ABSTRACT
This chapter concerns a number of topical ideas in higher education learning outcomes, generic level descriptors, thresholds, benchmarks and standards and the relationship of these to another topical issue the argument for more reflective and autonomous learning. The development of level descriptors involved senior higher education staff from a wide range of disciplines in meetings in Wales and London. The reminders often came from the Higher Education Quality Council staff who attended many of the workshops. The credit framework was launched in Wales with agreement of the guidelines for learning outcomes for modules and fair agreement on the generic level descriptors. The national vocational qualifications system uses the mastery model learners are competent or not yet competent and require further learning. Dearing calls for depth and breadth in the higher education curriculum. He also calls for the celebration of diversity in higher education, but, at the same time, a concern for standards.
