What information is available about Quality Assurance and Rankings?
The UK has one of the world’s strongest systems for assuring quality in education. Almost all UK universities, colleges and institutes of higher education are publicly funded and are subject to scrutiny by the Quality Assurance Agency, a national organization charged with auditing academic standards. In addition, the quality of teaching and quality of research at academic institutions are reviewed at regular intervals by the Higher Education Funding Councils. These are the agencies that disperse public money to the universities. The results of the latest reviews can be accessed through the Higher Education & Research Opportunities gateway. In addition to these services, “league tables” of UK universities do exist. Much like US News and World Report’s university rankings, league tables in the UK are primarily produced by national newspapers, although there are independently produced guides as well. Each publication uses similar criteria, but advisors and students should look closely at
