board 17 Dec 2025
Volunteer Chair of Trustee Board sparqs is currently seeking a chair of Trustees who will lead our Board with integrity, insight and enthusiasm. This is an opportunity to guide a highly-regarded charity into its next exciting chapter. As our new Chair… Read More
Welcome to our Deputy Director, Hannah Clarke! 17 Dec 2025
We are thrilled to announce that Hannah Clarke has been appointed as the Deputy Director of sparqs, an exciting new role within the organisation! Many of you will remember Hannah from her previous roles within sparqs, initially as a Development… Read More
'Talking Student Partnership' interview with Jo Turbitt 17 Dec 2025
Our recently relaunched 'Talking Student Partnership' interview series is back with another video conversation from Scotland’s tertiary education sector! The next interview in our series features Jo Turbitt, Insights and Innovations Partner at the College Development Network. In our interview, Jo… Read More
sparqs Christmas closing details 17 Dec 2025
Over the festive period, the sparqs office is officially closed from the end of Friday 19th December 2025 onwards, reopening on Monday 5th January 2026. While the office is closed, you can leave a message via the website or leave a voicemail… Read More
sparqs team news! 12 Nov 2025
After six years with sparqs, we’re sorry to announce that Megan Brown, Senior Development Consultant, has left the team. Megan finished at the end of October to begin an exciting new role as Quality Enhancement Manager at QAA Scotland. While… Read More
Join November's SESN! 12 Nov 2025
The Student Engagement Staff Network (SESN) is underway for academic year 2025-26. The second meeting is now live on the events page to book and the others will be opened for bookings nearer the time. Make sure to save the… Read More
Book now for December's NEON meeting 12 Nov 2025
New and returning student officers are invited to sign up and participate in the National Education Officers' Network (NEON), run by sparqs. The second online meeting of the year, is now open to book... Following feedback from student officers, we’ve decided… Read More
Our thanks to Sir Andrew Cubie as he plans to step down as Chair 12 Nov 2025
After almost seven years as Chair of the sparqs Trustee Board, Sir Andrew Cubie has decided to step down, as he approaches his 80th birthday. Sir Andrew will be greatly missed by the whole of the staff team and by… Read More
We have moved office! 12 Nov 2025
At the end of September 2025, we moved into our new office, moving to a more suitable space, with more room for meetings and collaborative working. While we no longer share an office with our NUS Scotland colleagues (who have… Read More
National Course Rep Training sessions 12 Nov 2025
Our national Course Rep Training (CRT) sessions are now open for booking. These sessions are for reps from all colleges and universities who may have missed the chance to attend CRT earlier in the year. The sessions are open… Read More
Launch of sparqs' updated SEAP Practical Guide to student partnership 17 Sep 2025
We are delighted to publish our updated SEAP Guidance for students’ associations and student officers, designed to support meaningful student engagement throughout the SEAP (Self-Evaluation and Action Plan) process. Initially published in 2024, the guidance has now been updated for… Read More
Launch of sparqs' new Tertiary Quality Enhancement Review Practical Guide 17 Sep 2025
sparqs is delighted to announce the publication of our Practical Guide to Tertiary Quality Enhancement Review (TQER). This guide has been produced for students’ association officers and staff in the tertiary education sector in Scotland. It provides a context and… Read More
sparqs' TQER training 17 Sep 2025
As the second year of the Tertiary Quality Enhancement Reviews gets underway, sparqs is pleased to introduce a new training opportunity designed to support college and university students’ associations engaging in a Tertiary Quality Enhancement Review (TQER). This dedicated TQER… Read More
A reminder that sparqs' 2025-26 CRT is open to book! 17 Sep 2025
A reminder that bookings are now open for sparqs Course Rep Training during 2025-26 ....for delivery from week beginning Monday 29th September 2025 onwards. All the information you need is on our main CRT webpage. Please read the booking guidance before… Read More
Induction Resource for Academic Representation Co-ordinators 17 Sep 2025
A reminder about our Induction guide for Academic Representation Co-ordinators, most recently updated in May 2025. It contains helpful information for any new students’ association or institution staff member with a student engagement or academic representation role. We do periodical… Read More
sparqs' Buddy Scheme deadline extended until 14th October 17 Sep 2025
A reminder that our Buddy Scheme is back for year 2025-26 and you now have until Tuesday 14th October to register for the scheme! By signing up to the scheme, you are paired with another practitioner in student engagement across… Read More
A reminder re NEON plans - sign up now for the October meeting! 17 Sep 2025
A reminder that new and returning student officers are invited to sign up and participate in this academic year’s National Education Officers' Network (NEON), run by sparqs. The first online meeting on 28th October is open to book... What is NEON? The… Read More
SESN plans reminder - register now for October's meeting! 17 Sep 2025
