All valid UK degrees are awarded by a university or other legally approved degree-awarding body that has overall responsibility for the academic standards and quality of the qualification. Precise arrangements for how degree awarding powers are granted depend on where in the UK the applicant institution is based.

Our guide provides an overview of the types of degree awarding powers, what they mean, who is suitable to apply for them, and how their suitability is checked. It also includes information about the right to be called a university ('university title').

Applicants must fulfil the relevant guidance and criteria, and applications must be submitted to the relevant government body or in England to the Office for Students, depending on where the UK applicant institution is based.

See the guidance and criteria section for further details.

This committee considers applications for degree awarding powers (DAP) and/or university titles (UT) in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It also oversees the criteria and scrutiny processes used to assess applications from these nations. ACDAP is made up of both Board and external members and meets quarterly.