ABSTRACT
The UK uses an integrated approach to assuring quality in higher education, applying the same processes and standards to all institutions and, importantly in the context of this book, across all modes of delivery. Being a unitary state, the UK has a single national quality assurance (QA) system for higher education with some adaptations to take account of the three devolved national administrations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This chapter outlines the work of the main agencies involved in this work – the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) for Higher Education, the British Standards Institute (BSI), the British Accreditation Council (BAC) and the Open and Distance Learning Quality Council (ODL QC). It also considers the UK’s approaches to QA and accreditation within the context of the EU.