A reminder that the Student Engagement Staff Network (SESN) is back for academic year 2025-26. Make sure you save the dates in your diary! The online meetings will all take place via Zoom, from 10.00am to 1.00pm. The October meeting… Read More
sparqs is recruiting a Deputy Director! 16 Sep 2025
We are excited to announce that sparqs is currently recruiting for a Deputy Director to join our staff team. Please share the details to anyone you think may be interested in this exciting new post! sparqs is a charity funded by the… Read More
sparqs team news! 29 Aug 2025
It's been all change in the sparqs staff team this summer, as we wished farewell to Gloria Laurini and Justin Walker, and recruited two new Development Consultants, Amy Monks and Shona Agnew. Gloria left the team in July, to return… Read More
sparqs' 2025-26 Course Rep Training is open to book! 29 Aug 2025
Bookings are now open for Course Rep Training during 2025-26 ....for delivery from week beginning Monday 29th September 2025 onwards. All the information you need is on our main CRT webpage. Please read the booking guidance before arranging your sessions and… Read More
Meet our Associate Trainer team for 2025-26 29 Aug 2025
We are delighted to introduce our excellent team of student Associate Trainers (ATs) for the coming academic year. The team includes 11 newly-recruited trainers and 8 returners from previous years, making it our largest ever team! The team will begin delivering Introductory… Read More
Student officers – Join us for this year’s NEON meetings 29 Aug 2025
New and returning student officers are invited to sign up and participate in this academic year’s National Education Officers' Network (NEON), run by sparqs. What is NEON? The National Education Officer’s Network is designed as an ongoing training, development, and networking space… Read More
SESN plans for 2025-26 - register now for October's meeting! 29 Aug 2025
The Student Engagement Staff Network (SESN) is back for academic year 2025-26. Make sure you save the dates in your diary! The online meetings will all take place via Zoom, from 10.00am to 1.00pm. The October meeting is currently open… Read More
Round-up of That's Quality! 2025 29 Aug 2025
A round-up from our annual That’s Quality! induction event for new college and university student officers and those who support them. The event is designed to introduce participants to the quality enhancement agenda, look at why quality matters to students and… Read More
sparqs' Buddy Scheme is open for registrations! 29 Aug 2025
The Buddy Scheme is back for year 2025-26! By signing up to the scheme, you are paired with another practitioner in student engagement across institutions and students’ associations in Scotland, to give you the opportunity to discuss and have a… Read More
sparqs' support to student officers for 2025-26 29 Aug 2025
As always, during July we sent our annual welcome emails to new and returning student officers with an education remit. The aim was to highlight sparqs' support, relevant resources and forthcoming events that would be useful as part of student… Read More
Updated Induction Resource for Academic Representation Co-ordinators 22 May 2025
sparqs is pleased to announce an update to our induction resource for new academic representation co-ordinators and similar students’ association staff. The Induction guide for Academic Representation Co-ordinators contains helpful information for any new students’ association or institution staff member… Read More
Introducing our 'Talking Student Partnership' interview series 22 May 2025
Readers of sparqs news articles will be familiar with our longstanding 'Talking Student Engagement' interview series, launched over a decade ago in 2014. sparqs is now taking these interviews in an exciting new direction under a new name… Our newly relaunched 'Talking… Read More
sparqs Institutional Visits: Key themes across the SLE and within SAs 22 May 2025
sparqs conducted a series of institutional visits with 36 colleges and universities between October 2024 and February 2025. The purpose of these visits was: To discuss sparqs’ two key sector resources, the Student Learning Experience model and Scotland’s Ambition for Student… Read More
A reminder about SEAPs 22 May 2025
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
Please register for That's Quality! 2025 by midday on 14th July 22 May 2025
A reminder that our annual That's Quality! programme for student officers and students’ association staff is open for bookings! If you've not yet booked your places, please liaise with relevant colleagues and register by midday on Monday 14th July. The… Read More
sparqs Residential Training event - staff attendance 22 May 2025
We have recently had enquiries from a few institutions asking if staff can attend this year’s sparqs Residential Training event (our annual event training sparqs and institutional student trainers to deliver Course Rep Training). We recognise that there has been… Read More
Some prompts for planning for the year ahead! 22 May 2025
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 As noted in our April news article about CRT planning,… Read More
Update on ‘Student Partnership in Staff Development’ project 22 May 2025
Our staff development project is making good progress, and has now progressed to its piloting phase. Following a callout to institutions in previous news articles, 14 Scottish tertiary institutions and sector agencies are now providing feedback on a suite of… Read More
sparqs is recruiting! 22 May 2025
