All UK post-school courses above GCE Advanced level ('A-level') or Scottish Highers standard, are classified as higher education. Courses are available at universities, colleges and institutions of higher education.

This page contains higher education information on

			Structure and Funding
			Management
			Quality Assurance

Structure and Funding                                                                                                                  Back to top

The major sources of funding for higher education institutions are:

• A central Government grant paid through the three Higher Education Funding Councils in England, Wales and Scotland and the Department of Education in Northern Ireland.
• Tuition fees paid by students or Local Education Authorities to fund teaching costs.
• Grants from research councils which fund individual research projects and support related postgraduate training.
• Private sources such as charities and industry who fund specific research programmes.

Funds from central government are allocated to institutions against a funding formula, central to which is the number of students studying in a given institution. Subjects are allocated to one of four broad groups which represent the different costs of providing different types of course.

The Higher Education Funding Councils have established close links. The funding bodies also collaborate on a number of initiatives designed to improve teaching and learning.

Some funds from central government are also allocated according to the quality of research in institutions. This is assessed on a regular basis by the funding councils for England, Scotland and Wales and the Department of Education in Northern Ireland.

Management                                                                                                                                      Back to top

In general terms, the management structure of a university is very similar to that of any other private sector institution, incorporating positions such as the Vice-Chancellor or Principal whose equivalent in business would be the Chief Executive.

As the Creative Director of a company would work closely with a Board of Directors in the world of business, so does the Vice-Chancellor or Principal work closely with the governors of the institution.

The internal governing of a university differs depending upon whether the institution was established before or after 1992:

• If the university was established before 1992, the governing body is the Council (in Scotland, the Court) which normally has responsibility for the conduct of all the affairs at the university. Membership of the Council, or Court, comprises officers of the university, elected staff members and student representatives, as well as members who have been appointed by local authorities, affiliated institutions, and others.
• If the university was established after 1992, the governing body is the Board of Governors which has responsibility for the conduct of all the affairs at the university. Membership of the Board of Governors comprises independent members, co-opted members and members of staff, the student body and the local authority.

Quality Assurance                                                                                                                          Back to top

Raising the quality of education, and consequently the standards of achievement, is one of the government's key aims. In order to ensure that this objective is attained, the UK operates a unique system of quality assurance which is directly linked to funding at the further and higher education levels and open to public scrutiny.

The main components of quality assurances system are:

Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA)

The QAA is funded by subscriptions from individual universities and colleges of higher education to whom it provides several services.

Research Assessment Exercise

The Funding Councils in England, Wales and Scotland and the Department of Education in Northern Ireland run the Research Assessment Exercise, the main purpose of which is to improve the quality of research through the selective allocation of funds.

The Research Assessment Exercise is carried out every four-to-six years. The last was in 2001.