ABSTRACT
An innovative development in the first half of the twentieth century was the establishment of ‘university colleges’ in cities like Nottingham and Exeter, which were attended by students taking external degree programmes of the University of London. The need for technically trained personnel, the increased demand for higher education and the widespread belief that higher education contributed importantly to economic growth led to the establishment of a committee of enquiry on higher education. In 1992, following the decision of the government to accord university status to polytechnics, the Academic Audit Unit was enlarged to become the Quality Assurance Group of the Higher Education Quality Council (HEQC), a body wholly owned by the old and new universities and the colleges of higher education. The work of the Quality Assurance Group of the HEQC has turned the latent quasi-quality assurance system of the old universities into a more explicit, robust and transparent system for all universities.
