The quality of higher education is of concern to not only quality assurance agencies and higher education institutions but to all stakeholders including students, among whom there is a growing interest to participate in quality assurance. However, without a good understanding of these issues, they cannot participate meaningfully, and their role in shaping quality in institutions may be limited. These are matters of particular importance in a developing country such as South Africa where the role of students in quality assurance has not been clearly defined. It is against this backdrop that the Student Participation in Quality Assurance (SPQA) project has been conceptualised.

The SPQA project, which was supported by a reference group, aimed to increase students' understanding of and participation in quality matters and to assist them to:

• access information about accredited learning programmes and registered higher education institutions
• understand the language of 'quality' and 'quality assurance' so that they can assess the accuracy of information they receive from institutions during recruitment
• assess the quality of provision and the value of the learning experience in individual modules, courses, programmes and institutions
• actively participate as co-constructors in shaping the quality of education inside higher education institutions
• provide feedback that enables institutions to improve the quality of teaching and learning, research and community engagement
• improve the relevance, responsiveness, effectiveness and efficiency of higher education in general