Degree titles to be overhauled

Hundreds of higher education qualifications are expected to be scrapped, renamed or restructured under a strict new framework governing the level and nomenclature of higher education awards.

The launch next week of a "position paper" from the Quality Assurance Agency on a future qualifications framework is due to spark a bitter fight for the future of a number of historical and unique awards. The framework is expected to rigidly pigeon-hole higher education awards into five distinct categories - higher education certificates, higher diplomas, bachelor degrees, masters degrees and PhDs.

Oxford and Cambridge masters degrees, which bachelor degree-holders can buy several years after their graduation, could become a casualty of a national framework designed to ensure that awards with similar names reflect a comparable level of achievement.

The four-year undergraduate MAs awarded by Scottish universities, as well as the MAs often given to BA students who complete industrial placements, are also threatened. There will be a clamp-down on masters degrees with too many undergraduate elements, it is understood.

The framework is to be launched next week after research that shows that most employers are so confused about higher education qualifications that a majority do not know the difference between a masters and bachelor's degree. Almost half of employers surveyed thought BA degrees required some form of postgraduate work.

The framework was recommended in the 1997 Dearing report to end a confusing system. The QAA is expected to call for further consultation next week, with final firm proposals due in the autumn.