Overview
Quality Assurance System
in Higher Education

United Kingdom
Second edition (2015)

NIAD-UE
National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation© National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation

First edition printed and published in March 2010
Second edition printed and published in February 2015

1-29-1 Gakuen-Nishimachi, Kodaira, Tokyo 187-8587 Japan
http://www.niad.ac.jp

Introduction
ᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾᴾ ᴾ
In addition to its core activities of university evaluation, awarding of degrees and research activities,
the National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation (NIAD-UE) is working
closely with overseas quality assurance organizations, particularly those having advanced higher
education systems and close ties with Japan, to gain the trust of the international community inJapanese higher education and promote international collaboration among higher education
institutions (HEIs).
As each country possesses different political, societal, cultural and language element, the structure ofits quality assurance system for higher education also differs. In building relationships and realizing
effective cooperation that transcend these barriers, „mutual understanding‟ must first be enhanced
among cooperating organizations by exchanging accurate information on their respective quality
assurance systems and the higher education systems that underlie them. Amidst growing
globalization of higher education and increase of educational collaboration in the international
dimension, it has also become important for HEIs to share information on their activities of quality
assurance with their partners in order to provide an effective and quality-assured collaborative
program.
In this context, International Affairs Division of NIAD-UE has developed the „Information Package‟ asa means for publishing basic information on higher education and its quality assurance system inJapan as well as some other countries. We have produced these of Japan, US, UK, Australia,
Netherlands, France, Korea, China, and Germany.
The UK‟s history when it has embarked on the quality assurance system for higher education goes backto the 1990s. UK‟s high quality education earning a worldwide reputation is achieved through anational quality assurance system such as review activities by the higher education institutions
themselves and accreditation by external quality assurance agencies. The scale, shape, structure andpurpose of learning provision are changing in the UK and further development has been made in thearea of quality assurance system. Based on these recent trend of the UK, NIAD-UE has produced an“Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom(second edition)” in both English and Japanese. We hope that these information would help fordevelopment of higher education cooperation between UK and Japan.
This „Overview‟ document is produced based on public information concerning UK higher education
system and quality assurance system in UK. We have also collected updated information by visiting
the organizations which responsible for the higher education policy, quality assurance (accreditation)agencies. We would like to thank the people who gave us useful comments and suggestions to
produce the document. We would also like to express our special thanks to Quality Assurance Agency
for Higher Education (QAA), for their contributions to the production of this document.
This „Overview‟ document is also available from our website:
http://www.niad.ac.jp/english/unive/publications/information_package.htm    February 2015
National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation

Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)

Index
I. Basic information on the country · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 1
II. The higher education system · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 2
1. History of UK higher education · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 21) Historical overview · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 22) Recent developments: 2010 to the present · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 7

2. Organisation of the educational system · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 91) Organisation of the educational system overview · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 92) Diagram of UK school systems · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 10

3. Types of institution · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 111) Types of institution · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 112) Statistics · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 12

4. Admission · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 13
5. Courses and qualifications · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 16
 
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1) Courses and qualifications · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 162) Credit and qualifications framework · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 173) Transcripts · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 224) Degree awarding powers · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 225) Student assessment - to test intended learning outcomes · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 22

  6. Responsible authorities and higher education related bodies · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 23
  7. Student union/association · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 26
  8. Tuition fees · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 26
 9. Financial support for students · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 28
 10. Modes of study· · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 31

11. Legislations · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 31

III. The quality assurance system · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 32
1. Summary of the UK quality assurance system · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 32
2. History of quality assurance in UK higher education · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 34
3. Internal quality assurance · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 36
4. External quality assurance framework · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 38
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1) Higher Education Review and Enhancement-led Institutional Review · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 382) Quality Code · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 40
3) Teaching quality information · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 44
4) Student surveys · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 46

  5. Other quality assurance initiatives · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 48
  
  

1) Research assessment · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 48
2) Accreditation by professional, regulatory and statutory bodies · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 49
3) Educational Oversight · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 49

IV. The details of quality assurance organisation: Quality Assurance Agency forHigher Education (QAA) · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 50
  1. Overview of the organisation · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 50
  2. Mission and purposes · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 51
  3. The work of the organisation · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 52
  
  

1) External review · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 522) Other works · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 58

Sources and references · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · 62
Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)

i

Map

Source: http://www.freemap.jp/itemDownload/europe/uk2/4.gifii

I. Basic information on the country
Name of country

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

CapitalLondonMajor language

EnglishPopulation*

63,2 million (2011)

Nominal GDP**

2,418,000 million USD

Nominal GDP per capita**

39,592 USD

Public spending on education
as a percentage of the total
government spending***
Public spending on
education as a percentage of
GDP***(2011)All levels of education

All levels of education

Public spending on higher
education per student***

3,049 USD (2011)

Cycle of academic year*****HE level

2.7%(OECD average 3.2%)
6.0%(OECD average 5.6%) 㻌
14,223 USD (2011)

Organisation of education
system12.2%(OECD average 12.9%) 㻌Spending per student at
higher education level***Progression rate into higher
education****(2011)HE level(2011)

1.3%(OECD average 1.4%)(2011)English domiciled students, aged 17-30
2011/12 - 49.3%
See II-2. Organisation of the education system, page 9.
The full academic year for higher education runs from 1 August to 31
July. Organisation of the teaching year is at the discretion of theindividual institution. Although the organisation of teaching
traditionally reflected this three-term system, institutions are
increasingly organizing their teaching along the two-semester
system.
Several universities have introduced courses that run twice a year,with two different start dates: in autumn (as normal) and also in
spring.

Source:*Office for National Statistics (ONS) website - 2011 UK censuses:
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/uk-census/**

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan website - Overview of the United Kingdom of Great Britain andNorthern Ireland: http://www.mofa.go.jp***㻌 OECD (2014) Education at a Glance 2014.
**** Universities UK (UUK) (2013) Higher Education in Facts and Figures, summer 2013.
***** European Commission Eurydice - Facts and Figures: The Organisation of the Academic Year in Europe
2013/14.
Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)1II. The higher education system
1. History of UK higher education
1) Historical overview
The first universities evolved
The first universities, those of Oxford and Cambridge, evolved as private bodies during the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries.

Although other bodies, such as the Inns of Court (law) and Royal

Colleges of Medicine and Surgery, became increasingly important as providers of professional
training and regulation of competence, it was not until the nineteenth and early twentieth century
that the major civic universities were founded in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

These

remained private foundations, albeit with occasional government financial aid.
In the first half of the twentieth century, a number of university colleges developed, catering
mainly to local students taking University of London external degrees.

These subsequently

became universities in their own right.
University education in Scotland also has a long history.

Four universities - St Andrews, Glasgow,

Aberdeen and Edinburgh, known collectively as the four ancient Scottish universities, - were
founded in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Four further universities were formally established as

independent universities between 1964 and 1967.

Expansion in higher education - the latter half of 20th century
The Barlow Report (1946) recommended a doubling of university student numbers, especially inscience subjects, to meet the need for scientific manpower.

Both government subsidy foruniversities and student numbers greatly increased in the immediate postwar period.
The Robbins Report of 1963, published by the Committee on Higher Education, recommended
substantial expansion in higher education.

It expressed the view that „courses of higher education

should be available to all those who are qualified by ability and attainment to pursue them and whowish to do so‟.

The principles and recommendations of the Robbins Report formed the basis forthe development of the university sector for subsequent years.
universities‟ were founded in the 1960s.

Then, a number of „new

(Note: In more recent years, the term „new universities‟

has come to denote institutions which gained university title since 1992.)
Many institutions had been originally set up by charitable endowment to enable working-class men
and women to advance their general knowledge and industrial skills on a part- or full-time basis.
Such institutions, known as polytechnics, were later maintained and regulated by local authorities.
Other higher education institutions were originally established as colleges for training teachers.
significant number of these were provided by churches.
regulated by local authorities.

2

A

They were subsequently maintained andThe Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) was established in 1964 for the validation ofprogrammes at higher education institutions, such as polytechnics and higher education colleges,
which did not have their own degree-awarding powers.

1986 - RAE initiated
The first Research Assessment Exercise was carried out in 1986 to provide ratings of the quality of
research conducted in universities and higher education colleges in the UK.
inform allocation of funds by the higher education funding bodies.

The rating are used toFurther RAEs were carried out

in 1989, 1992, 1996, 2001, and 2008.

The Education Reform Act 1988
Under the Education Reform Act 1988, polytechnics and higher education colleges in England andWales were no longer under local authority control, and became autonomous institutions.

The

Polytechnics and Colleges Funding Council (PCFC) and the Universities Funding Council (UFC) werecreated.

The PCFC funded over 50 polytechnics and colleges previously funded by local education

authorities.

The UFC funded all 52 universities in the UK.

The Further and Higher Education Act 1992 and the Further and Higher Education (Scotland)
Act 1992
The Act dissolved PCFC and UFC, and created new bodies to fund all higher education institutionsin their respective areas of the UK: Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE); Higher
Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW); andᴾ Scottish Higher Education Funding Council(SHEFC). Since April 1993, these bodies have funded all higher education institutions in the UK.
In England and Wales there remained a „binary divide‟ between the university sector and the
public/polytechnic sector.

However, as universities began to offer vocational courses and work

alongside business and their local communities, and non-university institutions undertook
scholarshipandresearch,the

distinction

betweenthem

becameincreasingly

blurred.

Consequently, the Act abolished the division between universities and polytechnics, ending thebinary divide in higher education.
It dissolved CNAA and enabled the former polytechnics to gain degree-awarding powers and to use
the word „university‟ in their title.

Other higher education institutions were able to apply to the

Privy Council for taught degree-awarding powers, research degree-awarding powers and university
title.

1997 - QAA established
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) was established to provide an integrated
quality assurance service for UK higher education.

It is an independent body funded bysubscriptions from universities and colleges of higher education, and through contracts with themain higher education funding councils.

Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)3

1997 - The Dearing Report
During the early 1990s, despite a rapid expansion of the higher education sector, public funding
for institutions fell by around 25 per cent per student, putting considerable pressure on
universities and colleges.

In 1994, faced with increasing demand for higher education, thegovernment imposed a ceiling on growth in full-time undergraduate student numbers.
Against this background, in May 1996, the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education
was established to make recommendations on the purposes, shape, size and funding of higher
education.

The Committee, chaired by Sir Ron Dearing, first took the fundamental review ofhigher education since the Robbins Report of 1963, and reported in 1997.

Key themes andrecommendations included:A new „compact‟ for higher education between the state, individuals and their families,
graduates and institutions in which each should contribute to, and receive benefits from,higher education.

An increase and widening of participation, mainly through two-year courses of higher
education provided in colleges of further education.

Implementation of measures to improve standards in teaching and to ensure thecomparability of qualifications.

Greater emphasis on the regional role of universities and colleges.

The ability of universities and colleges to govern and manage themselves to obtainmaximum efficiency and effectiveness.

Support of excellence in research.

The Committee also made a number of recommendations concerning the funding of higher
education, including a proposal that full-time students in higher education should pay some of thecosts of their tuition fees.

The Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998
In response to the Dearing Report, annual tuition fees of £1,000 were introduced for degree courses
for the first time ever, as a result of the 1998 Teaching and Higher Education Act.

Fees weremeans-tested on the basis of parental income.

1998 - Devolution of powers to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
In Scotland, the establishment of the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish government is provided
for in the Scotland Act 1998.

The Scottish government is responsible for functions of government

within Scotland including education. The Scottish Parliament has full legislative powers overdevolved matters and it approved that tuition fees for all Scottish students was abolished in 2000.
The Government of Wales Act 1998 provided for the establishment of the National Assembly for
Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly was constituted under the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
These assemblies also have legislative powers on a range of issues including education.

4

2003 - White Paper - The Future of Higher Education
In October 2001, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) announced a wide-ranging andfundamental review to help the higher education sector improve and expand.

This announcement

was followed up in January 2003, by the White Paper, „The Future of Higher Education‟, which set
out the government's strategy for the reform of higher education in England, as well as a number ofmeasures which would affect the rest of the UK.

The strategy focused on packages of measures insix key areas:Strengthening research through increased spendingImproving links between higher education and business

Promoting excellence in teaching in higher education through the creation of new
professional standards and a new national bodyContinuing to expand higher education to increase participation towards 50 per centEnsuring fair access to higher education for young people from lower-income families

Reforming funding through the introduction of a new graduate contribution scheme

Following the White Paper of 2003, which proposed the creation of a Teaching Quality Academy,
the Higher Education Academy (HEA) was set up in 2004 to work with the UK higher education
community to enhance the student experience.

The HEA has worked with institutions andprofessional bodies to develop national professional standards in higher education teaching.

The Higher Education Act 2004 and the Higher Education (Northern Ireland) Order 2005
The Higher Education Act 2004 applied to mainly England and Wales and the Higher Education(Northern Ireland) Order 2005 applied to Northern Ireland legislated for White Paper‟s proposals.
The part of student fees and fair access of these acts did not apply to Scotland.
The Act allowed higher education institutions in England to charge variable tuition fees of up to£3,000 per year from the academic year 2006/07, rising only with inflation until an independent
review is undertaken in 2009.

The Act also introduced new arrangements for student support,

allowing students to take out a tuition fee loan for the full amount of their fees, and providing ameans-tested maintenance grant.
One of the Government‟s main aims for higher education is to raise and widen participation.
Act established the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) in England.
separate from, but supported by, HEFCE.

The

OFFA is an independent body,

The main role of OFFA is to promote and safeguard fair

access to higher education for under-represented groups, in the light of the introduction ofvariable tuition fees in 2006-07.

Any institution that intends to charge above the basic fee (£1,200

in 2006) needs an „Access Agreement‟ approved by the Director of OFFA.



In Wales and Northern Ireland, the decision on whether to raise tuition fees is under the control ofthe each Assembly.

Tuition fees in Wales rose from the academic year 2006/07 only for students

coming from elsewhere in the UK, though Welsh and non UK EU students did not be affected. In
Northern Ireland, tuition fees did not change. In addition, there are similar arrangements rather
than by the OFFA as in England, only HEIs who have had their fee plan approved by the Higher
Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)

5

Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) or the Department for Employment and Learning inNorthern Ireland will be able to charge above the basic rate.
Since then, the setting and the range of application of tuition fees have varied depending on theadministrative part of the UK (See II-8. Tuition fees, page 26).

The Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005
In Scotland, the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005 of the Scottish Parliament wasestablished.

This Act is to make provision establishing the Scottish Further and Higher Education

Funding Council (SFC), which is commonly known as 'the Scottish Funding Council,‟ and provision
as to its functions; to make provision as to support for further and higher education; to makeprovision relating to bodies which provide further and higher education; and for connectedpurposes.

SFC replaced the former Scottish Further Education Funding Council (SFEFC) and theScottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) and brought together funding and support for
Scotland's colleges and universities under one body.

2007 - DIUS created 1
A new government department with responsibility for higher education, the Department for
Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS), was created in June 2007 with the mission to invest inscience and research, skills and innovation to secure the future prosperity of the UK.

DIUS bring

together responsibilities for higher education in England, previously held by DfES and theDepartment of Trade and Industry.

2009 - BIS created 2
In June 2009, the government created a new Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) in
England, whose role is to build Britain‟s capabilities to compete in the global economy.

The new

Department was created by merging the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory
Reform (BERR) and DIUS to form a single department committed to building Britain‟s future
economic strength.
BIS is the institutional realization of the approach to promoting British competitiveness andproductivity as set out in the White Paper „Building Britain‟s Future: New Industry, New Jobs‟,
produced jointly by BERR and DIUS in April 2009.
In November 2009, the Government has unveiled a new framework for the future success of higher
education, setting out the important role universities will play in securing the country‟s economic
recovery and long term prosperity.

