EACH year thousands of students go through the stress and drama of examinations at Southampton Solent University.

But now staff are celebrating after the university went through a tough examination of its own.

A review of Solent University by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) found that the institution’s services are up to standard.

The organisation sent a team to the university in June as part of checks carried out every six years to see the standards of education being delivered.

The QAA team was made up of professors from Birmingham City University, the University of Gloucestershire and the University of the West of England, and students from the University of Wolverhampton and Buckinghamshire New University.

They judged that Solent’s academic standards, the quality of its student learning opportunities, the quality of information about learning opportunities and the enhancement of student learning opportunities all met UK expectations.

And a number of items of good practice were also identified – the review team were impressed by the university’s “comprehensive and inclusive” range of support for students, such as the succeed@solent online guide.

Its approach to employability, which includes the use of learning in workplaces, was also highlighted.

A number of recommendations were also made, with the team suggesting the professional development awards be renamed to make sure students did not think they were the same as traditional qualifications.

They also suggested that external examiners’ annual reports are “consistently and systematically” made available to student representatives.

Dr Ann Read, the university’s Dean of Academic Services, said: “We are delighted that the quality of what we provide here at Southampton Solent University has been confirmed by the QAA in this report.

“We are proud of our real world approach to learning in higher education, and pleased that the external review team commended us for the positive impact our provision has had.”