Welfare Reform on the Web (May 2004): Education - UK - Higher

QUALITY ASSURANCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION: THE UK EXPERIENCE SINCE 1992

R. Brown

London: RoutledgeFalmer, 2004

The quality of teaching and learning is one of the major issues in higher education. This book provides an analytical account of the changes to the quality assurance of UK universities and colleges from 1992 to the present day. It documents the increasing involvement of the state and the associated debate about the regulation of professional activities. All the key developments and issues are covered, including the background to the ongoing debate, the evolution of the post-1992 quality regime, the role of the Higher Education Quality Council, changes to teaching quality assessment, the creation of a single system, and the formation and evolution of the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA).

ROOM AT THE ACADEMY? PEOPLE WITH LEARNING DIFFICULTIES AND HIGHER EDUCATION

K. Boxall, I. Carsin and D. Docherty

Disability and Society, Vol. 19, 2004, p.99-112

The article considers the role of people with learning difficulties in an undergraduate degree programme in Learning Disability Studies which commenced in 2001 at the University of Manchester. People with learning difficulties are involved in the course as teachers and as members of the programme steering group.

STUDENT 'MIX' TO GOVERN £3,000 TOP-UPS

J. Clare

The Daily Telegraph, April 6th 2004, p.1

Universities such as Oxford, Cambridge and Bristol will have to admit a "more socially representative" range of students if they want to charge top-up fees of £3,000 a year, the Government's advisors on education said yesterday. To achieve that the best universities should accept lower grades from some applicants, particularly if they went to state schools or would "contribute to the diversity" of the student community.

(See also The Times, April 6th 2004, p.4; The Guardian, April 6th 2004, p.2)

UNIVERSITIES SEE DRAMATIC RISE IN APPLICATIONS FROM OVERSEAS

M. Green

Financial Times, April 29th 2004, p.6

Applications to UK universities from overseas have jumped dramatically. The Department for Education and Skills said there was an increase of nearly 105 per cent from Cyprus, applications from the US were up more than 50 per cent and there was increased interest from Nigeria and Pakistan, taking the overall rise in applications from outside the UK up about 15 per cent to more than 49, 000. EU students face the same fees as UK students and are entitled to the same waiver if they come from the poorest third of families.