Higher education institutions are responsible for deciding which
programmes to offer, for the design of programmes, the approval of
programmes and the monitoring and review of programmes. Institutions
generally offer a wide range of courses but some institutions
specialise in certain fields, such as music, art or business.
Institutions which were originally set up as, for example, institutes
of technology, but which subsequently gained university title, tend to
retain their technological specialism. Additional funding is available
to encourage diversity, for example for specialist colleges and certain
subjects identified as strategically important but vulnerable because
of low student numbers.
The Code of Practice for the guidance of
institutions subscribing to the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher
Education (QAA) includes a section (section 7) covering programme
design, approval, monitoring and review (QAA, 2006x).