The higher education framework, Higher Ambitions, sets out astrategy for universities to remain world class, providing the nation with the high level skills
needed to remain competitive, while continuing to attract the brightest students and researchers.
Key measures set out in the framework include:
As to government departments for higher education for other than England, please see II-6. Responsible
authorities and higher education related bodies, page 23.
2
Same as above.
1

6



More competition between universities, giving greater priority to programmes that meet theneed for high level skills;

Business to be more engaged in the funding and design of programmes, sponsorship ofstudents, and work placements;

Creating more part-time, work-based and foundation degrees to make it easier for adults to
go to university, with routes from apprenticeships through to Foundation Degrees and othervocational programmes;Encouraging universities to consider contextual data in admissions, as one way of ensuringthat higher education is available to all young people who have the ability to benefit;Universities setting out clearly what students can expect in terms of the nature and qualityof courses offered;

Sustaining our world class research base by continuing to focus on excellence, concentrating
research funding where needed to secure critical mass and impact; and

Encouraging collaboration between universities on world class research, especially in highcost science.

2) Recent developments: 2010 to the present2010 - The Browne Review
The Browne Review is an independent review on the student financial support system and higher
education funding in the UK.

The review is known as "Browne Review" taking the name of the chair,

Lord Browne of Madingley.

The review made recommendations to government on the higher

education system in the UK around the fees policy and financial support for full and part-time
undergraduate and postgraduate students.

The result of the review was reported in 2010, as the

Browne Report (original title: Securing a sustainable future for higher education).
The six guiding principles of the review were:

There should be more investment in Higher Education – but institutions will have toconvince students of the benefits of investing more.

Student choice should be increased.

Everyone who has the potential should be able to benefit from higher education.

No student should have to pay towards the costs of learning until they are working.
After leaving university, graduates will only begin repaying when they reach annual
earnings of over £21,000 a year.

When payments are made they should be affordable.

Part time students should be treated the same as full time students for the costs of learning.

2011 - Higher Education White Paper - Students at the Heart of the System
BIS published a Higher Education White Paper - Students at the Heart of the System on 28 June 2011.
This White Paper sets out England‟s policies for the reform of higher education.
The proposals contained in „Students at the Heart of the System‟ cover four broad areas: reforming
Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)

7

funding; delivering a better student experience; enabling universities to increase social mobility;
and reducing regulation and removing barriers for new providers.

These reforms will ensure that

universities are held accountable for an improved student experience.
that is freed to respond in new ways to the needs of students.

The overall goal is a sector

These plans for reforming higher

education have been influenced by the recommendations of Lord Browne‟s Independent Review.
The HE White Paper set out Government plans to:Ensure better information for students before they apply, better teaching while atuniversity, greater transparency in areas such as feedback on their work and better
preparation for the job market.



Undertake a review into how university-industry collaboration can excelEncourage universities to engage actively with employers to accredit university
programmes.



Make universities more accountable to students on teaching quality, who can trigger quality
reviews where there are grounds for concern.



Review the extent to which Student Charters are adopted and whether they should be mademandatory in the future.

Free up student number controls by making around 85,000 places contestable among
universities in 2012/13: through unrestrained recruitment of high-achieving students who
typically get AAB grades, and by creating a flexible margin of places to reward quality
providers charging an average of £7,500 or less for tuition.

Ensure that the Office for Fair Access is properly resourced so that it can go further andfaster to drive fair access for students from lower income families and widen participation.

Enable a wider range of providers to join the sector to offer more choice for students.

Promise less regulation and bureaucracy for universities.

The Post-16 Education (Scotland) Act 2013
In Scotland, the Post-16 Education (Scotland) Act 2013 legislated for making provision about the
support for, and the governance of, further and higher education institutions, including provision
for the regionalisation of colleges; to make provision for reviews of how further and higher
education is provided; to make provision for sharing information about young people's
involvement in education and training; and for connected purposes.

The Further and Higher Educationᴾ (Governance and Information) (Wales) Act 2014
In Wales, the Further and Higher Educationᴾ (Governance and Information) (Wales) Act 2014
legislated for making provision about the governance of institutions within the further education
sector and about the supply of information in connection with the provision of support to students
in further or higher education.
Source: European Commission Eurybase - The Education System in England, Wales, Northern Ireland 2007/08:
http://www.eurydice.org/
European Commission Eurybase - The Education System in Scotland 2007/08:
http://www.eurydice.org/

8

Department for Education and Skills (DfES) (2003) The future of higher education.
Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) (2005) Higher Education in the United Kingdom.
Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) (2009) Departmental Report 2009.
Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) website - Announcements - New Department for
Business, Innovation & Skills to lead fight against recession and build now for future prosperity:
http://www.dius.gov.uk/news_and_speeches/announcements/bis
Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) (2009) Higher Ambitions.
Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) (2010) The Impact of Higher Education Finance on
University Participation in the UK.
Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) (2011) Higher Education White Paper - Students at theHeart of the System.
Lord Browne of Madingley (2010) Securing a sustainable future for higher education: An Independent
Review of Higher Education Funding & Student Finance.
Cabinet Office website - Devolution of powers to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland:
https://www.gov.uk/devolution-of-powers-to-scotland-wales-and-northern-irelandHigher Education
Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) (2013) Fee Plan Guidance 2014/15.
Scottish Funding Council (SFC) website - About us: http://www.sfc.ac.uk/aboutus/aboutus.aspx
National Archives website:ᴾ http://www.legislation.gov.uk/

2. Organisation of the educational system
1) Organisation of the educational system overview
A wide range of institutions will deliver courses at each level - from schools and colleges to further
education colleges and universities.

These levels - primary, secondary, 16 to 18, further

education and higher education - are broadly explained below.

Higher education„Higher education‟ is provided by a number of universities, higher
education colleges and a small number of university colleges.

Further education

Further education colleges and many six form centres provide various
courses for students of all ages.

16 to 18

Post-16 education provision is provided by a number of institutions - manyeducation

secondary schools will provide „tertiary education‟ for ages 16 to 18.
Provision is also available from sixth form colleges or tertiary colleges(England and Wales only) and also further education colleges.

Secondary„Secondary education‟ is compulsory between the age of 11 and 16 ineducation

England, Wales and Northern Ireland (12 and 16 in Scotland).

In England,

if you were born on or after 1 September 1997 you must stay in some formof education or training until your 18th birthday.
Most pupils will move from a primary school to a secondary school at age
11, although in some areas there are middle schools that cater to children
from the age of 8 or 9 to 12 or 13.
Primary education„Primary education‟ is compulsory between the ages of 5 and 11 in Englandand Wales, 4 and 11 in Northern Ireland and 5 and 12 in Scotland.

Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)

9

Source: The Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) website
Eurypedia - The European Encyclopedia on National Education Systems:
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/eurypedia_en.php
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan website - Overview of the Education System: United Kingdom ofGreat Britain and Northern Ireland:
http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/toko/world_school/05europe/infoC51000.html

2) Diagram of UK school systems
Each administrative part of the UK established distinctive educational system whereas there arecommonalities between the systems. The school system for England and Wales comprising 90% of
the total population of UK is as below.
In Northern Ireland and Scotland, their school systems differ from England and Wales, that is:Primary school is for the ages 4 to 11 in North Ireland and 5 to 12 in Scotland.



Secondary school is for ages 12 to 16 in Scotland.



University is normally offered a four-year course in Scotland, however, a three-year course
in other than Scotland.
Diagram of school systems (England and Wales)

10Source: The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan website - Educational
statistics of foreign countries 2014:
http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/toukei/data/syogaikoku/1352615.htm

Concerning the Diagram of education system in each administrative part of the UK, the following
information in the Eurypedia will be also useful:England: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/fpfis/mwikis/eurydice/index.php/United-KingdomEngland: OverviewWales: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/fpfis/mwikis/eurydice/index.php/United-KingdomWales: Overview㻌

Northern Ireland: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/fpfis/mwikis/eurydice/index.php/UnitedKingdom-Northern-Ireland: Overview

Scotland: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/fpfis/mwikis/eurydice/index.php/United-KingdomScotland: Overview

3. Types of institution
1) Types of institution
Universities
Universities are diverse, ranging in size, mission, subject mix and history.
self-governing and independent.

They are

In England, the older universities were established by Royal

Charter or statute or Act of Parliament.

The Privy Council has the power to grant university status

to an institution that has necessary characteristics.
Former polytechnics were given the status of universities under the Further and Higher Education
Act 1992.

These are sometimes called „new‟ universities, although many of them have their

origins in vocational colleges that have a long history.

The existing „old‟ universities include

many founded in the 1950s and 1960s, the „civic‟ universities, founded by Royal Charter in major
cities in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and the first colleges of the University of Wales, whichwere established in the 19th and early and mid 20th centuries.
Universities have their own degree-awarding powers.
students to over 32,000 students.

They range in size from under 4,500

The combined Colleges and Institutes of the University of

London have over 120,000 students; and the Open University, whose part-time students study by
distance learning, is even larger with over 200,000 students.
There is one privately funded university – the University of Buckingham.

Colleges
Higher education colleges also vary in size, mission, subject mix and history.
they are self-governing and independent.

Like universities,

Some colleges were founded up to 150 years ago, and asignificant number were established as church colleges.

Some award their own degrees and otherqualifications; in other colleges, qualifications are validated by a university or national accrediting
body.
Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)

11

In England and Wales higher education colleges with taught degree awarding powers and over
1,000 full–time equivalent (FTE) higher education students (over 4,000 FTE higher education
students in Wales) are eligible to apply for university title.

In Scotland and Northern Ireland

applicants must already have research degree-awarding powers and should normally have at least
4,000 FTE higher education students in total.

Smaller colleges with taught degree awarding

powers can apply to the Privy Council for the right to use the title of „university college‟.
Colleges range in size from small specialist institutions, to large multi-discipline institutions.
Many colleges cover a wide range of subjects, while some specialise in one or two areas, such as art
and design, dance and drama, agriculture, or nursing.

Source: Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) (2005) Higher Education in the United Kingdom.
Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) (2009) A guide to UK higher education.
EACEA website - Eurypedia: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/eurypedia_en.php
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Degree awarding powers - guidanceand criteria: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/assuring-standards-and-quality/daput/guidance-and-criteria

2) Statistics
Number of institutions (As of August 2011)
Higher Education Institutions

Universities*

England131

89

Scotland

19

14

Wales

11

10

Northern Ireland

4

2

165

115

UK total* Federal institutions such as the University of Wales and the University of London are counted as one
university. This list excludes foreign higher education institutions operating in the UK.
The Open University operates in all countries of the UK; its headquarters is based in England.

Number of students (by mode of study, 2012/13)
Undergraduates
Full-timePart-time

Postgraduates
Full-timePart-timeAll

England1,140,600

359,270

244,730

200,395

1,944,995

Scotland

136,060

25,96530,995

21,765

214,785

Wales

77,055

24,11015,86011,755

128,780

Northern Ireland

31,960

8,820

4,885

6,050

51,715

1,385,675

418,165

296,470

239,965

2,340,275

UK total

12

Academic staff at higher education institutions (by academic employment function, 2012/13)
Full-timePart-time

Total

Teaching only

10,73036,065

46,795Teaching & Research

75,71018,89094,600Research only

34,8107,540

42,350Neither teaching nor research
Total

1,250

590

1,840

122,500

63,085

185,585

Source: Universities UK (UUK) website - Overview of the higher education sector (Retrieved on 21 January 2013):
http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/UKHESector/Pages/OverviewsSector.aspx
Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) All students by HE institution, level of study, mode of study anddomicile 2012/13. Summary of academic staff (excluding atypical) in UK HE institutions 2012/13:
http://www.hesa.ac.uk/content/view/1897/239/㻌

4. Admission
Determination of student numbers
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, overall student numbers for the higher education sector asa whole are determined by the government.

The higher education funding bodies makeallocations to institutions to meet overall student number plans and set targets for student
numbers to institutions.

The purpose of these targets is to ensure that institutions deliver

teaching activity for the funding provided.
For a few subject areas, there is a greater degree of central control.

Undergraduate medical anddental courses are subject to quotas, in order to ensure that the number of medical and dental
students required to meet national needs is delivered.

Nursing and midwifery provision is largely

funded by the health authorities which contract with institutions for the delivery of specified
numbers of trainee nurses and midwives.

Entry/admission requirements
The traditional requirement for entry to degree study is two or three General Certificate of
Education Advanced-level (GCE A-level) passes, as well as a minimum number of General Certificate
of Secondary Education (GCSE) passes at grade C or above.

These remain the most common formof entry qualification held by young entrants to higher education.

However, many entrants tohigher education are now older (over 21) and many such mature entrants hold other qualifications.
A wide range of other qualifications is acceptable for entry.
subjects(formerly

Vocational

Certificatesof

Qualifications and the International Baccalaureate.

They include GCE A-levels in applied

Education(VCEs),

EdexcelBTEC

National

In Wales, a Welsh Baccalaureate qualification

is available in several schools and colleges; the Advanced qualification is also acceptable for entry
to higher education institutions.
Access courses provide another route, particularly for mature entrants.

These programmes were

Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)13

originally designed for students over the age of 21 without formal qualifications but, since 2003-04,
the lower age limit has been reduced to 19.

Some access courses provide guaranteed entry to

specific undergraduate courses on successful completion.

The Access to Higher Education

Diploma (Access to HE Diploma) is conferred to those who completed an access course.
Most institutions also welcome applications from mature candidates who have had appropriate
experience but may lack formal qualifications.

Many institutions give credit for prior study andinformal learning acquired through work or other experiences (Accreditation of Prior Learning(APL) or Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL)).
It is the individual institution that determines the admissions requirements for each programme.
These requirements are set out in the institution‟s undergraduate prospectus.

Many courses

require some or all of the qualifications for entry to be in specific subjects or range of subjects andat specific grades.

Institutions and programmes vary in terms of the competition for places.

For

some highly oversubscribed programmes, such as medicine, dentistry, veterinary science and law,applicants may be required to take an additional admissions test.

Examples of such tests include

the Bio Medical Admissions Test and the UK Clinical Aptitude Test.
In 2002, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) introduced a points scoring
system for expressing entry requirements to higher education.

The „UCAS Tariff‟ establishes

agreed comparability between different types of qualifications including Scottish and Irish
qualifications, the Welsh Baccalaureate, the International Baccalaureate and some vocational
qualifications.

However, higher education institutions are not obliged to express their entry

requirements in these terms.
In all cases it is the individual institution which decides which applicants will be offered a place.

Admissions procedures
UCAS is the single clearing-house for applications for admission to full-time undergraduate (firstcycle) courses at all higher education institutions in the UK.
guarantee and a charity.

UCAS is a company limited by

UCAS does not set admissions requirements or decide on the admissionof individual students, but provides information to prospective students on the choice of course,
institution and entry qualifications normally required.
Applications must be made to UCAS by 15 January for entry the following September (by 15
October for applications to Oxford or Cambridge universities, or to courses of medicine, dentistry
or veterinary medicine).

Applicants may only submit one UCAS application form in each year's

application cycle, although the application form may include up to five courses (only four for
medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine or veterinary science courses).
As well as grades obtained in nationally recognised qualifications, the application form requires apersonal statement from the applicant and a reference which assesses the applicant‟s suitability
for higher education.

Students who wish to enter higher education straight from school or college

apply before they have obtained their final qualifications, and the school or college reference

14

therefore includes predicted grades.

Based on this information, and sometimes after interviewing

applicants, each institution named on an application form decides whether to make an offer. If
the applicant has not yet obtained their qualifications, the offer will be conditional, and will
specify the grades that must be obtained.

