Degrees revamp on way

A multi-million pound overhaul of the way degree standards are defined and checked has been called for by quality watchdogs.

This could eventually lead to a minimum pass level, or threshold standard, being set nationally, possibly at the level of the present lower second degree. It could also mean a new national framework for higher education qualifications, clearer guidelines on what courses are meant to achieve, changes in assessment of students' work, and a review of the honours degree classification system.

The external examiner system, still seen by many academics as the main guarantor of standards, is under pressure to change.

The proposals, to be published next Friday in the final report of the Higher Education Quality Council's graduate standards programme, have had a strong influence on Sir Ron Dearing's inquiry.

Sir Ron, who has put standards high on his agenda, is expected to call for an end to the "old boys' network" of external examiners.

Committee members want to ditch the system where institutions choose their own external examiners, and replace it with a pool of accredited examiners. They are hoping market pressures would be enough to persuade universities and colleges to take part in the scheme.

The HEQC report says the move to a mass higher education system, with the introduction of modular courses and a rapid growth in the number and types of qualifications, has left students and academics unsure of their aims.

It has also exposed serious weaknesses in the way students' work is assessed, with a movement towards "fragmented marking, formula-driven awards and small examination boards".

The report warns: "There are growing signs that current trends in the organisation of higher education, and in the practice of assessment within it, tend to hinder the formation of common understandings and the sharing of standards even within a single institution or programme."

It adds: "It is not reasonable to expect employers, students and those who fund them to accept the standards and outcomes of higher education on the basis of unquestioning trust."

A clear and consistent terminology is needed to describe courses, and qualifications should be placed within a national framework to show where they stand in relation to each other, the HEQC says. This should make it easier to judge whether standards are being maintained, and to compare courses.

* Dearing, page 3

* Leader, page 13