Art school marked down over standards

Glasgow School of Art has been criticised by an education body watching over its teaching and academic standards.

The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) said that arrangements for managing academic standards and the student learning experience were of “limited effectiveness”.

The report is another blow for the art school, which has seen its Charles Rennie Mackintoshdesigned building virtually destroyed by a fire in 2018, four years after a first blaze.

The report said: “This judgment means GSA does not currently meet sector expectations in relation to the arrangements it has for securing the academic standards of the awards it offers and enhancing the quality of the student learning experience it provides. GSA is asked to take action in a number of areas to ensure that quality and academic standards are not put at risk in the future.”

However, the report also commended the art school for widening access, student support services and online learning for students during the pandemic.

Art school director, professor Penny Macbeth said: “We clearly have some challenging issues to address and we will be working through them systematically and with rigour.”