When examination results are published in mid-August,the institution confirms the offer of a place if the applicant has met the conditions.

If theapplicant holds no offers, or if the offer(s) are not confirmed, she/he is eligible for „Clearing‟, a
UCAS service that matches applicants without places to courses with vacancies.
UCAS does not handle applications for part-time or postgraduate courses; for these programmesapplicants must apply direct to the institution.
In Scotland, the usual entry requirement for higher education courses is a group of awards at
grades A-C in the National Qualifications Higher or Advanced Higher level examinations set by the
Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), or qualifications deemed by a higher education institution
to be equivalent to these.
at specified levels.

For many higher education courses the candidate needs to hold awards

Awards in GCSE and GCE Advanced Level (or the equivalent) are also accepted.

For some higher education courses, particularly Higher National Certificate (HNC) and Higher
National Diploma (HND), a group of appropriate National Certificate (NC) awards (often achieved incollege courses) may be acceptable.
UCAS processes most applications for entry to higher education institutions in Scotland.

It

distributes them to the individual institutions and enables candidates to apply to several
institutions on one form.

For some courses, for example in art and design and in social work,

there are other arrangements, which are detailed in the Entrance Guide to Higher Education in
Scotland.

Applications from outside Scotland to pursue a higher education course are considered

individually to ascertain the acceptability of entry qualifications.
The higher education institutions welcome applications from mature students (defined as
applicants over the age of 21) as well as from school leavers.

A range of specially designed

courses prepare adults both for higher education in general and for particular courses.

Such"access" courses include a range of SQA units or courses, successful completion of which may leadto an SQA award.

Many "access" courses guarantee a place in higher education on successful

completion.
Source: EACEA Eurypedia: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/eurypedia_en.php
Access to Higher Education Website: https://www.accesstohe.ac.uk/
UCAS Website - How to add an Access course to your application:
http://www.ucas.com/how-it-all-works/mature-students/applying-university-or-college

Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)15

5. Courses and qualifications
1) Courses and qualifications
Higher technical education courses
Courses leading to the Higher National Diploma (HND), Higher National Certificate (HNC) and
Diploma in Higher Education (DipHE) are for higher technician, managerial, and supervisory level.
Courses take one or two years to complete.

In Foundation degrees were introduced in September

2001 to provide graduates with the relevant knowledge and skills for business.

A full-time course

usually takes two years and it aims to address the shortage of intermediate-level skills and to
widen participation in higher education and stimulate lifelong learning.

Foundation degree

awarding powers can also be awarded to institutions in the further education sector by the Privy
Council for a limited period of time, six years in the first instance.

[ Typical higher education qualifications within higher technical education courses ]• Foundation degrees• Diplomas of Higher Education (DipHE)• Higher National Diplomas (HND)• Higher National Certificates (HNC)

Undergraduate courses
The normal minimum age for an undergraduate to start a course is 18, or 17 in Scotland.
degree courses generally take three years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

First

Sandwichcourses, which include periods of practical work in organisations outside the university or college,
usually last four years, as do certain specialist courses.

Some vocational degrees require longer

educational training years, for example medicine, dentistry and architecture.

In Scotland

undergraduate programmes are offered both on a three-year basis, leading to a general degree, andon a four-year basis, leading to an honours degree.

[ Typical higher education qualifications within undergraduate courses ]• Bachelor‟s degrees with honours• Bachelor‟s degrees (or first degree)• Professional Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)• Graduate diplomas• Graduate certificatesPostgraduate courses
Postgraduate courses vary greatly.

They can be taught, or conducted through research

programmes, or a combination of both, and can be part-time or full-time.
programmes usually last one year full-time or two years part-time.

Postgraduate taught

Research programmes

normally last three years for full-time students and over four years for part-time students.
normally require the student to complete a written thesis.

16

These

In 2001, alternatives to traditional PhD courses introduced.

The programmes will be completed

over three to four years, and will combine a specific research project with a coherent programme offormal coursework in the chosen subject area and training in research.

Students will also have theopportunity to develop the personal qualities and advanced skills necessary to make themattractive to prospective employers or enable them to enter an academic career.
[ Typical higher education qualifications within postgraduate courses ]• Doctoral degrees• Master‟s degrees• Integrated master‟s degrees• Primary qualifications (or first degrees) in medicine, dentistry and veterinary science• Postgraduate diplomas• Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)• Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE)• Postgraduate certificates2) Credit and qualifications framework
There are two types of national frameworks for the UK general and vocational qualifications – theQualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) covering England, Wales and Northern Ireland and theScottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF).
On the other hand, there are frameworks for the UK higher education qualifications – theframework for higher education qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (FHEQ) andthe framework for qualifications of higher education institutions in Scotland (FQHEIS) – and theseframeworks correspond with QCF or SCQF respectively.
In the context of higher education, these frameworks describe the main attributes of major
qualifications –the levels of achievement they represent.

The frameworks are designed to ensurethat universities use the titles of qualifications consistently and as a tool to ensure that they assign
the appropriate level to new qualifications that they are developing.

They therefore provide a

crucial set of points of reference for setting and assessing the standards of their courses.

In thisway they also assist external examiners and QAA (the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher
Education) reviewers.

They are also intended as a guide for prospective students and employers

so they can see how different qualifications relate to one another and thus what might be the next
step in their progression.

Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF)
In 1997, the National Qualification Framework (NQF) was introduced in England, Wales andNorthern Ireland and was replaced by the Qualification and Credit Framework (QCF) in 2011.

The

QCF has been developed jointly and is regulated jointly by the Office of the Qualifications andExaminations Regulator (Ofqual) for England, the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations andOverview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)

17

Assessment (CCEA) for North Ireland and the Department for Children, Education, Lifelong
Learning and Skills (CELLS) for Wales.
QCF incorporate vocational education and training and general and secondary education.

QCF

includes only qualifications which have been accredited by Ofqual, DCELLS and CCEA.

All

vocational qualifications consist of units, each of which has a credit value that allows the learner toroughly predict how long he or she will need to achieve the desired qualification considering that
one credit equals 10 hours of learning.
„Size‟ - These foresee three types of qualifications that are awarded on the basis of accumulated
credit points: award (1-12 credits), certificate (13-36 credits) and diploma (37 credits or more).
One credit roughly equals 10 learning hours which allows the learners to evaluate how muchtime they will need to gain the desired qualification.
„Level‟ - QCF has eight levels (numbered 1-8) and also support qualifications at lower levels(entry levels 1, 2 and 3); of these levels 4 to 8 represent the types of work undertaken in higher
education: the credit level of 8 is typical of the learning expected of a doctorate; 7 - a masters
degree; 6 - the last part of a bachelors degree; 5 - the last part of a Foundation Degree; middle
part of a bachelors degree; and 4 the first part of HE study.
Figure: The structure of the QCF

Source: The Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator (Ofqual) (2008) Regulatory
arrangements for the Qualifications and Credit Framework.

QCF is designed to allow the learners to transfer their credit points.

For example, a learner who

wants to continue education or start a new learning programme therefore may not need to start allover again and repeat the learning he or she has already undertaken but simply continue thelearning.

The ability of credit transfer, however, does not mean that the accumulated credit

points are automatically accepted by another learning institution or awarding body.

How many

and if any credits at all will be accepted depends on individual education institutions and of course,
the acquired qualification and subject content.

18

Higher education qualifications that are granted by universities and other higher education
institutions – such as Bachelor’s Degree, Master’s Degree and Doctorates are covered by the
Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ) introduced in 2001.

FHEQ is separate from

QCF that comprise general education and vocational qualifications and has been developed by the
QAA.

The FHEQ has five framework levels, three of which are undergraduate and two are

postgraduate. The levels of the FHEQ are numbered 4-8, and higher level qualifications (at levels 4to 8) provided in QCF compare with the corresponding levels of the FHEQᴾ (please see the figure
below and the table on page 21).

For more information of the example of the qualification title atthe each level of FHEQ, please see III–4-2) Quality Code, page 40.
The fundamental premise of the UK frameworks for higher education qualifications is that
qualifications are awarded on the basis of demonstrated achievement of outcomes (expressed interms of knowledge, understanding and abilities) and attainment rather than years of study.
Qualification descriptors are key to this premise.

The qualification descriptors contained in the UK

frameworks for higher education qualifications describe the threshold academic standard for thosequalification types in terms of the levels of knowledge and understanding and the types of abilities
that holders of the relevant qualification are expected to have.

The programme learning outcomesare required to align with the relevant qualification descriptor.

The qualification descriptors

provide a point of reference that can help higher education institutions determine at which point in
the framework individual short courses might be placed.
Figure: The structure of the QCF and the relationship with FHEQ

Source: The Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator (Ofqual) website - Explaining
Qualifications: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/www.ofqual.gov.uk/2368.aspx

The FHEQ is a qualifications framework, based on the outcomes represented by the main
qualification titles.

It is not an integrated credit and qualifications framework, nor is its use

dependent on credit. This is because not all degree-awarding bodies in England use credit.
However, the credit framework provides guidance on the minimum credit requirements associatedwith the typical qualifications at each level of the relevant UK framework for higher education
Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)

19

qualifications.

The guidance in credit frameworksᴾ supports a consistent approach to the award

of credit across the higher education sector.
UK higher education institutions that use credit as a unit of academic performance have agreed
that one credit represents 10 notional hours of learning. The number of notional hours indicates
how long it will take for a typical student to achieve these learning outcomes.

All types of learning

are included in the estimate of notional hours of learning, including formal classes, self study,
revision and assessment. Credits are awarded to students who have shown that they havesuccessfully completed a module, unit or qualification, which means students need to meet the
specific set of learning outcomes for the unit, module or qualification.

Also, a student must reachthe minimum standard, known as the threshold or pass, in the assessment(s).

The minimum

standard expected for a pass is set out in a higher education institution's assessment regulations.

Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF)
In the Scotland, the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) is introduced similar to
QCF, and maintained by the SCQF Partnership.

The SCQF has 12 levels; of these levels 7 to 12

represent the types of work undertaken in higher education: the credit level of 12 is typical of thelearning expected of a doctorate; 11 - a masters degree; 9 to 10 - the last part of a bachelors degree;
8 - the last part of a Foundation Degree; middle part of a bachelors degree; and 7 - the first part ofHE study.

Just like the QCF, the SCQF is based on awarding credit points for completion of units.

One credit point represents about 10 hours of learning.
Scotland also have the Framework for Qualifications of Higher Education Institutions in Scotland(FQHEIS), which have been developed by the QAA.

FQHEIS is a constituent part of the SCQF andtherefore refers to credit requirements; the credit arrangements in the FQHEIS/SCQF apply to all
degree-awarding bodies in Scotland.

As the FQHEIS is nested in the SCQF, the numbering of thelevels are those of the SCQF and start at 7 reflecting the different numbers of levels in general andsecondary education in Scotland.

For more information, please see the table below or III–4-2)

Quality Code, page 40.
In the FQHEIS, qualification descriptors also make explicit the general expectations of the purposeand outcomes of the main qualifications at each level, and make clear how these differ from otherqualifications, both at that level and at other levels.

Qualification descriptors are in three parts.

The first part is a general description of the qualification.

The second part is a statement ofgeneral outcomes, achievement of which students should be able to demonstrate for the award of
the qualification.

The third part is a statement of the wider abilities that the typical student could

be expected to have developed. It will be of assistance to employers and others with an interest in
the general capabilities of holders of the qualification.

The qualification descriptors provide a

point of reference that can help higher education institutions determine at which point in theframework individual short courses might be placed.

20

Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)213) Transcripts
Each higher education institution can provide its student with a record of their accumulated credits.
In many cases this is in the form of a transcript that is produced annually, on completion of the
programme, or both.

This record can be a particularly useful document for students who want totake a break from learning and return to study later, or transfer their credits.
The forms of these transcripts vary according to the institutions.

However, as part of the Bologna

Process, which aims to create greater consistency and compatibility within European higher
education, the orientation of all UK higher education institutions are now moving towards issuingthe European Diploma Supplement.
The Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR), which is an electronic document issued byhigher education institutions to students on graduation, is increasingly used these days.

It

provides a detailed record of a student's academic and extra-curricular achievements to
supplement the traditional degree classification.

The Higher Education Academy (HEA) provides

the main support for the implementation and maintenance of HEAR and the Higher Education
Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has provided funding for the development of the HEAR.

4) Degree awarding powers
In the UK, higher education academic qualifications are not national awards, but are granted byindividual institutions.

All universities have the legal power to develop their own courses andaward their own degrees, and determine the conditions on which they are awarded.

Some higher

education colleges and specialist institutions without these powers offer programmes, withvarying extents of devolved authority, leading to the degrees of an institution which does havethem.

5) Student assessment - to test intended learning outcomes
In higher education, „assessment‟ describes any processes that appraise an individual‟s knowledge,
understanding, abilities or skills.
of purposes.

There are many different forms of assessment, serving a variety

The QAA provides guidance in its UK Quality Code for Higher Education, Chapter B6:

Assessment of students and the recognition of prior learning.

The Quality Code sets out thefollowing Expectation about assessment which higher education institutions are required to meet.
'Higher education providers operate equitable, valid and reliable processes of assessment, including
for the recognition of prior learning, which enable every student to demonstrate the extent to which
they have achieved the intended learning outcomes for the credit or qualification being sought.'
It provides a series of indicators considered important in designing and implementing assessmentsof student achievement of intended learning outcomes.

22Source: EACEA Eurypedia: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/eurypedia_en.phpᴾ
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2014) Qualifications can cross boundaries:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/qualifications-can-cross-boundaries.pdf
The Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator (Ofqual) website - Explaining Qualifications.
http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/www.ofqual.gov.uk/2368.aspx
The Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator (Ofqual) (2008) Regulatory arrangements for
the Qualifications and Credit Framework.
The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) website - Background to SCQF:
http://scqf.org.uk/about-us/background-to-scqf/
Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) (2005) Higher Education in the United Kingdom.
Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)ᴾ Higher Education Achievement Report:
http://www.hefce.ac.uk/whatwedo/lt/enh/hear/
The Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR): http://www.hear.ac.uk/
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2006) Academic credit in Higher Education in
England.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2013) Quality Code - Chapter B6: Assessmentof students and the recognition of prior learning.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2014) Qualifications can cross boundaries:ᴾ
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/qualifications-can-cross-boundaries.pdf
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2014) UK Quality Code for Higher Education,
Part A: Setting and Maintaining Academic Standards: The Frameworks for Higher Education
Qualifications of UK Degree-Awarding Bodies.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2014) The framework for qualifications ofhigher education institutions in Scotland.
Universities UK (UUK) (2008) Quality and standards in UK universities: A guide to how the system works.
The City and Guilds of London Institute (2009) An Introduction to the Qualifications and Credit
Framework (QCF):ᴾ http://www.sctp.org.uk/documents/QCF-intro-booklet-web.pdf
Accredited Qualifications website: http://www.accreditedqualifications.org.uk/
Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) website:
http://scqf.org.uk/the-framework/scqf-credit-points/

6. Responsible authorities and higher education related bodies
Government departments
Government departments are responsible for overall public policy towards higher education.
They are the source of the public funds that support higher education institutions.



In England: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS)In Scotland: The Scottish Government

In Wales: The Welsh Assembly Government

In Northern Ireland: Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) >>>> http://www.bis.gov.uk>> http://www.scotland.gov.uk>> http://www.wales.gov.uk

http://www.delni.gov.uk

Higher education funding councils
In England, Wales and Scotland, government funds are distributed by higher education funding
councils.

They act as intermediaries between Government departments and higher education

institutions.

Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE)>> http://www.hefce.ac.uk

Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)23Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW)

Scottish Funding Council (SFC)

Northern Ireland Assembly>> http://www.hefcw.ac.uk>> http://www.sfc.ac.uk>> http://www.niassembly.gov.uk

Representative organisations


Universities UK (UUK)>> http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk

UUK promotes and supports the work of UK universities.



