The UK quality assurance system for HE has developed in a way which we believe is more robust than many of our competitors.

For example, in the US the HE quality assurance system:                                                

• operates through six regional accrediting bodies, whereas we have a single national system (with adaptations across the devolved nations)
• Does not generally make use of external examiners, particularly at undergraduate level
• Does not generally make use of double or triple marking
• Does not have reference points like our Academic Infrastructure (opens in a new window) As a result, programmes may be much less coherent, and there is much less comparability across degree courses at different HEIs
• Is much more burdensome, and as such diverts time, attention and funding away from front-line services
• Does not have anything like a National Student Survey or Unistats (opens in a new window)
• Does not have a national body like the Higher Education Academy

You can find more comparisons of the UK Honours Degree classification system with other countries, including the US, Australia and European countries, in this independent report (opens in new window) .