In order to be able to award a recognised higher education degree in the UK, an organisation needs to be authorised to do so either by virtue of a Royal Charter or Act of Parliament.
Our responsibilities
Since 1999, we have been responsible for offering confidential guidance to the Privy Council on applications from organisations seeking degree-awarding powers and/or university title. The scrutiny of degree-awarding powers and university title applications is one of our most important responsibilities since, in making these recommendations, in each case we are helping to redefine the UK's higher education sector. This has repercussions for the worldwide reputation of UK higher education, as well as for the general standing of its tertiary qualifications. Once granted, degree-awarding powers and university title cannot, in practice, be easily removed.
Applications for taught degree-awarding powers, research degree-awarding powers or university title must be made to the Privy Council. Upon receipt of an application, the Privy Council forwards the submission to the relevant territorial Minister with higher education responsibilities. In practice, this means that an application is either forwarded to the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS), the Scottish Government, Lifelong Learning Directorate, the Welsh Assembly Government, or the Department of Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland. Applications are then sent to QAA for advice. QAA's remit is to offer confidential guidance on the application, through the appropriate territorial Minister with higher education responsibilities, to the Privy Council.
Government criteria
In offering our advice to the Privy Council, we observe criteria set by the Government governing the grant of powers and/or title. The most recent set of criteria were published on the 1 September 2004 and apply to England and Wales. Earlier criteria which were published in October 1999 continue to apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Both sets of criteria and accompanying guidance notes are available on QAA's web page and are clustered around a series of themes such as organisational governance and management, quality assurance and academic standards, the arrangements for supporting student learning, staffing, and the organisation's administrative infrastructure.
In England and Wales, providing the applicant organisation meets certain numerical thresholds relating to the number of enrolled full-time students, it is now possible for an organisation to be granted university title without first having its own research degrees. In Scotland and Northern Ireland an applicant organisation will continue to have to secure both taught and research degree-awarding powers before it is able to apply for university title. While powers continue to be granted indefinitely to publicly funded higher education institutions in all parts of the UK, in England and Wales taught degree-awarding powers will from September 2004 only be granted on a six yearly renewable basis to privately funded organisations. The renewal of powers to privately funded organisations will be subject to a successful audit by QAA.
Consistent, evidence-based recommendations
We believe that our recommendations should be the result of close and careful consideration of each application. In particular, we are conscious that our scrutiny procedures and recommendations must be fully secure, evidence-based and consistently applied. This is also in the interests of applicant organisations: the granting of powers or title following only a superficial scrutiny would give rise to speculation both inside and outside the UK about the standards of the organisation concerned (and, by extension, of the standards of UK higher education as a whole).
The application process
Applications are initially considered by a sub-committee of the QAA Board, the Advisory Committee on Degree Awarding Powers. The Chairman of the Agency's Board chairs this Committee. Its membership includes heads of university institutions, a head of a Standing Council of Principals sector college with its own degree-awarding powers, senior level representatives from business and commerce, and observers from the DfES, the Scottish Executive Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department, the National Assembly for Wales, and the Department of Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland.
If the application merits further examination, experienced and senior academic peers are engaged to scrutinise the organisation. The advice offered by these assessors is based around the reading of documentation; meetings with staff, students and external stakeholders; and the observation of organisational events such as committee meetings, programme approval and review events, and examination boards. While every effort is made to ensure that a scrutiny takes no longer than is absolutely necessary, the gathering of evidence may take some time to complete. The evidence is brought together in a detailed assessor report that analyses the performance of the applicant organisation in respect of the Government's criteria. The Advisory Committee on Degree Awarding Powers and the QAA Board then consider the advice of the assessors before a recommendation is made to the Privy Council.
Where relevant, once QAA has submitted its confidential recommendation to the Privy Council, the Privy Council (through either the DfES, the Scottish Executive Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department, the National Assembly for Wales, or the Department of Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland) seeks guidance from the relevant higher education funding body regarding the financial status of the applicant organisation.
Once the Privy Council has reviewed carefully the evidence presented to it, a decision is taken as to whether the applicant organisation should be granted taught degree-awarding powers, research degree-awarding powers or university title.
For further details on QAA's activities in relation to degree-awarding powers and university title please contact:
Irene Ainsworth or Nick Pack
Reviews Group
Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education
Southgate House
Southgate Street
Gloucester GL1 1UB
Tel: Irene Ainsworth: (01452) 557019 or Nick Pack (01452) 557039
Email: i.ainsworth@qaa.ac.uk or n.pack@qaa.ac.uk
See also
Guidance for applicant organisations in England and Wales (August 2004)
Guidance for applicant organisations in Scotland and Northern Ireland (October 1999)
External web site
Please note: QAA is not responsible for content of external web sites
Official list of recognised bodies and listed bodies
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