GuildHE>> http://www.guildhe.ac.uk

Represents higher education colleges in England and Northern Ireland.

Works alongside

UUK and other sector bodies with a vision of a distinct and diverse higher education sector in
the UK.



Higher Education Wales>> http://www.hew.ac.uk

Represents higher education institutions in Wales.



Universities Scotland>> http://www.universities-scotland.ac.uk

Represents higher education institutions in Scotland.

Quality assurance organisationQuality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA)>> http://www.qaa.ac.uk/［Note］Organization recognized as a designated body for accreditation/review for the enrollmentof international students: UK providers which accept the enrollment of international students
who will be studying under student visa are required to be accredited or reviewed as educationaloversight by one of the following designated body for getting sponsor status by home office.
See also III-5-3) Educational Oversight, page 49.
○ Designated Accreditation Body

Accreditation UK: for the English language servicesAccreditation Body for Language Services (ABLS): for the English language services



The British Accreditation Council (BAC): for independent further and higher education andtraining providers

Accreditation Service for International Colleges (ASIC): for schools, colleges, universities
and online learning providers○ Designated body for Educational Oversight review (included the QAA)

 Office for Standards in Education㻌 (Ofsted): for England Education Scotland: for Scotland Her Majesty's Inspectorate for Education and Training in Wales (Estyn): for Wales Education and Training Inspectorate: for North Ireland Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) Bridge Schools Inspectorate School Inspection Service

24Organisation for recognition of qualification
 UK NARIC >> http://www.ecctis.co.uk/naric/
UK NARIC is the UK‟s National Agency responsible for providing information and opinion
on academic, vocational and professional qualifications from across the world.

Mission groups
The universities in the UK are diverse in their missions and location.

A number of these haveformed groups with common interests.

These include the various regional university associations

and also the so-called 'mission groups'.

The mission groups include the following: The Russell Group >> http://www.russellgroup.ac.uk/
The Russell Group represents 24 3 leading UK universities which are committed tomaintaining the very best research, an outstanding teaching and learning experience andunrivalled links with business and the public sector.
University of Oxford are included.

University of Cambridge andTheir aim is to ensure that their universities have theoptimum conditions in which to flourish and continue to make this impact through theirworld-leading research and teaching.

The group is so-called because it traditionally met at

the Russell Hotel, London.

 Million+>>

http://www.millionplus.ac.uk/

Million+ is a university think-tank.

They work to help solve complex problems in higher

education and to ensure that policy reflects the potential of the UK's world-class university
system.

It mainly comprises post-1992 universities.

 The University Alliance >> http://www.unialliance.ac.uk/
University Alliance was formed in 2006 (adopting the name in 2007) to take asolutions-based approach to issues affecting the current health and long-term sustainabilityof the higher education sector.

University Alliance brings together 20 4 of the mostinnovative and entrepreneurial universities in the UK.

Alliance universities are leading an

innovative approach to creating entrepreneurial learning and research environments inpartnership with industry and the professions.

Source: Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) (2005) Higher Education in the United Kingdom.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2009) An introduction to QAA.
Universities UK (UUK) website - Links for students: http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/linksforstudents/
UK visas and immigration (2014) Tier 4 of the Points Based System Guidance for Sponsors:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/347285/Document3_Sp
onsor_Duties_and_Compliance_01-07-14.pdf
British Council website: http://www.educationuk.org/japan/articles/16-and-under-choosing-a-school/
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - UK regulatory bodies:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/about-us/corporate-governance

Retrieved from the website of Russell Group on http://www.russellgroup.ac.uk/(as of August 1st, 2014)4
Retrieved from the website of the University Alliance on http://www.unialliance.ac.uk/(as of August 1st, 2014)3

Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)25

7. Student union/association
A students‟ union is a student organisation dedicated to managing the social and organisational
activities of the student body.
independent of the university.

Many students‟ unions are run by students for students,

The purpose of the organisation is to represent students‟ views

within the university and sometimes on local and national issues.
providing a variety of services to students.

It is also responsible forStudents can get involved in its management, throughnumerous and varied committees, councils and general meetings, or become one of its elected
officers.

Typical posts include president and vice president, treasurer and secretary, social

committee and publicly posts and officers or representatives for women, men, equal opportunities.
Not all universities are part of the National Union of Students (NUS), but most have a union.

NUS isa voluntary membership organisation which makes a real difference to the lives of students and its
member students‟ unions.

It is a confederation of 600 students‟ unions, amounting to more than95 percent of all higher and further education unions in the UK.

Through its member students‟

unions, it represents the interests of more than seven million students.
In Scotland, the Student Participation in Quality Scotland (SPARQS) performs as an agency whichputs students at the heart of decisions being made about the quality and governance of thelearning experience.

SPARQS are funded by the Scottish Funding Council, hosted and managed on

their behalf by NUS Scotland, and directed by a Steering Committee with sector-wide membership.

Source: Higher Education and Research Opportunities (HERO) website -Student unions: http://www.hero.ac.uk
National Union of Students (NUS) website - About NUS: http://www.nus.org.uk
Student Participation in Quality Scotland (SPARQS) website - About us: http://www.sparqs.ac.uk/

8. Tuition fees
Tuition fees charged to full-time undergraduate (first cycle) home and EU students are regulated bygovernment in each administrative part of the UK. ᴾ Fees charged to part-time students, alloverseas students and all postgraduate students are not regulated and are determined by theinstitution.

Under the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998, full-time undergraduate students

beginning a course in the academic year 1998/99 were required for the first time to paymeans-tested tuition fees of up to £1,000.
In England, the Higher Education Act 2004 allowed higher education institutions in England to
charge variable tuition fees of up to £3,000 per year from the academic year 2006/07.

Sincechanges to the regulations prescribing the maximum annual amount for tuition fees from theacademic year 2012/13 were approved by Parliament in December 2010, institutions will be able tocharge tuition fees of up to £9,000.

They will be able to charge above the basic fee (see below

table) if they will be in place to improve access and student retention is approved by OFFA.
In Wales, tuition fees raised from the academic year 2006/07 only for students coming from26

elsewhere in the UK, though Welsh and non UK EU students were not affected. However, following
the announcement of plans to allow institutions in England to increase tuition fees, the Welsh
Government approved regulations allowing institutions in Wales to charge higher fees of up to£9,000 for all studentsᴾ from the academic year 2012/13.

Only HEIs who have had their fee plan

approved by HEFCW will be able to charge the higher rate of fees.
In Northern Ireland, tuition fees did not change in 2006.

However, following the announcement ofplans to allow institutions in England to increase tuition fees, an Assembly debate and a public
consultation on future policy in Northern Ireland were held.

The Northern Ireland Executive

announced that fees would rise only in line with inflation.

In the 2012/13 academic year,

universities in Northern Ireland can charge up to £3,465 for tuition fee to students coming from
Northern Ireland and non-UK EU student.

If students come from the rest of the UK, universities inNorthern Ireland will charge students variable fees up to a maximum of £9,000.ᴾ Only HEIs who
have had their fee plan approved by the Department for Employment and Learning will be able tocharge the higher rate of fees.
In Scotland, payment of tuition fees from all Scottish students were abolished in 2000.

The

amount of basic tuition fees for the academic year 2014/15 is £1,820, however, tuition fees paid by
the Scottish Government through the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS)5 if students are a
Scottish resident and/or a qualifying non-UK EU student.

On the other hand, for students comingfrom the rest of the UK, universities in Scotland will charge variable fees up to a maximum of£9,000.

Amount of the tuition fees (Maximum/Basic) (As of the academic year 2014/15)
Maximum fee
Home/EU

Rest of UK

Basic fee

England£9,000£6,000Wales£9,000£4,000

Northern Ireland
Scotland£3,685£9,000£1,465-£9,000£1,820Source: EACEA Eurypedia: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/eurypedia_en.phpᴾ
The Complete University Guide website:
http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/university-tuition-fees/
The Official Gateway to Scotland website - Fees, funding and Visa applications:
http://www.scotland.org/study-in-scotland/fees-funding-and-visa-applications/
The Scotland Government website - Financial help for students:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/UniversitiesColleges/16640/financial-help
Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) (2010) The Impact of Higher Education Finance on
University Participation in the UK.
National Archives website: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/

5

For more information of Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS), please see II-9. Financial support for
students, page 29.
Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)27

9. Financial support for students㻌 㻌 㻌 㻌 㻌 㻌 㻌
The main sources of help for full-time students are student loans, non-repayable grants, andbursaries from universities and colleges.

Student loans and grants in the United Kingdom areprimarily provided by the government through the Student Loans Company (SLC), a
non-departmental public body.

Financial support by the Student Loans Company (Student loans and grants)
The Student Loans Company is a non-profit making Government-owned organisation set up in 1989
to provide loans and grants to students in universities and colleges in the UK.

Most

undergraduate university students resident in the United Kingdom are eligible for student loans.
SLC‟s core function is to provide financial support to students across the UK, but there aredifferences in the way this is administered in the four countries of the UK. This is because
England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland have separate policies on student finance.

SLC also

support students from European Union countries.
Financial support for students for each countries of the UK is as below.

[Financial support in England, Northern Ireland and Wales]
In England, Northern Ireland and Wales, students apply financial support to the agency of the eachadministrative Government – Student Finance England, Student Finance NI and Student Finance
Wales – and student loans and grant are paid through SLC.

The type of student loan and grant is asfollowing:<Student Loans>
All eligible students can get help with tuition fees and living costs through Student Loans.
Students will be able to take out two student loans per academic year: a Student Loan for Tuition
Fees, and a Student Loan for Maintenance (living costs).
• Student Loan for Tuition Fees: Tuition fee loans are paid directly to university or college andcover the full amount of fees.

The Government‟s policy is that these loans should beavailable on favourable conditions.

Interest rates are indexed to inflation rates andborrowers repay, in real terms, broadly the same amount as that borrowed.

Borrowers whocommenced higher education in or after 2012 are not required to repay the amount until
they have graduated and are earning over £21,000 a year.
• Student Loan for Maintenance: How much students can get depends on where they decide tolive and study, as well as their income and that of their household.
how much of the Maintenance Grant they are entitled to.

28

It will also depend on

Maximum student loans for maintenance for England (As of the academic year 2014/15)
Maximum annual
loan available
If a student lives away from his/her parents‟ home

£7,751and (s)he studies in London
If a student lives away from his/her parents‟ home

£5,555and (s)he studies outside London
If a student lives at his/her parents‟ home

£4,418<Maintenance grants>
These are non-repayable grants to help with general living costs and available to those full-timestudents from lower income families.

The amount of the grant varies according to student‟s

household income as well as where they decide to live and study.

For example, in England, from

September 2014, full-time students with a household income of £25,000 or less are eligible for thefull grant of £3,387 per year, with partial grants available to those with a household income of up
to £42,620.

[Financial support in Scotland]
In the Scotland, the Students Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) is an agency of the Scottish
Government giving financial support to all eligible students doing a course of higher education in
the UK.

SAAS offers financial support for students mailnly in Scotland as following:<Payment of tuition fees>
In Scotland, the payment of tuition fees from students are a Scottish resident and/or a qualifying
non-UK EU student were abolished, and tuition fees paid by the Scottish Government through the
SAAS direct to your college or university.

<Student Loans>
For most students, the main support for living costs will be through the student loan, which is㻌partly income-assessed.

SAAS assesses students‟ entitlement, sends students an award notice totell students how much loan students will get and send students‟ loan information electronically to
the SLC.

The SLC will pay your loan in monthly instalments straight into your bank or building

society account.

The SLC will expect students to repay 9% of your annual income over £16,910.

Loan amounts available (As of the academic year 2014/15)

Dependent students
Independent students

Household income

Loan£0 to £33,999£5,750£34,000 and above£4,750£0 to £23,999£6,750£24,000 to £33,999£6,250£34,000 and above£4,750Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)

29

<Living-costs grant>
The extra support student can get depends on students‟ personal circumstances.
normally only available if you study full-time.
grants.

These grants are

Students do not have to pay back the living-costs

For Dependants‟ Grant,㻌 SAAS will pay up to £2,640 a year, and for Lone Parents‟ Grant,

SAAS will pay up to £1,305㻌 a year.

Bursaries from universities and colleges
Individual institutions may also provide additional discretionary support to some students.

Muchof this support is in the form of means-tested bursaries, but some institutions also provide nonneeds-based financial support.

Grants for part-time students
The main sources of financial help for part-time students are different from those available tofull-time students.

Depending on their circumstances, they may be able to apply for the part-time

fee grant and course grant.

How much they can get depends on their household income andpersonal circumstances.
Source: EACEA Eurypedia - Higher Education Funding:
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/eurypedia_en.php
GOV.UK website - Education and learning：Student finance, loans and universities:
https://www.gov.uk/student-financeStudents Loan Company website - Products and services:
http://www.slc.co.uk/about-us/what-we-do/products-and-services.aspx
Students Loan Company website - About us:
http://www.slc.co.uk/about-us.aspx
Student loan repayment website:
http://www.studentloanrepayment.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid=93,3866794&_dad=portal&_schema=POR
TALS
Student Finance NI website: http://www.studentfinanceni.co.uk/
Student Finance NI (2014) A guide to Financial support for full-time students in higher education 2014/15.
Student Finance Wales website: http://www.studentfinancewales.co.uk/
Student Finance Wales (2014) Applying for student finance 2014/15.
Students Awards Agency for Scotland website - About us:
http://www.saas.gov.uk/about_us/index.htm
Students Awards Agency for Scotland (2014) Guide to undergraduate support 2014-2015.
The Scotland Government website - Financial help for students:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/UniversitiesColleges/16640/financial-help30

10. Modes of study
Courses offered by UK universities and colleges can often be studied in a number of different ways
- as a full-time student, a part-time student or by distance learning.

Full-time study
Timetabled hours (those taken up with scheduled lectures, seminars, tutorials etc.) will vary fromcourse to course.

Hours may also vary from term to term (or from year to year) as teachingelements or modules change.

As well as timetabled hours, many courses will stipulate a required

number of self-directed study hours that are deemed necessary to succeed in the course.

Part-time study or flexible study
Not all higher education courses are available on a part-time basis, but a good many are.

This isparticularly true of postgraduate, vocational and non-degree courses.

Distance learning
The growth of the internet has enabled many people (from both the UK and around the world) tostudy with UK universities and colleges through distance learning.
online university classes and courses.

Many institutions provide

Distance learning courses are available at many levels,

including degree and postgraduate qualifications.
Source: Higher Education and Research Opportunities (HERO) website - choosing your mode of study:
http://www.hero.ac.uk

11. Legislations


Education Reform Act 1988

Further and Higher Education Act 1992

Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 1992

Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998

Higher Education Act 2004

Higher Education (Northern Ireland) Order 2005



Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005



Post-16 Education(Scotland) Act 2013



Further and Higher Education (Governance and Information) (Wales) Act 2014

Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)

31

III. The quality assurance system
1. Summary of the UK quality assurance system
The UK higher education is characterized by a diversity and complexity of the system.

There arefour systems, one in each of the administrative parts of the UK: in England, Scotland, Wales, andNorthern Ireland.

The differences in the systems are real and they reflect different nationalsettings and structures, but the similarities across the UK are greater, especially in relation to theprinciples that underpin responsibilities for quality assurance, that is, each higher education
institution has the responsibility for assuring the quality of the education it provides and thestandards of the qualification it offers.
Institutions have their own internal quality assurance processes to address their responsibilities,
principally, through the design and approval, monitoring and review of their programmes, and also
in the assessment of students‟ learning and achievements.
externality in their internal processes.

