Higher education sector announces new initiatives to protect value of UK degrees

In May 2019, the sector-representative bodies for higher education in the UK published a Statement of Intent, reaffirming their commitment to protect the value of UK degrees and to transparent, consistent and fair academic standards. The UK Standing Committee for Quality Assessment (UKSCQA) has agreed the need for further action to meet this challenge and today announces two new initiatives developed by the sector to follow up on that earlier undertaking.

• Degree outcomes statements: The Statement of Intent explained how providers in the different nations of the UK would take different approaches towards their common goal of protecting the value of degrees, reflecting their differing national quality assessment arrangements. Guidance for providers, setting out the approach in each nation, on what to include in their degree outcomes statements is being published today on the websites of the UKSCQA and the QAA (please note that this guidance was updated on 5 February 2021).


• New degree classifications descriptions: The UKSCQA today publishes a set of common degree classification descriptions that set out the agreed general criteria that students across the UK should meet in order to achieve the different classes of qualification at bachelor’s honours degree level. These criteria will provide a vital tool for providers in ensuring the comparability and reliability of UK higher education qualifications. The descriptions have been developed over an 18-month programme of work between the sector, Universities UK, GuildHE and QAA, which was closely overseen by the UKSCQA. They were subject to consultation in November 2018.

The full press release from the UKSCQA with more information about the initiative can be found on the UKSCQA website.