We are currently recruiting for a Development Consultant to join our staff team. Applications have now closed, as of 9.00am on Wednesday 18th June, but the information regarding the post will remain available for reference until the recruitment process is… Read More
That's Quality! 2025 is open for bookings! 14 Apr 2025
We are pleased to announce that our annual That's Quality! programme for student officers and students’ association staff is now open for bookings! The 2025 event is split into three parts: The first part of That’s Quality! is a half-day, sector-specific online… Read More
Blended Learning Resource Hub 14 Apr 2025
We are pleased to share the recently-developed Blended Learning Resource Hub, developed jointly by four Scottish quality agencies, with the aim of supporting the delivery of active blended learning in universities and colleges. The hub – which sits on the QAA… Read More
Combined planning meeting of JAG, NEON & SESN on 7th May 2025 14 Apr 2025
A reminder that sparqs’ three stakeholder forums will gather again in May for a joint, in-person meeting to explore sparqs' future work. On Wednesday 7th May 2025 sparqs’ Joint Advisory Group (JAG), National Education Officers’ Network (NEON) and Student Engagement Staff Network (SESN) and members of our… Read More
Course Rep Training – your plans for 2025-26 14 Apr 2025
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 2025-26, if you haven’t already done… Read More
Education officer induction and outduction resources 2025 14 Apr 2025
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
sparqs is recruiting student Associate Trainers for 2025-26 11 Apr 2025
sparqs 2025-26 Associate Trainer recruitment is open for applications - deadline 9am, Monday 12th May 2025! Calling all student reps! Do you have experience as a course/apprentice or other representative role? Will you be a student or apprentice during 2025-26? ....if so, and you… Read More
Opportunity to pilot staff development resources during April/May 2025! 27 Feb 2025
A reminder that there is an opportunity for institutions to pilot resources during April and May 2025 as part of our current staff development project! The project is around embedding student partnership within staff development and we're looking for volunteers… Read More
sparqs Institutional Visits: thank you and next steps 27 Feb 2025
sparqs conducted a series of institutional visits with 36 colleges, universities and tertiary institutions between October 2024 and February 2025. The purpose of these visits was: To discuss sparqs’ two key sector resources, the Student Learning Experience model and Scotland’s Ambition… Read More
Updated sparqs institutional contact list 27 Feb 2025
To support universities and colleges, members of sparqs staff act as key contacts for institutions. As announced in our New Year round-up article in January, we recently welcomed Chase Greenfield to the sparqs staff team as a Development Consultant. Consequently,… Read More
In case you missed them... 27 Feb 2025
A few reminders about some useful bits and pieces from our New Year round-up, in case you missed them.... Acronym Buster! As part of our current staff development project, we have created a new Acronym Buster as an early output of the project,… Read More
Opportunity for students to contribute to the SLE Sustainable Development lens - join the online event on 6th March! 27 Feb 2025
We are pleased to announce that sparqs is collaborating with EAUC Scotland and SOS-UK to develop the Sustainable Development lens of the Student Learning Experience model. This work will help to raise the profile of Sustainable Development as a key… Read More
Planning for the year ahead: a combined meeting of JAG, NEON and SESN 27 Feb 2025
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 Wednesday 7th May 2025 sparqs’ Joint Advisory Group (JAG), National Education Officers’ Network (NEON) and Student Engagement Staff Network (SESN) and members… Read More
New year round-up and team news! 10 Jan 2025
Happy new year from all in the sparqs team! We hope 2025 has started well for everyone and we look forward to working with you all again during the coming year! We begin the year with some exciting team news…. we… Read More
Save the dates for our 2025 That’s Quality! event 10 Jan 2025
We are pleased to give early notification of the confirmed dates for our 2025 annual induction event for student officers and students’ association staff, That’s Quality! The event will once again be split into three parts: The first part of That’s Quality!… Read More
Embedding student partnership within staff development project – your chance to get involved! 10 Jan 2025
Many thanks to those of you who’ve already contributed to the current sparqs staff development project. The project is progressing well and we are delighted that we can now offer an opportunity for institutions to get involved in piloting project… Read More
The next NEON meeting on 25th February is open to book! 10 Jan 2025
The second National Education Officers’ Network (NEON) meeting for 2024-25 is taking place on Tuesday 25th February 2025, on Zoom, from 10.30am to 12.30pm. See the event booking page to register to attend and please save the date in your… Read More
Next SESN on 4th February and relaunch of the Buddy Scheme! 10 Jan 2025
Bookings are now open for the next Student Engagement Staff Network (SESN), which is taking place on Tuesday 4th February 2025, on Zoom, from 10.00am to 1.00pm. See the event booking page for all the details! The network is open for… Read More