In addition, they are expected to haveThis is through the involvement of external experts in theapproval of their programmes and the involvement of external examiners in the assessment of
their students‟ learning.
Thus, the assurance of standards and quality in the UK is led by the higher education institutions
themselves.

In addition, they are externally checked and assured by QAA‟s schemes and otherinitiatives.

In UK, the funding bodies, respectively, the Higher Education Funding Council for

England (HEFCE), the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL), the Higher Education
Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW), and㻌 Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council(SFC), are legally responsible for securing that provision is made for assessing the quality ofeducation provided in institutions for whose activities they provide, or are considering providing,financial support.

Quality assessment in the UK is currently conducted by the Quality Assurance

Agency for Higher Education (QAA) under contract to the UK funding bodies.

Publicly fundedhigher education institutions, Further Education colleges providing higher education that is
directly funded by the HEFCE, and non-publicly funded bodies that hold renewable UKdegree-awarding powers are required to subscribe to QAA. In QAA‟s mission to safeguard
standards and improve the quality of UK higher education, QAA works in close partnership with awide range of higher education providers.
The underlying principle for external quality assurance is that it should provide public confidence
that higher education institutions are exercising their responsibilities for the academic standards
and quality of what they are offering.

External review activities are one component in the quality

assurance framework (non-legislative), which comprises four elements:External reviews:
England/N. Ireland: Higher Education Review (HER)
Wales: Higher Education Review: Wales (HER: Wales)
Scotland: Enhancement-led Institutional Review (ELIR)

32

 UK Quality Code for Higher Education (Quality Code) Published information about quality and standards in individual institutions- Teaching quality information

 Student surveys
In Scotland, a Quality Enhancement Framework has been in place since 2003 with the following fiveelements:

 Engagement of students in quality arrangements
 An agreed set of public information
 Institutions run institution-led quality review (which has an annual and periodic timing to it aswell as a subject focus)

 A sector-level suite of enhancement themes activity
 External review in the form of Enhancement-Led Institutional Review
Besides these elements, a number of external quality assurance schemes have been undertaken by
the funding bodies, the Higher Education Academy, professional, statutory and regulatory bodies,and other related bodies.
Source: National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation (NIAD-UE) (2008) University
Evaluation Forum, Presentation by Carolyn Campbell, Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.
Universities UK (UUK) (2008) Quality and standards in UK universities: A guide to how the system works.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2012) Enhancement-led Institutional Review:
Handbook (Third edition).
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2014) Higher Education Review: A handbook
for QAA subscribers and providers with access to funding from HEFCE undergoing review in 2014-15.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2014) Higher Education Review: Wales A
handbook for providers.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Corporate governance:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/about-us/corporate-governance
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Subscribing institutions:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/about-us/subscribing-institutions
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Applying to QAA:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/about-us/subscribing-institutions/applying-to-qaa
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Higher Education Review:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews-and-reports/how-we-review-higher-education/higher-education-review
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Higher Education Review - Wales:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/ReviewsAndReports/Pages/Higher-Education-Review-Wales.aspx
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Enhancement-led Institutional
Review:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews-and-reports/how-we-review-higher-education/enhancement-led-institutio
nal-review
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Development and enhancement:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/about-us/scotland/development-and-enhancement

Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)33

2. History of quality assurance in UK higher education
Quality assurance before 1990
Prior to the early 1990s, university programmes and awards were not subject to any externalmonitoring or regulation other than the use of external examiners, and (as now) each institution
was responsible for ensuring the quality and standards of its own programmes.

However, higher

education delivered by polytechnics and some higher education colleges was externally quality
assured by the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) worked with polytechnics, approving
degree programmes and carrying out institutional reviews.

The Academic Audit Unit 1990-92
A series of efficiency studies initiated by the universities themselves in the late 1980s led to theestablishment of an Academic Standards Group. In 1990 the universities themselves establishedthe Academic Audit Unit (AAU) to take forward the recommendations of the Academic Standards
Group.

The AAU undertook peer-review academic audits of universities, scrutinising key areas

where academic standards were set and monitored.

Reports were published on a voluntary basis

and contained no formal judgements or recommendations.

Quality assurance 1992-97: HEQC and the higher education funding councils
In 1992, the passing of the Further and Higher Education Act led to a number of fundamental
changes in the way higher education in the UK was structured and funded.

First, the Act abolished

the binary system of polytechnics and universities and a sector-owned Higher Education Quality
Council (HEQC) was established, with the task of auditing all institutions‟ management of theirinternal quality assurance processes.

Secondly, the three new UK funding councils were

established by the Act and they set up their own quality assessment committees to manage thequality of the work that they funded.

Subject-based inspection models, called „teaching quality

assessments‟ (later „subject reviews‟), were introduced by all the funding councils.

1997 - 2010
External subject reviews were always controversial with higher education institutions which
complained about cost, burden, and also the duplication of effort with the separate institutional
audit procedure of HEQC.
In 1996 a Joint Planning Group was convened from the funding councils and the representative
bodies of universities and colleges to try to design a unified quality assurance system thatcombined the two strands of audit and subject review.

Although no feasible unified review

method emerged, a single quality assurance agency was established in 1997 as QAA.

This brought

together the HEQC and the quality assessment functions of the funding councils.
The 1997 Dearing Report considerably expanded the duties of the new agency beyond theundertaking of assessments and audits to include the provision of public information on quality34

assurance; verification of standards; creation and maintenance of a higher education qualifications
framework; development of a code of practice; provision of benchmark standards; and the creationof a pool of external examiners.

Although not all of these proposals were adopted, most were, and

QAA‟s position as the UK‟s sole agency with responsibility for the assurance and enhancement of
the quality and standards of higher education was consolidated.
Between 1997 and 2001 QAA continued operating both subject reviews and academic audits anddeveloped most of the Dearing proposals, including the elements of the academic infrastructure
and a new, UK-wide review process, to be called „academic review‟.

This was to have comprisedelements of both subject review and institutional audit and envisaged a gradual transition from theformer to the latter.
In 2001, despite the fact that there had been general acceptance of the academic review proposal
across the UK and QAA had already begun to use the process in Scotland, a number of English
universities complained to the Government that this new approach did not meet their demands fora lighter burden of external quality assurance and would perpetuate the high costs and limited
benefits that they perceived in the previous arrangements.

As a result of these representations,

the Government declared publicly that there would be a reduction in the volume of reviewing
undertaken by QAA.

No forewarning of this decision had been given to the Scottish or Welsh

higher education authorities, however, and their response was to disengage from the UK-wide
scheme and set up their own national review/audit arrangements: enhancement-led institutional
review in Scotland; institutional review in Wales; and institutional audit in England and Northern
Ireland.

The English subject review cycle was completed in 2001 and then discontinued.

As part of the 2001 agreement between the key stakeholders about the future of external quality
assurance in England, it was agreed that there should be a transitional period of three years,
between 2002 and 2005, when all English higher education institutions should be audited using the
new method.
Thereafter, the institutional audit in England and Northern Ireland begun in 2006 is operated on a
six-yearly cycle.

The institutional review in Wales begun in 2003 took place on a six-year cycle,

and the enhancement-led institutional review in Scotland begun in 2003 on a four-year cycle.

2011 to the present
In 2011, the UK Government published a White Paper, Students at the Heart of the System, which
proposed a number of significant higher education policy changes.

One of the proposed changes

was the introduction of a more risk-based approach to quality assurance in England (andpotentially Northern Ireland).

The White Paper proposed that, in future, the nature, frequency andintensity of external quality assurance would be guided by each higher education provider's recordin quality assurance and the nature of its provision.
From September 2011, the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) introduced a newprocess for reviewing academic quality and standards in higher education in England and Northern
Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)35

Ireland.

The process was called Institutional Review and, except in Scotland, replaced theprevious

method(Institutional

Audit).

Key

principlesofInstitutional

Review

were

student-centred quality assurance, flexibility, clarity and simplicity, clear recognition of theimportance of public information and minimising the administrative burden.

Institutional

Reviews consisted of a core element, which led to judgments, and a thematic element which did not
result in a judgment but looked at a particular aspect of the student experience in more depth.
The grades used were 'commended', 'meets UK expectations', 'requires improvement to meet UK
expectations', and 'does not meet UK expectations'.
Except in Scotland, Institutional Review was replaced by Higher Education Review (HER)㻌 in Englandand Northern Ireland from the academic year 2013/14, and by Higher Education Review: Wales(HER: Wales)㻌 in Wales from the academic year 2014/15.
of the Quality Code.

HER is closely based on the Expectations

It uses the same judgement grades as its immediate predecessor and, also

like Institutional Review, includes.

Source: The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2008) Self-Evaluation, External Review for
Confirmation of Full Membership of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education.
National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation (NIAD-UE) (2008) University
Evaluation Forum, Presentation by Carolyn Campbell, Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.
Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) website: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2011) Summary of Institutional review inEngland and Northern Ireland.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2011) Institutional review of higher education
institutions in England and Northern Ireland, Operational description.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2012) Enhancement-led Institutional Review:
Handbook (Third edition).
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2013) Self-Evaluation Report of the Quality
Assurance Agency for Higher Education, External Review for Confirmation of Full Membership of ENQA.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2014) Higher Education Review: A handbook
for QAA subscribers and providers with access to funding from HEFCE undergoing review in 2014-15.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2014) Higher Education Review: Wales A
handbook for providers.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Higher Education Review:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews-and-reports/how-we-review-higher-education/higher-education-review
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Higher Education Review - Wales:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/ReviewsAndReports/Pages/Higher-Education-Review-Wales.aspx
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Enhancement-led Institutional
Review:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews-and-reports/how-we-review-higher-education/enhancement-led-institutio
nal-review
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Development and enhancement:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/about-us/scotland/development-and-enhancement

3. Internal quality assurance
Each degree awarding body is responsible for its own quality and standards.

Individual

institutions have the primary, longstanding and legal responsibility for managing their quality toensure that their students have a good experience and for maintaining standards to protect thevalue and currency of awards.

36

Universities fulfil their responsibilities for assuring standards andquality through:

regulations for awarding degrees and other qualifications;procedures for the design, approval, monitoring and review of the courses of study they
offer;

the assessment of students, which includes making use of external examiners;

mechanisms designed to engage and involve students, with the aim of involving them as„co-creators in their own learning‟, in all aspects of quality assurance;

responding to feedback and interaction with students, employers and professional,
statutory and regulatory bodies;exchanging good practice, and dialogue with other universities and QAA, and participationin collective quality initiatives; and

cooperation with the QAA and funding council requirements for regular institutional review,
including the provision of publicly available information.

Each university discharges these responsibilities with reference to the UK Quality Code and QAA.㻌 㻌
QAA, in turn, refers to the effectiveness of the institution‟s arrangements for securing academic
standards and enhancing the quality of the student experience.

External examiners
All UK universities have long made use of a network of independent and impartial academic
advisers, called external examiners.

External examining provides one of the principal means formaintaining nationally comparable standards within autonomous higher education institutions,the external examiner being one of a number of independent and impartial advisers used by them.
The mechanisms employed by institutions to maintain and enhance academic standards will vary,depending on individual mission, size, curriculum structures and other factors.

However, that all

institutions will use external examiners to help them monitor the academic standards of theirawards, except those granted on an honorary basis.

External examiners provide institutions withinformed comment on the standards set and student achievement in relation to those standards.
External examiners are drawn from other institutions, or from areas of relevant professional
practice.

External examiners report to the Vice-Chancellor of the university on whether the

standards set are appropriate, by referring both to their experience of standards in otheruniversities, and to the Quality Code established by the QAA.
significant status within the university.

External examiner reports have

They are directed to the Vice-Chancellor and areconsidered at, and used by, the department and university in internal quality assurance
committees.
Source: The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2004) Code of practice for the academic
quality and standards in higher education, Section 4: External examining.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - The UK Quality Code for Higher
Education: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/assuring-standards-and-quality/the-quality-code
Universities UK (UUK) (2008) Quality and standards in UK universities: A guide to how the system works.

Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)37

4. External quality assurance framework
1) Higher Education Review and Enhancement-led Institutional Review
In addition to their own systems for safeguarding standards and enhancing the quality of theirprovision, universities are also subject to a rigorous external review process conducted by QAA.
In UK, the funding bodies, HEFCE, DEL, HEFCW and㻌 SFC, are legally responsible for securing thatprovision is made for assessing the quality of education provided in institutions for whose
activities they provide, or are considering providing, financial support.

Quality assessment in the

UK is currently conducted by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) undercontract to the UK funding bodies.

Publicly funded higher education institutions, Further

Education colleges providing higher education that is directly funded by the HEFCE, andnon-publicly funded bodies that hold renewable UK degree-awarding powers are required tosubscribe to QAA. In QAA‟s mission to safeguard standards and improve the quality of UK higher
education, QAA works in close partnership with a wide range of higher education providers.
The QAA undertakes regular, formal, external reviews of universities, called „Higher Education
Review‟ in England and Northern Ireland, 'Higher Education Review: Wales' in Wales, and„Enhancement-led Institutional Review‟ in Scotland.
described on

The process of each review by QAA is

IV. The details of quality assurance organisation: Quality Assurance Agency forHigher Education (QAA), on page 50.

The review arrangements by QAA have been developed andevolved in each administrative part of the UK.

The overview, main characteristics and differences

between each arrangement are indicated below:

Review teams


England/N. Ireland: Review teams consist of peer reviewers and at least one current or recent
student.

Scotland: Review teams consist of peer reviewers, one current or recent student, and one
international reviewer.

Wales: The arrangements are the same as for England and N. Ireland (see above).

Target and cycleEngland/N. Ireland: The interval between reviews is six years for providers who have undergone
at least two previous QAA reviews, the latest of which was successful.

Providers without

such a strong record are reviewed four years after their last engagement with QAA, or sooner(see below under Judgements).

Scotland: involving all university sector institutions over a four-year cycle.



Wales: The arrangements are the same as for England and N. Ireland (see above).

Self-assessment document
England/N. Ireland: Self-evaluation document (SED).



Scotland: Reflective analysis (RA).

38

Universities use it to document their entire range of

quality assurance and enhancement activities.



Wales: Self-evaluation document (SED).

Student submissions


England/N. Ireland: Student representatives are expected to make a separate submission of theirown alongside the institution‟s document.



Scotland: Students do not make a separate submission, but are involved at each stage of theinstitutional process of preparing and submitting the RA.

Wales: Students are encouraged to make a separate submission.  Each provider supports
their student representative body to produce an Annual Student Statement and thisstatement can inform the student submission during the review.

Visits

England/N. Ireland: There is one visit to the provider; its duration is between one day and five
days.



Scotland: Visits usually last between five and seven days, in two parts



Wales: Visits usually last five days.

Judgments


England/N. Ireland: Review teams make judgements on the setting and maintenance of
academic standards, the quality of students' learning opportunities, the enhancement ofstudents' learning opportunities, and information about higher education provision.

Thejudgements relate to whether the Expectations of the Quality Code are met in relation to theabove four areas.

The judgment on the setting and maintenance of academic standards is

expressed as one of the following: „meets UK expectations‟, „requires improvement to meet
UK expectations‟ or „does not meet UK expectations‟.

The judgments on learning

opportunities, information and enhancement are each expressed as one of the following:„commended‟, „meets UK expectations‟, „requires improvement to meet UK expectations‟ or„does not meet UK expectations‟.



Scotland: An overarching judgement is made about the effectiveness of the institution‟sarrangements for managing academic standards and the student learning experience.



Wales: The arrangements are the same as for England and N. Ireland (see above).

Recommendations


England/N. Ireland: The published report includes the review team‟s recommendations forconsideration by the institution.

The review team may indicate that a recommendation

should be addressed within three months, or before the start of the next academic year, andso on.



