Promoting quality in higher education is one of the top priorities on the agenda of both the UGC and its funded institutions. The UGC defines quality assurance as "the maintenance of the highest possible standards, both in teaching and learning and in research, commensurate with an institution's agreed role and mission". The Committee ensures quality education provision in the institutions by conducting various peer reviews and providing incentives to institutions with a view to ensuring and enhancing teaching and learning quality, as well as students' language proficiency. These initiatives include Management Reviews, Teaching and Learning Quality Process Reviews, the Performance and Role-related Funding Scheme and the Common English Proficiency Assessment Scheme. The Teaching Development Grants and Language Enhancement Grants are also designed to stimulate quality and innovation in these areas.

The UGC values a role-driven yet deeply collaborative system of higher education. This recognizes that all the institutions in Hong Kong have their own unique strengths in which they can aspire to become internationally competitive. The UGC works closely with the institutions in this respect and plays an active role in encouraging the higher education sector to operate in distinctive but collaborative and complementary roles. Hence, the UGC has developed at the system level appropriate tools, mechanisms and incentives to help institutions establish clearly defined roles, to facilitate deep collaboration among institutions in advancement of their respective roles, and to allow excellence to emerge through fair and constructive competition.