Academic standards and quality

QAA has worked with the sector to develop a set of reference points, known as the Academic Infrastructure. Institutions use this, and other reference points, to guide their policies for maintaining academic standards and quality.

About the Academic Infrastructure

The Academic Infrastructure is a set of nationally agreed reference points which give all institutions a shared starting point for setting, describing and assuring the quality and standards of their higher education courses. We work closely with the UK higher education sector to develop these reference points.

The Academic Infrastructure has four elements and all are inter-related. The Code of practice is concerned with the management of quality and the other three give advice to institutions about setting standards.

Evaluation of the Academic Infrastructure

QAA has evaluated how the Academic Infrastructure is working and the final report of the evaluation is now available. A sector-wide consultation on revising the Academic Infrastructure will take place in the autumn of 2010.

Read the final report >>

Read the original discussion papers >>

Other QAA reference points

Some other areas of our work also relate to all or parts of the Academic Infrastructure:

• Comparing qualifications in the UK and Ireland
• Verification of the compatibility of The framework for higher education qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (FHEQ) with The framework for qualifications of the E uropean higher education area (FQ-EHEA)
• Personal development planning: guidance for institutional policy and practice in higher education
• The doctoral qualification
• Academic credit in higher education
• The Higher education credit framework for England and a statement about its relationship to the FHEQ
• Facilitating credit-based links in Scottish higher education
• Progress files
• Guidelines on the accreditation of prior learning in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
• Master's degree characteristics

Thematic enquiries into concerns about academic quality and standards in higher education in England

QAA is conducting a series of enquiries in response to public concerns about higher education raised in the media. This is known as ‘Thematic enquiries into concerns about academic quality and standards in higher education in England’.

The work focuses on five areas: student workload and contact hours; English language requirements for international students; recruitment practices for international students; the use of external examiners; and assessment practices. Find out more >>

Other useful sources of information

The Quality in Higher Education Group aims to promote a quality assurance system for higher education in England and Northern Ireland which is accountable, rigorous, transparent, flexible, responsive, enhancement-led and public facing. The Group is jointly secretaried by Universities UK, GuildHE, HEFCE and DELNI, and includes QAA’s Chair and Chief Executive as members. More information >>

Quality and standards in UK Universities: A guide to how the system works (Universities UK, 2008) available at www.universitiesuk.ac.uk

Joint Forum for Higher Levels: overarching principles and operational criteria for a common approach to credit April 2009 (external website)