15 - England - Certification

In the UK, higher education academic qualifications are not national awards, but are granted by individual institutions. All universities have the legal power to develop their own courses and award their own degrees, and determine the conditions on which they are awarded. Some HE colleges and specialist institutions without these powers offer programmes, with varying extents of devolved authority, leading to the degrees of an institution which does have them.

Institutions able to offer courses leading to a degree of a recognised body ('Listed Bodies') are listed by the English, Welsh and Northern Irish authorities.

The Dearing Report (Dearing, 1997) identified the lack of a consistent rationale for the structure or nomenclature of awards across higher education. The Report recommended that the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) should develop and maintain qualifications frameworks for higher education qualifications - one framework for England, Wales and Northern Ireland and a separate framework for Scotland.

Following extensive consultation, in January 2001, the QAA published ‘The Framework for Higher Education Qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland’ (QAA, 2001). The qualifications framework is designed to ensure a consistent use of qualification titles. The main purposes of the framework are to:
  • Enable employers, schools, parents, prospective students and others to understand the achievements and attributes represented by the main qualification titles.
    • Maintain international comparability of standards, especially in the European context, to ensure international competitiveness, and to facilitate student and graduate mobility.
    • Assist learners to identify potential progression routes, particularly in the context of lifelong learning.
    • Assist higher education institutions, their external examiners, and the QAA's reviewers, by providing important points of reference for setting and assessing standards.
The implementation date was the start of the academic year 2003/04.

The framework places higher education qualifications awarded by universities and colleges in England, Wales and Northern Ireland at five levels. In ascending order, these are the Certificate, Intermediate, Honours, Master’s and Doctoral levels (see the sub-sections below for details). Although the organisation of higher education programmes is not regulated by law, the traditional structure of three main cycles meets the basic requirement of the Bologna Process.

Credit transfer schemes, which are often linked to modular systems of study, allow students to build up credits towards a full qualification. In England, a national credit framework for recording student achievement in higher education was published in 2006 (Universities UK, 2006) which is compatible with the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS). In Wales, since 2003, all accredited learning has been gradually brought into a single unifying structure referred to as the Credit and Qualifications Framework for Wales (CQFW).

Students who successfully complete a course of higher education receive a certificate detailing their achievement. There are no rules or guidelines for institutions concerning the type of information to be included on degree certificates, but most higher education institutions do produce certificates containing very similar information – usually including the following:
  • Name of awarding higher education institution
  • Full title of degree
  • Details of level of award (eg. Bachelor of Arts, Upper Second Class Division)
  • Full name of recipient
  • Date of award
  • Signature of, typically, the Registrar of Vice-Chancellor of the institution
  • Possibly the faculty within which the degree is based
  • Possibly the location of the campus.
In addition, higher education institutions usually issue transcripts of students’ marks in individual subjects during their degree. The forms of these transcripts vary. However, as part of the Bologna Process, which aims to create greater consistency and compatibility within European higher education, all UK higher education institutions are now moving towards issuing the European Diploma Supplement (DS). The Diploma Supplement is a document to be issued to students by their higher education institutions on graduation. It aims to describe the qualification they have received in a standard format that is easy to understand and compare. It also describes the content of the qualification and the structure of the system within which it was issued. The information contained in the Diploma Supplement is similar to transcripts that universities currently offer. By making it easier to compare qualifications gained in higher education systems across Europe, the Diploma Supplement attempts to facilitate mutual recognition of qualifications and lead to greater transparency and mobility.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, higher education institutions began to introduce the Diploma Supplement from 2004/05 and the majority of institutions now issue it. The UK Higher Education Europe Unit advises the sector on implementation and has produced information on its implementation in the UK:

Certificate level

The holder of a Certificate of Higher Education is expected to have a sound knowledge of the basic concepts of a subject, and will have learned how to take different approaches to solving problems.

These courses are usually offered in a vocational subject. Certificates normally take one year’s full-time study.

Intermediate level

Holders of qualifications at the intermediate level are expected to have developed a sound understanding of the principles in their field of study, and will have learned to apply those principles more widely.

The intermediate level includes ordinary degrees (bachelor’s degrees awarded without honours), foundation degrees (see below), Diplomas of Higher Education and other higher diplomas.

Higher National Certificates and Diplomas are awarded by Edexcel and usually take two years to complete - the Certificate by part-time study and the Diploma by full-time study.

Foundation degrees were introduced in September 2001, following proposals announced by the Secretary of State in February 2000. They are predominantly delivered through partnerships of further and higher education institutions, and are intended to help education providers to address the shortage of intermediate-level skills and to widen participation in higher education and stimulate lifelong learning. They are available in employment-related subject areas such as internet computing; learning support; and hospitality, leisure and tourism. Foundation degrees are intended to be completed in two years or an equivalent period part-time. They do not represent an end of first cycle higher education in terms of the Bologna Declaration, but are designed to offer opportunities to progress to an honours degree, which represents completion of first cycle higher education (HEFCE, 2000).

A national validation service for foundation degrees was launched in 2005. This service, offered by the University Vocational Awards Council (UVAC) through a newly created National Validation Council (NVC), validates foundation degrees and other higher level vocational courses for colleges and other training providers without degree-awarding powers.

The Government’s White Paper ‘The Future of Higher Education’ (GB. Parliament. HoC, 2003b) set out a commitment to establish a new national body, ‘Foundation Degree Forward’ (FDF). This was set up in 2003 to support and promote the development and validation of high quality foundation degrees.

