ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to apply the concept of brokerage to the experience and activities of the Quality Enhancement Group (QEG) of the former Higher Education Quality Council. It looks at the political and operating contexts for the work of QEG and examines the role of the Group. The chapter discusses the drivers and levers for change - as they affected QEG's focus on enhancing the quality and standards of teaching and learning in higher education. It focuses on to a consideration of the principles that underpinned QEG's activities. Political skills of mediation and negotiation were constantly necessary to gain access to financial and intellectual resources, to persuade people to undertake collaborative work or to take action in relation to the findings emerging from quality assurance and research reports. The chapter concludes by drawing out some of the lessons learned about the brokerage function as a means of achieving system-wide change.