Scotland: Areas of positive practice and areas for development are highlighted alongside theoverarching judgement.



Wales: The arrangements are the same as for England and N. Ireland (see above).
Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)

39

Follow-upEngland/N. Ireland: All institutions are expected to produce an action plan.

Institutions thathave met Expectations are not required to undergo a mid-cycle review, and are not reviewed
again for another six years.

Those that 'require improvement to meet expectations' must

provide updates on the progress of their action plan and will receive a further visit one year
on, and another review after four years.

Those institutions that fail by a wider margin are

required to provide updates on the progress of their action plan and will be reviewed again
in the two subsequent years.

If any institution fails to meet expectations for a second time

it will be subject to an 'unsatisfactory quality procedure'.

Scotland: One year after publication of the review report, the university provides a written
follow-up report to QAA (and the Scottish Funding Council) indicating the ways in which thereview outcomes have been addressed.

This provides the basis for discussion at the annual

meeting each institution has with QAA.

In addition, institutions that have been reviewed

around the same time, are required to engage in a follow-up meeting to explore with eachother the actions they have each taken in response to their respective reviews.

Wales: The arrangements are the same as for England and N. Ireland (see above).

In

addition, in Wales, a mid-process student-focused engagement (MSE) takes place three years
after the review visit for all institution.

The purpose of MSE is to provide feedback onprogress since the previous review and of the strengths and weaknesses in the provider'scurrent and future plans for quality assurance and enhancement, with a particular focus on
the student experience.
representatives‟body

Based on an Annual Student Statement provided by student
and

a

brief

reportabout

actionstaken

toaddress

therecommendations in the HER: Wales report provided by provider, QAA staff visits theprovider for one day.
conclusions.

After the visit, QAA provides a brief report setting out the

The MSE process cannot lead to any modification of the judgments reachedby the review team.

2) Quality CodeIn the quality assurance framework of higher education in the UK, institutional review and internal
quality assurance was formerly conducted on the basis of the "academic infrastructure", which
institutions used to guide their policies for maintaining academic standards and quality.
Following work with the UK higher education sector, QAA has, since 2011, developed the new set of
nationally agreed reference points known as the UK Quality Code for Higher Education (Quality
Code), which replaced the Academic Infrastructure from the 2012-13 academic year.

The Quality

Code is owned by the UK higher education sector and is published and maintained by QAA on theirbehalf.

QAA works closely with the UK higher education sector to maintain and update it.

The Quality Code gives all higher education providers a shared starting point for setting, describing
and assuring the academic standards of their higher education awards and programmes and thequality of the learning opportunities they provide.

40

It applies to all providers of UK higher

education, whether based in the four nations of the UK or in other locations around the world.
The Quality Code relates to the learning and teaching activities of a higher education provider.

Itdoes not cover research areas (beyond the provision of research degree programmes), or sitemanagement.

QAA reviewers use it as the main reference point for their review work.

The Quality Code consists of a series of separate chapters grouped in three Parts6.

Part A: Setting and maintaining academic standards

Part B: Assuring and enhancing academic quality

Part C: Information about higher education provision

Each chapter of the Quality Code sets out the Expectations that all providers of UK higher education
are required to meet.

In addition, each chapter sets out a series of Indicators to help higher

education providers meet the relevant Expectations.

Part A: Setting and maintaining academic standards
Threshold academic standards are the minimum acceptable level of achievement that a student has
to demonstrate to be eligible for an academic award.

These chapters cover the issues relevant tothe setting and maintaining of academic standards.
Chapter A1: UK and European reference points for academic standards
Chapter A2: Degree-awarding bodies' reference points for academic standards
Chapter A3: Securing academic standards and an outcomes-based approach to academic awards

Chapter A1 comprises of the existing qualifications frameworks.

This chapter covers theframework for higher education qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (FHEQ), andthe framework for qualifications of higher education institutions in Scotland (FQHEIS).
The FHEQ and FQHEIS applied to degrees, diplomas, certificates and other academic awards (otherthan honorary degrees and higher doctorates) granted by a higher education provider in the exercise
of its degree awarding powers.
of higher education.

The FHEQ and FQHEIS are important reference points for providers

The FHEQ and FQHEIS have been written to assist higher education providers

to maintain academic standards; to inform international comparability of academic standards,
especially in the European context; to ensure international competitiveness; and to facilitate student
and graduate mobility.
The FHEQ and FQHEIS should enable higher education providers to communicate to employers;schools; parents; prospective students; professional, statutory and regulatory bodies (PSRBs); andother stakeholders for the achievements and attributes represented by the typical higher education
qualification titles.
6

The Quality Code is subject to ongoing development, and has revised/updated in August 2014.
For details, please refer to QAA‟s website:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/assuring-standards-and-quality/the-quality-code
Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)

41

QAA reviewers use the FHEQ and FQHEIS as a reference point when reviewing the establishment andmanagement of academic standards by higher education providers.

In particular, reviewers look at

how institutions align the academic standards of their awards with the levels referred to in the FHEQ.
They also ascertain whether institutions have means of ensuring that awards and qualifications areof an academic standard at least consistent with the standards referred to in the FHEQ.
The FHEQ has five levels, three of which are undergraduate and two are postgraduate.
numbered 4-8.
postgraduate.

These are

The FQHEIS has six levels, four of which are undergraduate and two are
These are numbered 7-12.

The levels of the FHEQ and FQHEIS, with examples oftypical qualifications at each level, are represented in the following table.
The fundamental premise of the UK frameworks for higher education qualifications is that
qualifications are awarded on the basis of demonstrated achievement of outcomes (expressed interms of knowledge, understanding and abilities) and attainment rather than years of study.
Qualification descriptors are key to this premise.

The qualification descriptors contained in the UK

frameworks for higher education qualifications describe the threshold academic standard for thosequalification types in terms of the levels of knowledge and understanding and the types of abilities
that holders of the relevant qualification are expected to have.

The programme learning outcomesare required to align with the relevant qualification descriptor.

The qualification descriptors

provide a point of reference that can help higher education institutions determine at which point in
the framework individual short courses might be placed.
FHEQ links at the each level of the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) covering England,
Wales and Northern Ireland. FQHEIS links to the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework(SCQF).

QCF and SCQF are national frameworks for have been cover the UK skills andqualifications including the higher education qualifications.

For more information about QCF and

SCQF, please see II–5-2) Credit and qualifications framework, page 17.
Increasingly, higher education institutions, students and employers operate and compete in a
European and international context.

The frameworks for higher education qualifications

throughout the UK are designed to meet the Expectations of the Bologna Declaration and thus alignwith the Framework for Qualifications of the European Higher Education Area (FQ-EHEA)7.

As such,the labels used to distinguish the different levels of the FQ-EHEA (short cycle, first cycle, second
cycle and third cycle) have also been incorporated into the FHEQ.

A European Qualifications

Framework for Lifelong Learning (EQF) has also been agreed by the European Commission and it isexpected that the FHEQ and FQHEIS will also be compatible with this framework.

7

FQ-EHEA adopts the overarching framework for qualifications in the EHEA, comprising three cycles (First cycle:
Bachelor, Second cycle: Master, Third cycle: Doctor), generic descriptors for each cycle based on learning
outcomes and competences.

42

The relationship between the levels of the FHEQ, FQHEIS and the cycles of the FQ-EHEA
Typical higher education qualifications within eachlevel*
Doctoral degrees(eg, PhD/Dphil, EdD, DBA, DClinPsy)

FHEQ
Level**FQHEIS
Level***

Corresponding
FQ-EHEA cycle

8

12Third cycle (end ofcycle)
qualifications

Master‟s degrees (eg, MPhil, MLitt, MRes, MA, MSc )Integrated master‟s degrees

Second cycle (endof cycle)(eg, MEng, MChem, MPhys, MPharm)Primary qualifications (or first degrees) in medicine,
dentistry and veterinary science (eg MB ChB, MB BS,
BM BS; BDS; BVSc, BVMS)

qualifications
7

11

Postgraduate diplomas

Intermediate
qualifications
within the second
cycle

Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) andPostgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE)
Postgraduate certificates
10

Bachelor‟s degrees with honours (eg, BA/BSc Hons)
Bachelor‟s degrees
Professional Graduate Certificate in Education

qualifications
6

9Intermediate
qualifications
within the first
cycle

N/A
8

Short cycle (within
or linked to the firstcycle)

Higher National Diplomas (HND)

N/Aqualifications

Higher National Certificates (HNC)

N/AIntermediate
qualifications
within the shortcycle(ProfGCE)
Graduate diplomas
Graduate certificatesFoundation Degrees (eg, FdA, FdSc)
Diplomas of Higher Education (DipHE)

Certificates of Higher Education (CertHE)*First cycle (end ofcycle)

5

4

7

The Access to Higher Education Diploma (see II–4. Admission, page 13 and IV-3-2) (4) Access toHigher Education Diploma, page 59) is regulated by QAA but is not part of the FHEQ because it
is a full level 3 qualification, which is the same level as GCE A Level and Advanced Diplomas.

** The framework levels of the FHEQ are numbered 4-8, succeeding levels 1-3 which precede
higher education in the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF).
*** As the FQHEIS is nested in the SCQF, the numbering of the levels are those of the SCQF.
Source: The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2011) The UK Quality Code for Higher
Education, Chapter A1: The national level:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/quality-code-A1.pdf
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2014) UK Quality Code for Higher Education,
part A: setting and maintaining academic standards: the UK frameworks for higher education
qualifications: draft for consultation.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2014) UK Quality Code for Higher Education,
Part A: Setting and Maintaining Academic Standards: The Frameworks for Higher Education
Qualifications of UK Degree-Awarding Bodies.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2014) The framework for qualifications ofhigher education institutions in Scotland.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2014) Qualifications can cross boundaries:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Publications/Documents/qualifications-can-cross-boundaries.pdf
Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)

43

Part B: Assuring and enhancing academic quality
Academic quality is concerned with how well the learning opportunities made available to students
enable them to achieve their award.

These chapters cover the issues relevant to ensuring that thequality of learning opportunities meets expectations and is continually being improved.
Chapter B1: Programme design, development and approval
Chapter B2: Recruitment, selection and admission to higher education
Chapter B3: Learning and teaching
Chapter B4: Enabling student development and achievement
Chapter B5: Student engagement
Chapter B6: Assessment of students and the recognition of prior learning
Chapter B7: External examining
Chapter B8: Programme monitoring and review
Chapter B9: Academic appeals and student complaints
Chapter B10: Managing higher education provision with others
Chapter B11: Research degrees

Part C: Information about higher education provision
Public confidence in higher education relies on public understanding of the achievement
represented by higher education qualifications.

It addresses how providers make available

information that is fit for purpose, accessible and trustworthy.
Part C: Information about higher education provision is structured around the following purposes
for which higher education providers produce information.



To communicate the purposes and value of higher education to the public at large.

To help prospective students make informed decisions about where, what, when and how
they will study.

To enable current students to make the most of their higher education learning
opportunities.



To confirm the achievements of students on completion of their studies.

To safeguard academic standards and assure and enhance academic quality.

3) Teaching quality information
The publication of information about quality and standards in individual higher education
institution is one component in the quality assurance framework.

It is to help potential students(and their parents and advisers) make choices about where to study.

The information has been

published on the Teaching Quality Information (TQI) website, now re-launched as Unistats.
The HEFCE owns the Unistats website on behalf of all higher education funding councils in the UK.

44

Unistats is the official site that allows you to search for and compare data and information on
university and college courses from across the UK. It started in 2007 and the website was revisedin 2012.

The site draws together comparable information on those areas that students haveidentified as important in making decisions about what and where to study.

The items thatstudents thought were most useful have been included in a Key Information Set (KIS).
The Key Information Set (KIS) comprises the items of information for student satisfaction ratings,
graduate salaries and employment, tuition fees and financial support, and the cost ofaccommodation.
The higher education (HE) White Paper 'Students at the Heart of the System' (June 2011) set out the
expectation that higher education institutions would provide a standard set of comparable
information about their courses (the Key Information Set), by September 2012.
The site draws on the following official data on higher education courses:

Student satisfaction from the National Student SurveyStudent destinations on finishing their course from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher
Education survey

How the course is taught and study patterns



How the course is assessed

Course accreditation

Course costs (such as tuition fees and accommodation)

These data have been provided by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), the Data Service,universities and colleges and Ipsos MORI (National Student Survey).
The items in the KIS and where the items come from are given in the table below:
Results from the following NSS questions:・ Staff are good at explaining things
・ Staff have made the subject interesting・ Overall, I am satisfied with the quality of my course・ I have received sufficient advice and support with my studies
・ Feedback on my work has been prompt
・ Feedback on my work has helped me clarify things I did not understand・ The library resources are good enough for my needs
・ I have been able to access general IT resources when I needed to・ I am satisfied with the Students' Union (Association or Guild)
Proportion of time spent in various learning and teaching activities - by year/stage of study, with alink to further detail
Proportion of summative assessment by method - by year/stage of study
Professional, statutory and regulatory bodies that recognise this course, details of the type ofrecognition with a link to further detail
Institution owned/sponsored accommodation: average annual costs - upper and lower quartiles, andOverview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)45

number of units (to which students can reasonably expect to have access).
Private rental accommodation: average annual costs - upper and lower quartiles
Financial support available from the institution: whether it offers a fee waiver; means-tested
support; non means-tested support; National Scholarship Programme; and a link to more detailed
information
Average fees (excluding fee waivers) per year by country of UK domicile
The destinations of graduates six months after completing their course - comprising working,studying, working and studying, unemployed, and not available for work
Of those in employment, the proportion in managerial/professional jobs six months after
graduation.
Salary data for those in full-time employment:
・ upper quartile, median and lower quartile six months after graduation from the course at theinstitution displaying the KIS・ regionally adjusted upper quartile, median and lower quartile for the subject across all
institutions six months after graduation
・ regionally adjusted upper quartile, median and lower quartile for the subject across all
institutions at 40 months after graduation

4) Student surveys
The National Student Survey is a national initiative, conducted annually since 2005.

The survey

runs across all publicly funded higher education institutions in England, Wales, Northern Ireland,
and higher education institutions in Scotland participating.

(In case of Scotland, the certain

number of the institutions is chosen to take part.) Additionally, since 2008, further educationcolleges with directly funded higher education students in England have been eligible toparticipate.
The survey asks final year undergraduates and students in their final year of a course leading toundergraduate credits or qualifications to provide feedback on their courses in a nationallyrecognised format.

There are 22 main questions about the following aspects of the student

learning experience and one question about the students‟ union, using closed multi-choicequestions: „Definitely agree‟, Mostly agree‟, „Neither agree nor disagree‟, „Mostly disagree‟,„Definitely disagree‟ and „Not applicable‟.
Aspects and questions



The Teaching on my course(ex. Staff are good at explaining things.)

Assessment and feedback(ex. The criteria used in marking have been clear in advance.)Academic support(ex. I have received sufficient advice and support with my studies.)46

Organisation and management(ex. The timetable works efficiently as far as my activities are concerned.)

Learning resources(ex. The library resources and services are good enough for my needs.)Personal development(ex. The course has helped me to present myself with confidence.)Overall satisfaction(ex. Overall, I am satisfied with the quality of the course.)

Students are also given the opportunity to write in positive and/or negative comments on theirstudent learning experience as a whole at their university/college.

If they provide comments at

the end of the questionnaire, their comments may be passed on, anonymously, to their institution
to help them identify how they can make improvements.
The results from the main 22 questions are made available for prospective students and theiradvisors on the Unistats website to help them make informed choices of what and where to study.
The results are also made available to participating universities, colleges and students‟ unions to
use to facilitate best practice and to enhance the student learning experience.
The survey has been commissioned by HEFCE on behalf of the Higher Education Funding Council
for Wales (HEFCW), the Department for Employment and Learning, Northern Ireland (DEL), theTraining and Development Agency and Skills for Health.
agency, administers the survey.

