Staff at a University in Strawberry Hill were celebrating this week having been praised in a report which described the college as being a 'close knit and caring community'.

St Mary's College in Waldegrave Road, Strawberry Hill received a report on an academic quality audit carried out at the college by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.

All universities undergo these audits roughly every five years, conducted by senior people at other universities. The audits look at the effectiveness of universities in giving academic standards and the quality of their academic programmes over corporate responsibilities.

The QAA praised the 'range and quality of learning and teaching support' provided within the context of the school's 'close knit and caring community'. It described quality assurance as 'robust' and their quality control in operational procedures as 'reliable and effective'.

The QAA did, however, give the University some pointers as to how things may be further improved.

Principal at St Mary's Dr Arthur Naylor said: "Members of staff involved in the quality audit are to be praised for their contribution to a very positive report which recognised both the strength of our student and staff community and the effectiveness of our quality assurance procedures."