Dr Julie Spencer Farquharson

Dr Julie Spencer Farquharson is a senior education consultant with over 25 years’ experience across higher education and specialist institutions in the UK and internationally.

Her work focuses on supporting institutions at moments of transition and growth, particularly in the establishment, review and strengthening of academic provision. Julie brings a systems-led approach to consultancy, combining curriculum and pedagogic expertise with governance, quality assurance and organisational strategy.

Julie has held senior leadership roles within higher education and has extensive experience working with boards, executive teams and academic staff. She is regularly engaged to support post-launch implementation phases, helping organisations embed academic frameworks, align delivery with strategy, and ensure that quality and governance processes are operational, sustainable and lived in practice.

She also has extensive experience working with charitable and cultural organisations, including advising boards and senior leaders on governance, strategy and organisational development.

Areas of Consultancy

• Academic strategy and programme development
• Curriculum design and validation support
• Quality assurance and academic governance
• Post-launch and post-validation implementation
• Staff development and pedagogic practice
• International and transnational education
• Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) readiness and enhancement
• Teaching quality, student experience and outcomes frameworks
• Charity and cultural sector governance and organisational strategy

Selected Publication

Spencer, J. (2026). Call and Response: Inclusive Approaches to Doctoral Supervision. In Pedagogy in Higher Education: Purpose, Practice and Relationships. Emerald Publishing.