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).
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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