Statements of benchmarked academic standards for dentistry, medicine and veterinary science, prepared by groups representative of the respective subject communities, have been published by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA). The academic standards have been developed in collaboration with the three professional statutory regulatory bodies, the General Dental Council (GDC), the General Medical Council (GMC) and the Royal College of Veterinary Science (RCVS), and in close consultation with the wider subject communities.
The benchmark documents describe the nature and extent of programmes in the disciplines and encapsulate the learning outcomes expected of a typical graduate who will then progress to the next stage of professional training following successful completion of a degree programme recognised by the appropriate professional statutory regulatory body.
The statements do not address explicitly the level at which such qualifications might be placed within either The framework for higher education qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland or The framework for qualifications of higher education institutions in Scotland (the frameworks). However, the statements include expressions of the professional/employment related abilities that graduates in the respective subjects would be expected to have developed during their higher education and associated practice based experiences. These align, albeit with an emphasis on 'professional ability', with the abilities expressed in the Masters degree descriptor included within the frameworks.
Determining the level of their qualifications and ensuring clear use of nomenclature is, of course, the responsibility of degree awarding higher education institutions. The qualification nomenclature used for dentistry, medicine and veterinary medicine does not follow all of the conventions that apply in other subject areas. For example, although it is assumed that the qualifications are above the Honours level, the Honours title is not generally used.
The use of nomenclature that implies a qualification is at a higher level than its learning outcomes would suggest is being discouraged, in order that the reputation of UK higher education is not challenged. However the use, for historical reasons, of nomenclature that implies a qualification is at a lower level does not pose such a problem.
Top