Quality Assurance in the UK

Quality Assurance in the UK

Information gotten from www.qaa.ac.uk

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About the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education
Our mission is to safeguard the public interest in sound standards of higher education qualifications and to encourage continuous improvement in the management of the quality of higher education.

We do this by working with higher education institutions to define academic standards and quality, and we carry out and publish reviews against these standards.

We were established in 1997 and are an independent body funded by subscriptions from UK universities and colleges of higher education, and through contracts with the main UK higher education funding bodies.

Who we are
In 1997, the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) was established to provide an integrated quality assurance service for UK higher education.

We are an independent body funded by subscriptions from universities and colleges of higher education (our subscribers), and through contracts with the main higher education funding bodies.

We are governed by a Board, which has overall responsibility for the conduct and strategic direction of our business.

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Our responsibilities
Each university and college of higher education is responsible for ensuring that appropriate standards are being achieved and a good quality education is being offered.

It is our responsibility to safeguard the public interest in sound standards of higher education qualifications, and to encourage continuous improvement in the management of the quality of higher education.

We achieve this by reviewing standards and quality, and providing reference points that help to define clear and explicit standards.

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Reviewing standards and quality
Academic standards are a way of describing the level of achievement that a student has to reach to gain an academic award (for example, a degree). They should be at a similar level across the UK.

Academic quality is a way of describing how well the learning opportunities available to students help them to achieve their award. It is about making sure that appropriate and effective teaching, support, assessment and learning opportunities are provided for them.

We use peer review processes where teams of academics conduct our audits and reviews. Some team members are drawn from industry and the professions.

In England, universities and colleges of higher education are reviewed through an institutional audit. Further education colleges that provide higher education programmes are reviewed through an academic review at subject level.

Institutional audit aims to ensure that institutions are providing higher education, awards and qualifications of an acceptable quality and an appropriate academic standard; and exercising their legal powers to award degrees in a proper manner.

Max score is 24 points. You want to look for schools/programs with a score from 20 and up.