•     Home            
  • Sector Availability
  • News
  • Register
  • Search
•     About the standard     
  • What is it?
  • What are the benefits?
  • Who can apply?
  • What does it involve?
  • What do you get?
  • Want to know more?
  • What is STEM Assured^®?
•     Making an application     
  • Which sectors are covered?
  • What does the application process involve?
  • How much does it cost?
  • How does your organization register?
• Assured Organisations
  • Nuclear Sector
  • STEM Education
•     About us     
  • Validation Panel

The STEM Assured^® standard has been specifically developed to assure the quality of an integrated, cross-curricular approach to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) vocational education. This outcomes-based standard is driven by the need to assure a more coherent, multi and inter-disciplinary approach to vocational STEM education and training.  STEM Assured^® is robust and efficient, and effectively fast-tracks validation by taking into account existing quality standards the provider already has, and as such is not lengthy and does not involve reams of paper work and bureaucracy.

The STEM Assured^® process involves a critical review of a provider's strategy and approach to ensure their vocational STEM offer meets the needs of employers and sectors. STEM Assured^® adds an industry-led assurance component to existing quality standards and systems. The standard highlights and assures performance in six key areas:

• Strategy and Planning
• Engagement
• Design and Delivery
• Innovation
• Standards
• Impact

What does it involve?

The process involves an independent validation of your institution's own self assessment of its capability to deliver integrated cross-curricular vocational education and training which meets the needs of business and industry. Through our dedicated website and online self assessment process, completing STEM Assured^® couldn't be easier. And our Advisers will support you through the process, review your submission and validate your evidence with a straightforward site visit. STEM Assured^® builds on existing evidence of quality delivery (such as OfSTED ratings, Investors in People, ISO 9001, Matrix, LSIS Beacon status, CoVE status etc).

What are the benefits?

This rigorous validation means that for those providers that meet the standard, the benefits are many, including:

• Employers are able to recognise STEM departments that are up-to-date with industrial practices, thereby ensuring a higher employability value is placed on learners from the institution;
• Employer engagement practice is improved, providing opportunities to develop revenue streams with industrially funded projects, as employers will have confidence in the department's ability to deliver;
• The STEM capbility of a department is stretched, enabling more effective cross-curricular collaboration in teaching and learning, knowledge and technology transfer and business innovation activities;
• Department are able to benchmark their approach, as the standard offers an effective and efficient means to ensure a high degree of consistency of quality in STEM education and training;
• Learners experience better progression to higher level studies and employment; since the STEM strategy has been articulated from the outset, the learner journey has greater clarity;
• Lecturers and trainers are supported to develop greater innovation, confidence and capability in delivering multi-disciplinary STEM subjects reflecting real and relevant applications.

Presentations by Dr Sa’ad Medhat and Dr Sarah Peers

STEM Assured Overview Nov2010.pdf

STEM Assured Seeking Your Views Nov2010.pdf

Want to know more?

Contact our team at NEF if you would like to know more about STEM Assured^®, how you can get started and what support is available to you.
Tel: + 44 (0)208 786 3677  Email: info@nefassured.org

Our Partners