Ipsos MORI, an independent research

The survey is fully supported by the National Union of Students(NUS) and other student unions.

Source: The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2012) The UK Quality Code for Higher
Education : A brief guide.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2012) Enhancement-led Institutional Review:
Handbook (Third edition).
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2013) Higher Education Review (Plus): A
handbook for providers.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2014) Higher Education Review: A handbook
for QAA subscribers and providers with access to funding from HEFCE undergoing review in 2014-15.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2014) Higher Education Review: Wales A
handbook for providers.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2014) Consultation on the UK frameworks forhigher education qualifications.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Corporate governance:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/about-us/corporate-governance
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Subscribing institutions:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/about-us/subscribing-institutions
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Applying to QAA:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/about-us/subscribing-institutions/applying-to-qaa
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - The UK Quality Code for Higher
Education: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/assuring-standards-and-quality/the-quality-code
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Higher Education Review:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews-and-reports/how-we-review-higher-education/higher-education-review
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Higher Education Review - Wales:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/ReviewsAndReports/Pages/Higher-Education-Review-Wales.aspx
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Enhancement-led Institutional
Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)

47

Review:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews-and-reports/how-we-review-higher-education/enhancement-led-institutio
nal-review
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Development and enhancement:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/about-us/scotland/development-and-enhancement
The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) website:
http://www.ehea.info/article-details.aspx?ArticleId=65
EACEA Eurypedia: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/eurypedia_en.phpᴾ
Unistats website: http://unistats.direct.gov.uk/
The National Student Survey website:ᴾ http://www.thestudentsurvey.com/



5. Other quality assurance initiatives
1) Research assessment
The four UK higher education funding bodies (HEFCE, SFC, HEFCW, DELNI) have been developing a
replacement for the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), which is the system for assessing thequality of research in UK higher education institutions for funding of research.

The newarrangements, the Research Excellence Framework (REF), will build on the experience of the RAE.
The REF will be implemented by 2014.
The REF is a process of expert review.

The primary purpose of the REF is to produce assessment

outcomes for each submission made by institutions.
36 units of assessment.

HEIs will be invited to make submissions in

Submissions will be assessed by an expert sub-panel for each unit ofassessment, working under the guidance of four main panels.
The REF will make greater use of quantitative indicators in the assessment of research quality thanthe RAE, while taking account of key differences between the different disciplines.

Assessment

will combine quantitative indicators, including bibliometric indicators wherever these areappropriate.
In forming their overall quality judgements, the sub-panels will assess three distinct elements ofeach submission – outputs, impact and environment.

In particular, it is characterized that REF

introduce a new element of the economic and social impact of research, as well as impact upon
public policy.

The weighting of each element is set out below.

(a) Outputs (65%)
The sub-panels will assess the quality of submitted research outputs in terms of their„originality, significance and rigour‟, with reference to international research quality
standards.
(b) Impact (20%)
The sub-panels will assess the „reach and significance‟ of impacts on the economy, society
and/or culture that were underpinned by excellent research conducted in the submitted unit,
as well as the submitted unit‟s approach to enabling impact from its research.

48

(c) Environment (15%)
The sub-panels will assess the research environment in terms of its „vitality and sustainability‟,
including its contribution to the vitality and sustainability of the wider discipline or researchbase.

2) Accreditation by professional, regulatory and statutory bodies
Some programmes of study in higher education may lead also to a professional or vocational
qualification, for example, in engineering, law, accountancy or medicine.

Such programmes are

subject to accreditation by the relevant professional, regulatory, or statutory body.

This form of

accreditation recognises that a programme provides some, or all, of the competencies needed for
professional practice.

3) Educational OversightHigher Education providers, which accept the enrollment of international students from outside
the European Economic Area (EEA) who will be studying under student visa (Tier 4), are required tobeing reviewed the educational oversight by a designated body for getting „Highly Trusted Sponsor(HTS)‟ status.

For the list of organization recognised as a designated body for higher education

providers by Home Office, please see II-6. Responsible authorities and higher education relatedbodies, page. 23.

Source: Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) website - REF 2014 Research Excellence
Framework: http://www.ref.ac.uk/
Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) (2012) Panel criteria and working methods.
UK visas and immigration (2014) Tier 4 of the Points Based System Guidance for Sponsors:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/347285/Document3_S
ponsor_Duties_and_Compliance_01-07-14.pdf

Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)49

IV. The details of quality assurance organisation: Quality
Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA)
1. Overview of the organisation
Name of the organisation

Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA)

Character of the

Independent body; a registered charity and a company limited byorganisation

guarantee

Year of establishment

1997
Southgate House Southgate Street Gloucester GL1 1UB (head office)Location

183 St Vincent Street, Glasgow, G2 5QD
10-11 Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1Y 5AH
Cambrian Buildings, Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff Bay, CF10 5FL

Representative

Anthony McClaran, Chief Executive

Number of staff

150+

Statement of financial
activities (for the year
ended 31 July 2013)
Unit: GBP

Total income: 13,614,426
Main resources:
・ Subscriptions from institutions: 4,618,754
・ Contracts with HE funding bodies: 6,098,657
Total expenses: 13,207, 651
Main resources:
・ To meet student needs:㻌 1,385,634
・ To safeguard standards:㻌 6,726,421
・ To drive improvements in UK HE:㻌 3,439,655
・ To improve public understanding:㻌 1,449,002

Organisation

 The QAA Board of Directors - 17 members (including one student

member and one National Union of Students representative) and four
observers

 Organisational structure - six groups.
・Quality Assurance - all review activities, including international
work, applications for degree-awarding powers, and concerns
investigations
・Quality Development - academic reference points and guidance;
research and analysis; business development; regulation of theAccess to Higher Education Diploma
・QAA Scotland - all aspects of QAA‟s work in Scotland*The QAA Scotland Committee, which is a subcommittee of the
QAA Board of Directors, oversees the operation of QAA Scotland.
・Public Engagement Group - communications, publications, public
engagement, student engagement, events management.
・Resources Group - internal services and resources, humanresources, financial planning and strategy
・Chief Executive's Group - supports work of the Chief Executive(As of June 2014)50

In UK, the funding bodies, respectively, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE),
the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL), the Higher Education Funding Council for
Wales (HEFCW), and㻌 Scottish Further and Higher Education Funding Council (SFC), are legally
responsible for securing that provision is made for assessing the quality of education provided ininstitutions for whose activities they provide, or are considering providing, financial support.
Quality assessment in the UK is currently conducted by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher
Education (QAA) under contract to the UK funding bodies.

QAA is funded by subscriptions fromuniversities and colleges of higher education, and through contracts with the main higher education
funding councils.
Source: The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) Director's report and financial statement for
the year ended 31 July 2013.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Corporate governance:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/about-us/corporate-governance
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Subscribing institutions:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/about-us/subscribing-institutions
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Applying to QAA:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/about-us/subscribing-institutions/applying-to-qaa
Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) website: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/

2. Mission and purposes
Mission
QAA‟s mission is to safeguard standards and improve the quality of UK higher education wherever it
is delivered around the world.

QAA achieves this by reviewing standards and quality, providing

reference points that help to define clear and explicit standards, and promoting a wider
understanding of the issues affecting and surrounding higher education.

Aims
To support its mission, QAA has committed to the following three strategic aims for 2014-17.

Enhance the quality and secure the academic standards of UK higher education wherever it isdelivered in order to maintain public confidence.

Provide leadership, through knowledge and resources, in assuring and enhancing the qualityof higher education within the UK and internationally.

Extend and enhance the value and reach of QAA's services within and beyond UK higher
education.

Source: The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2008) Self-Evaluation, External Review for
Confirmation of Full Membership of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2014) STRATEGY 2014-2017.

Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)51

3. The work of the organisation
The primary responsibility for academic standards and quality rests with individual institutions.
QAA reviews and reports on how well they meet those responsibilities, and encourages continuous
improvement in the management of the quality of higher education.

QAA does this by:

conducting external reviews of universities and collegespublishing reports stating whether, and how well, providers meet expectationsoffering expert guidance on maintaining and improving qualityadvising the government on applications for degree awarding powers and university title.

1) External review
QAA undertakes regular, formal, external reviews.

The review arrangements have been developedand evolved in each administrative part of the UK.

The overview and main differences between

each arrangement are described on III-4-1) Higher Education Review and Enhancement-led
Institutional Review, page 38.

(1) Higher Education Review
Higher Education Review (HER) is the new review method for higher education institutions in
England and Northern Ireland from 2013-14 and is also applicable, in a slightly adapted form, in
Wales, where Higher Education Review: Wales (HER: Wales) is introduced from 2014/15.

Itsucceeds Institutional Review in all parts of the UK except Scotland, where Enhancement-led
Institutional Review remains the current review method.

HER has been designed in accordancewith the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area.
As one of the major review schemes, the detail of the HER is given below:

Aims of Higher Education Review (HER)
The overall aim of Higher Education Review is to inform students and the wider public as towhether a provider of UK higher education:

meets UK Expectations for academic standards either directly or through responsibilities
delegated by its degree-awarding body/bodies

provides learning opportunities that meet UK Expectations as set out in the Quality Code

plans effectively to enhance the quality of its higher education provision

provides information that is fit for purpose, accessible and trustworthy, for the generalpublic, prospective and current students, and all those with an interest in academic
standards and quality

Method of Higher Education Review (HER)
HER is a flexible, risk-based method which applies the greatest scrutiny where it is most needed.
Providers with a strong track record in managing quality and standards are reviewed less52

frequently and less intensively than providers without such a strong record.

It is carried out bypeer reviewers - staff and students from other providers.
The interval between reviews is six years for providers who have undergone at least two previous

QAA reviews, the latest of which was successful. Providers without such a strong record arereviewed four years after their last engagement with QAA, or sooner (see below under Judgements).
HER has a core element and a thematic element, which are the same for all providers.

The coreelement focuses on academic standards, quality of learning opportunities, steps to improve quality,and provision of information, as described above.

The thematic element focuses on an area

regarded as particularly worthy of further analysis or enhancement among providers under review
and/or the higher education sector more generally.

The thematic element will change periodically.

Thus, providers reviewed at different times may not experience the same theme.

Review teamThe size of the team for the whole review (that is, the desk-based analysis and the review visit) is
determined according to the scale of the provision on offer.
reviewers and a maximum of six.

It comprises a minimum of two

At least one reviewer on every team is a member or former

member of academic staff from another provider in the UK, and at least one is a current or recent
student.
Student reviewers are recruited from among students or sabbatical officers who have experience ofparticipating, as a representative of students' interests, in contributing to the management of
academic standards and/or quality.
A QAA officer coordinates the review, supports the review team and acts as the primary point ofcontact with the provider.

The role of students
Students are key beneficiaries of HER and are at the heart of the review process.

Student

reviewers are full and equal members of review teams.
Students of the provider under review may also have input to the process by:

nominating a lead student representative, who is involved throughout the review process

preparing a student submission, which is a key part of the evidence for the desk-based
analysis

contributing their views directly for consideration during the desk-based analysis

participating in meetings during the review visitassisting the provider in drawing up and implementing the action plan after the review.

The review process
The first contact that a provider will have about its review is likely to be around one year before thereview visit.

QAA writes to the provider to confirm that they will be having a review and to ask forsome information to help QAA schedule the review dates, such as the dates of their academic year
Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)

53

and the dates of major examination periods.
HER takes place in two stages.

The first stage is a desk-based analysis by the review team of awide range of information about the higher education on offer.

Some of this information,

including the self-evaluation document, is submitted by the provider, some is submitted by
students and the rest is assembled by QAA.
The second stage of Higher Education Review is a visit to the provider.

The programme for, andduration of, the review visit varies according to the outcome of the desk-based analysis.

The

review team decides on the duration of the visit according to what the desk-based analysis reveals
both about the provider's track record in managing quality and standards and the extent to which itmeets the applicable Expectations of the Quality Code.

Where this analysis demonstrates a strong

track record in managing quality and standards, and that the provider is continuing to manage its
responsibilities effectively, the review visit can be relatively short since there should be few issues
about which the team would require further information.

However, where the analysis does notdemonstrate a strong track record, and/or indicates that the provider is not managing its
responsibilities effectively (or the evidence provided is insufficient to demonstrate that it ismeeting its responsibilities effectively), the review visit will be longer so as to allow the team toinvestigate its concerns thoroughly.
The activity carried out during the visit will not be the same for every review, but may include
contact with staff (including staff from degree-awarding bodies and other awarding organisations
where applicable), recent graduates, external examiners and employers.

The review visit will

include a final meeting between the review team and senior staff of the provider, the facilitator andthe lead student representative.
On the final day of the review visit, the review team considers its findings in order to:decide on the grades of the four judgements



decide on the commentary on the thematic element of the review

agree any features of good practice that it wishes to highlight

agree any recommendations for action by the provider

agree any affirmations of courses of action that the provider has already identified.

Judgments
The judgements are made by teams of peers by reference to the Expectations in the Quality Code.
The judgement on the setting and maintenance of academic standards is expressed as one of thefollowing: „meets UK expectations‟, „requires improvement to meet UK expectations‟ or „does notmeet UK expectations‟.

The judgements on learning opportunities, information and enhancement

are each expressed as one of the following: „commended‟, „meets UK expectations‟, „requires
improvement to meet UK expectations‟ or „does not meet UK expectations‟.

The judgements'requires improvement to meet UK expectations' and 'does not meet UK expectations' areconsidered to be unsatisfactory and, therefore, more intensive follow-up action will be required,followed by a follow-up visit or further review.

54

Recommendations
The published report includes the review team‟s recommendations for consideration by theinstitution.

The review team may indicate that a recommendation should be addressed within

three months, or before the start of the next academic year, and so on.

After the review visit
Six weeks after the end of the review, the provider will receive the draft report on the findings.
QAA asks the provider to respond within three weeks, telling them of any factual errors or errors ofinterpretation in the report.

QAA also shares the draft report with the lead student representativeand invites his or her comments on it by the same deadline.
Where the draft report contains judgements of 'commended' or 'meets UK expectations' in all fourareas, the report will be finalised and published three weeks later (that is, within 12 working weeksof the review visit).

The provider will be notified of publication and receive confirmation of theireligibility to use the QAA Quality Mark, and will be provided with the relevant information to
enable the provider to do this.
The report will be written as concisely as possible, while including enough detail to be of maximum
use to the provider.

The report will contain an executive summary to explain the findings to a lay

audience.

Action planning
After the report has been published, the provider is expected to provide an action plan, signed off
by the head of the organisation, responding to the recommendations and affirmations, and settingout any plans to capitalise on the identified good practice.

The provider should either produce thisjointly with student representatives, or representatives should be able to post their own
commentary on the action plan.
at the preparatory meeting.

The QAA officer will have discussed this process with the provider

The action plan (and commentary, if produced) should be posted totheir public website within one academic term or semester of the review report being published.
link to the report page on QAA's website should also be provided.

A

The provider is expected to

update the action plan annually, again in conjunction with student representatives, until actions
have been completed, and post the updated plan to their website.

Follow-up
All institutions are expected to produce an action plan.

Institutions that have met Expectations

are not required to undergo a mid-cycle review, and are not reviewed again for another six years.
Those that 'require improvement to meet expectations' must provide updates on the progress of
their action plan and will receive a further visit one year on, and another review after four years.
Those institutions that fail by a wider margin are required to provide updates on the progress of
their action plan and will be reviewed again in the two subsequent years.

If any institution fails tomeet expectations for a second time it will be subject to an 'unsatisfactory quality procedure'.

Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)55

In addition, in Wales, a mid-process student-focused engagement (MSE) takes place three years
after the review visit for all institution.