Honours level

An honours graduate will have developed an understanding of a complex body of knowledge, some of it at the current boundaries of an academic discipline.

Honours degrees form the largest group of higher education qualifications. Typical courses last for three years (if taken full-time) and lead to a bachelor’s degree with honours, having a title such as Bachelor of ArtsBachelor of Science (BSc Hons). Also at this level are short courses and professional 'conversion' courses, based largely on undergraduate material, and taken usually by those who are already graduates in another discipline, leading to Graduate Certificates or Graduate Diplomas.

Note: Honours degree courses may be longer or shorter than three years. Longer courses include sandwich courses which incorporate periods of practical work in organisations outside the university or college, and courses specialising in modern foreign languages, which normally incorporate a year in the target language country. Shorter courses include accelerated two-year degrees which require students to study during the normal vacation periods.

Honours degrees are normally classified into first, second and third class. Second-class degrees are further divided into two divisions, upper and lower, known as 2i or 2:1 (pronounced 'two-one') and 2ii or 2:2 (pronounced 'two-two'). Students who do not achieve a high enough standard for an honours degree may be awarded a pass (or ordinary) degree.

The Steering Group on Measuring and Recording Student Achievement, chaired by Professor Robert Burgess, reported in October 2007 on degree classification in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (Universities UK, 2007). The report concluded that the honours degree classification system is no longer fit for purpose. It recommended the development of a Higher Education Achievement Report (HEAR), which will incorporate and build upon the Diploma Supplement.

Master's level

Much of the study undertaken at Master’s level will have been at, or informed by, the forefront of an academic or professional discipline.

Master's degrees are awarded after completion of taught courses or programmes of research, or a combination of both. Longer, research-based programmes often lead to the degree of MPhil. Most Master’s courses last at least one calendar year (if taken full-time), and are taken by persons with honours degrees (or equivalent). Some Master’s degrees - in science and engineering - are awarded after extended undergraduate programmes that last, typically, a year longer than honours degree programmes (usually four years). Also at this level are advanced short courses, often forming parts of continuing professional development programmes, leading to postgraduate certificates and postgraduate diplomas.

The Code of Practice for the guidance of institutions subscribing to the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) includes a section (section 1) covering postgraduate research programmes (QAA, 2004a).

Doctoral level

Doctoratesare awarded for the creation and interpretation of knowledge, which extends the forefront of a discipline, usually through original research.

There is a broad diversity of doctoral level programmes, including programmes which equip students for the labour market (these generally have significant taught elements and are known as professional doctorates) and programmes which equip students for academia. The titles PhD and DPhil are commonly used for doctorates awarded on the basis of original research. Doctoral programmes that may include a research component, but which have a substantial taught element, lead usually to awards that include the name of the discipline in their title (eg EdD for Doctor of Education). A doctorate normally requires the equivalent of three years' full-time study.

Students entering doctoral programmes are normally in possession of a Master's degree , but, in some cases, a student with good results in a Bachelors degree with Honours, in a relevant discipline, may be able to embark on a doctorate without a Masters degree with the agreement of the doctoral supervisor(s).

Note: Universities may also award honorary higher degrees (often doctorates) to persons of distinction in academic and public life, or to people who have made an outstanding contribution to the university or the local or national community. The titles of these senior doctorates normally reflect the field of the holder’s interest more closely than do PhDs; thus titles such as Doctor of Letters (DLitt) and Doctor of Science (DSc) are awarded.

Professional qualifications

Some courses offered in higher education institutions are professionally accredited by relevant professional bodies. There are 30 Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PSRBs) in the UK, which are the governing bodies of professions such as accountancy, architecture, dentistry, engineering, law and medicine. They are established by statute or regulated by Government through their Royal Charter to protect the public interest. The PSRBs accredit universities’ programmes as providing a right to practice a profession, achieve exemption from professional examinations and/or membership of a professional body. The Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP), for example, is a professional body which accredits degree courses in librarianship and information science offered by universities.

Qualifications specific to a profession and required for its practice, which may be taken at a university or after initial studies at university are completed, are more often obtained through successfully completing examinations set or accredited by professional bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and the Inns of Court School of Law.

A comprehensive list of awards and professional qualifications made by higher education institutions and other professional and accrediting bodies in the United Kingdom is available (Kogan Page, 2007).

Institutions:

 

Edexcel Foundation
One90 HIgh Holborn London WC1V 7BH England
Tel.:+44 (0)870 240 9800
Fax:+44 (0)20 7190 5700
E-mail:  enquiries@edexcel.org.uk
Website:  http://www.edexcel.org.uk

 

Foundation Degree Forward
Lichfield Centre, The Friary, Lichfield. WS13 6QG
Tel.:+44 (0)1543 301150
Fax:+44 (0)1543 301152
E-mail:  enquiries@fdf.ac.uk
Website:  http://www.fdf.ac.uk

 

University Vocational Awards Council (UVAC)
UVAC University of Bolton Chadwick Street Bolton BL2 1JW
Tel.:+44 (0)1204 903351
Fax:+44 (0)1204 903354
E-mail: uvac@uvac.ac.uk
Website:http://www.uvac.ac.uk

 

Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA)
Southgate House Southgate Street Gloucester GL1 1UB England
Tel.:+44 (0)1452 557000
Fax:+44 (0)1452 557070
E-mail: comms@qaa.ac.uk
Website:  http://www.qaa.ac.uk/


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Date: 2009
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