ABSTRACT
In recent years, higher education institutions in the United Kingdom (UK) have become increasingly interested in a notion that the assurance of standards of educational provision is possible, so long as comparison points are clearly identified within and between organizations. The Collins dictionary defines 'benchmarks' in two ways. First, literally a mark on a stone post or other permanent feature, at a point the exact elevation and position of which is known and is used as a reference point in surveying. Second, this term is also used, by analogy, for a criterion by which to measure something a standard, a reference point. Benchmarks, the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) indicated, were to be concerned with outcomes of programmes or subjects, rather than inputs in terms of teaching. The Chief Executive of the QAA and the Director of Programme Review regularly refute the suggestion that the QAA has any wish whatever to introduce a national curriculum for higher education in the UK.