The purpose of MSE is to provide feedback on progresssince the previous review and of the strengths and weaknesses in the provider's current and futureplans for quality assurance and enhancement, with a particular focus on the student experience.
Based on an Annual Student Statement provided by student representatives‟ body and a briefreport about actions taken to address the recommendations in the HER: Wales report provided byprovider, QAA staff visits the provider for one day.
setting out the conclusions.

After the visit, QAA provides a brief report

The MSE process cannot lead to any modification of the judgments

reached by the review team.

(2) Enhancement-Led Institutional Review (ELIR)
ELIR is the peer review method used in Scotland and is designed to form part of a coherent Quality
Enhancement Framework of five elements:

Student engagement in qualityAn agreed set of public information

Institution-led quality reviewA national set of Enhancement Themes activityEnhancement-Led Institutional Review

ELIR and the whole Quality Enhancement Framework, were developed as a result of partnership
between key agencies in the Scottish sector including: QAA, Scottish Funding Council, National
Union of Students (Scotland) and Universities Scotland.

It has been accompanied by method

evaluation (carried out by a team of independent researchers from outside Scotland) so that there isevidence of impact from 2003 to the present.
An important feature of the Scottish system, which differs considerably from that in other parts of
the UK, is that collaboration between institutions is encouraged and promoted.
Enhancement Themes work where this collaboration can be seen clearly.

QAA leads the

There is a strong

international dimension to this work so that the Scottish institutions, collectively, learn frominternational practice8.
ELIR has been operating in Scotland since 2003 with revisions to the method taking place at intervals.
The current version (ELIR 3) includes international reviewers on each team and a greater emphasison the enhancement-led aspect.

ELIR reviews take place on a four-cycle so, at the time of writing inJuly 2014, each Scottish institution has been reviewed at least twice in the ELIR method.
ELIR reports cover a range of themes under the following areas of institutional activity:

8

More information about the enhancement themes can be found on the website:
http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/

56

CurrentInstitutional context and strategic frameworkEnhancing the student learning experienceEnhancement in learning and teaching

Academic standards



Self-evaluation and management of informationCollaborative activity

As part of the ELIR method, there is an annual visit to each institution, led by a senior QAA officer.
This is important for relationship building and to discuss matters arising from institution-led
quality review.

It also provides a key opportunity to discuss action arising from the previous ELIR

and planning for the next.
There is a strong analytical reporting process liked to ELIR and the enhancement themes work.
QAA produces two sector-wide analytical reports each year, drawing on the outcomes of ELIR,
enhancement themes and institution-led review to identify themes across the sector, highlighting
positive practice and challenges.

In addition, using the outcomes of ELIR and information arisingfrom annual discussions, QAA produces regular thematic reports, to inform both the enhancement
themes programme of work and other development work to ensure that areas of challenge for thesector are addressed.

Review team
Each ELIR team comprises six reviewers: three UK-based academics, an international reviewer,
student reviewer and a coordinating reviewer.

Each ELIR is managed by a senior member of QAA

staff.

Review process
The visit is conducted in two-parts which are held around five weeks‟ apart.

During the first visit,

the institution being reviewed is responsible for leading one morning of events and discussions toemphasise their particular approach.

After that, the ELIR team is responsible for setting andleading the discussions.

Judgements
ELIR results in an overarching judgment on the effectiveness of the institution‟s arrangements for
managing academic standards and the student learning experience.

In addition, each ELIR

identifies areas of positive practice and areas for development.

Follow-up
One year after publication of the ELIR reports, institutions submit a follow-up report to QAA (and to
the Scottish Funding Council).

After agreement with the senior QAA office, the report is publishedalongside the original ELIR report.

In addition, institutions that were reviewed around the sametime, meet to explore the action they have each taken in response to their respective
ELIRs.

Themes arising from ELIRs are used to inform the enhancement themes and otherdevelopmental activity across the sector.
Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)572) Other works(1) Educational oversight reviews
Higher Education providers, which accept the enrollment of international students from outside
the European Economic Area (EEA) who will be studying under student visa (Tier 4), are required tobeing reviewed the educational oversight by a designated body for getting „Highly Trusted Sponsor(HTS)‟ status9.

QAA has been recognised as a designated body for higher education providers byHome Office.

There are three different Educational Oversight review methods carried out by QAA:



Review for Educational Oversight (REO): This is for independent colleges that provide higher
education programmes in association with awarding bodies and/or awarding organisations.
REO will be replaced „Higher Education Review (Plus)‟ for all colleges with effect from 1
January 2015.



Embedded College Review for Educational Oversight (ECREO) is for providers that operate
networks of colleges embedded on or near the campuses of two or more UK higher education
institutions.



Recognition Scheme for Educational Oversight (RSEO) is for overseas higher education
providers operating in the UK.

(2) Review for specific course designation
Review by the QAA is a requirement of alternative providers of higher education that wish to apply
for or maintain specific course designation for student support purposes.

QAA has beenrecognised by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to carry out reviews for thispurpose.
The term 'provider' refers to a range of organisations that deliver higher education programmes tostudents.

Some may operate for profit, others may have charitable status.

reviewed through this method are not currently subscribers to QAA.
called Review for Specific Course Designation (RSCD).

The providers

The process of review is

It focuses on providers that offer higher

education programmes in collaboration with awarding bodies/organisations.
It reflects the core principles of QAA review processes.

For the purposes of RSCD, only

'confidence' judgements in the management of academic standards and management andenhancement of the quality of learning opportunities and 'reliance' in information about learning
opportunities are deemed as acceptable outcomes.

(3) Review of overseas provision
Many UK institutions offer higher education programmes through partnership links withorganisations abroad, or deliver programmes on overseas campuses.

9

As part of QAA's work, QAA

More information about HTS can be found on the website.
UK Visas and Immigration: Sponsor a Tier 4 student: guidance for educators:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sponsor-a-tier-4-student-guidance-for-educators

58

conducts Review of Overseas Provision for the UK transnational education (TNE).

The keyreference points used in Review of Overseas Provision can be found in the UK Quality Code forHigher Education.

QAA provides guidance for UK higher education institutions about selecting

partners and agents through the Quality Code, Chapter B10: Managing higher education provision
with others.
The review is conducted on a country by country basis and carried out according to the same
principles and processes as our review methods for higher education institutions:

it is a peer review, evidence-based process

the UK higher education institution provides a briefing document describing its overseas
provision

overseas review usually involves a one-day visit of a review team to the UK institution tomeet staff and students, and a similar visit to the partner institution overseas.

BIS published the policy paper – “International education strategy: global growth and prosperity” in
2013, which covers supporting transnational education and strengthening quality assurance.
QAA is working with representatives from universities and colleges, and other stakeholders acrossthe UK to implement an approach to the quality assurance of TNE.

The building blocks that will

form the basis of the new TNE review method are:

TNE and institutional review processes that are complementary and closely aligned

TNE review process that is flexible and cognisant of risk

greater coverage of TNE provision achieved through more desk-based analysis, combinedwith video-telephony

costs mitigated by combining visits so that those needed in a single country or geographic
area can be undertaken during the same overseas trip

the UK approach to student engagement included unless there are compelling reasons not to
do so.

(4) Access to Higher Education Diploma
The Access to Higher Education Diploma (Access to HE Diploma) enables adults without otherqualifications such as A levels to progress to higher education.
qualification is widely recognised by UK universities and colleges.
courses leading to the Access to HE Diploma.

Regulated by QAA, theThere are over 1,500 different

Access Validating Agencies (AVAs) validate andreview these courses, and award the qualification to successful students.

QAA licenses andmonitors the work of the AVAs, and publishes information about Access to HE.
For more information about Access to HE Diploma, please see II–4. Admission, page 13 and table on
II–5-2) Credit and qualification frameworks, page 21.

Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)59

(5) Advising government
QAA advises the UK government on the merits of applications for degree awarding powers anduniversity title, but is not responsible for granting them.
The power to award degrees in the UK is regulated by law.

It is an offence for an institution to

purport to award, or to offer to award a UK degree, unless it is authorised so to do.
universities are authorised by a number of means including Royal Charter or statute.

Older

Two Acts of

Parliament in 1992 provided for the Privy Council, which acts on the advice of government, togrant degree-awarding powers and create new universities.
The scrutiny of degree awarding powers and university title applications is one of QAA‟s mostimportant responsibilities since, in making these recommendations, in each case it is helping toredefine the UK‟s higher education sector.

Applications must be made to the Privy Council whichthen forwards the submission to the relevant territorial Minister with higher education
responsibilities.

Applications are then sent to QAA for advice.

QAA's remit is to offer

confidential guidance on the application, through the appropriate Minister, to the Privy Council.

(6) Supporting developments in higher education
QAA helps institutions enhance their management of quality and standards by publishing andsharing the intelligence and guidance gained from the full range of its work. Review reports areanalysed to identify themes of good practice and difficulties commonly encountered, with findings
published to stimulate discussion and debate and promote improvement.

Publications areavailable on QAA's website.
In Scotland, as part of the Quality Enhancement Framework, Enhancement Themes are planned anddeveloped in partnership with the higher education sector.

They encourage the identification andsharing of good practice delivered locally and worldwide, generating ideas and examples ofpractice with the aim of enhancing the student experience.

The themes provide a key reference

point for the Enhancement-Led Institutional Review (ELIR) process.

Institutions refer to thethemes in their self-evaluation and ELIR teams consider the effectiveness of institutions‟engagement with the themes.

(7) International work
QAA takes a leading role in international developments in standards and quality, enjoying a close
relationship with quality assurance agencies around the world.

It works with a wide range ofgovernment and other bodies across the UK to inform and support the higher education sector in
the light of international developments.

Overseas review activity helps to improve confidence inthe work of UK universities and colleges operating internationally.
QAA is fully confirmed as a member of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher
Education (ENQA), established as part of the Bologna Process to encourage and develop theexchange of information on quality assurance throughout Europe.

60

QAA was first independently

reviewed in April 2008 for ENQA membership purposes and its full compliance with, andmembership of, ENQA was confirmed after its subsequent review in May 2013.

ENQA's reportstated that QAA‟s overall performance is uniformly high: 'It is a trustworthy, effective and highly
credible agency and a leader in the field.
Executive levels.

QAA is well-led and well-managed at both Board and

The Panel has been consistently impressed by the calibre and professionalism of

all those contributing to the work of QAA'.

Additionally, in 2013, QAA was added to the European

Quality Assurance Register (EQAR).
Also, QAA is a full member of the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher
Education (INQAAHE).

In 2014 INQAAHE found QAA to be comprehensively aligned with the

INQAAHE Guidelines of Good Practice.
Source: The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2009) An introduction to QAA.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2012) Enhancement-led Institutional Review:
Handbook (Third edition).
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2013) Higher Education Review (Plus): A
handbook for providers.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2014) Higher Education Review: A handbook
for QAA subscribers and providers with access to funding from HEFCE undergoing review in 2014-15.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2014) Higher Education Review: Wales A
handbook for providers.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2014) Strengthening the quality assurance ofUK transnational education - consultation report.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) (2014) Review for Specific Course
Designation: Handbook.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Higher Education Review:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews-and-reports/how-we-review-higher-education/higher-education-review
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Higher Education Review - Wales:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/ReviewsAndReports/Pages/Higher-Education-Review-Wales.aspx
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Enhancement-led Institutional
Review:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews-and-reports/how-we-review-higher-education/enhancement-led-institutio
nal-review
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Development and enhancement:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/about-us/scotland/development-and-enhancement
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - Review of Overseas Provision:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews-and-reports/how-we-review-higher-education/review-of-overseas-provisi
on
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) website - How should the UK's transnational
education be quality assured in future?:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/en/Newsroom/Pages/TNE-review-consultation-findings.aspx
Access to Higher Education website: https://www.accesstohe.ac.uk/
Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) (2013) International education strategy: global
growth and prosperity.
The Enhancement Themes website: http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/
National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation (NIAD-UE) (2008) University
Evaluation Forum, Presentation by Carolyn Campbell, Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.
The European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) (2014) Report of the Panelappointed to undertake a review of the UK Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) for the purposes of renewal offull membership of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA):
http://www.enqa.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/QAA-review-report-FIN2.pdf
UK visas and immigration (2014) Tier 4 of the Points Based System Guidance for Sponsors:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/347285/Document3_S
ponsor_Duties_and_Compliance_01-07-14.pdf

Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)

61

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Accredited Qualifications:

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https://www.gov.uk/devolution-of-powers-to-scotland-wales-and-northern-irelandHigher
Education



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

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Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)63https://www.gov.uk/student-finance64

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institutions 2012/13: http://www.hesa.ac.uk/content/view/1897/239/ᴾ

Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE):

Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) - REF2014 Research Excellence
Framework: http://www.ref.ac.uk/

Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) - Higher Education Achievement
Report: http://www.hefce.ac.uk/whatwedo/lt/enh/hear/

Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW):

Higher Education Wales:Million+:

National Archives:

National Union of Students (NUS) - About NUS:



Northern Ireland Assembly:

Office for National Statistics (ONS) - 2011 UK censuses:
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/uk-census/

Scottish Funding Council (SFC):

Scottish Funding Council (SFC) - About us:Students Awards Agency for Scotland - About us:
http://www.saas.gov.uk/about_us/index.htm

Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF):
http://scqf.org.uk/the-framework/scqf-credit-points/

Student Finance NI:

Student Finance Wales:Students Loan Company - Products and services:
http://www.slc.co.uk/about-us/what-we-do/products-and-services.aspx

Students Loan Company - About us:Student loan repayment:
http://www.studentloanrepayment.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid=93,3866794&_dad=portal&_sc
hema=PORTALS

Student Participation in Quality Scotland (SPARQS) - About us:

The Complete University Guide:
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Encyclopedia on National Education Systems:
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/eurypedia_en.phpᴾThe Enhancement Themes:



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

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

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

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Qualifications: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/www.ofqual.gov.uk/2368.aspx



The Official Gateway to Scotland - Fees, funding and Visa applications:
http://www.scotland.org/study-in-scotland/fees-funding-and-visa-applications/

The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA):The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) - Degree awarding powers guidance and criteria:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/assuring-standards-and-quality/daput/guidance-and-criteria

The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) - Applying to QAA:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/about-us/subscribing-institutions/applying-to-qaa

The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) - Corporate governance:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/about-us/corporate-governanceThe Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) - Subscribing institutions:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/about-us/subscribing-institutions

The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) - UK regulatory bodies:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/about-us/corporate-governanceThe Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) - The UK Quality Code for Higher
Education: http://www.qaa.ac.uk/assuring-standards-and-quality/the-quality-codeThe Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) - Higher Education Review:
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n-review



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Review:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews-and-reports/how-we-review-higher-education/enhancement-led-institutional-review

The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) - Development and enhancement:
http://www.qaa.ac.uk/about-us/scotland/development-and-enhancement

The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) - Review of Overseas Provision:
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as-provisionThe Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) - How should the UK's transnational
education be quality assured in future?:
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

The Russell Group:

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The University Alliance:

The Welsh Assembly Government:



UCAS - How to add an Access course to your application:
http://www.ucas.com/how-it-all-works/mature-students/applying-university-or-college



UK NARIC:

Unistats:



Universities Scotland:

http://www.universities-scotland.ac.uk

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http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk

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

Universities UK (UUK) - Overview of the higher education sector:
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http://www.thestudentsurvey.com/

http://www.qaa.ac.uk/

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http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/linksforstudents/

Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education: United Kingdom (Second Edition)

65

Overview of the Quality Assurance System in Higher Education
United Kingdom
Second edition (2015)
Published by:
National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation
1-29-1 Gakuen-Nishimachi, Kodaira, Tokyo 187-8587 Japan
http://www.niad.ac.jp