By law, British universities are responsible for maintaining academic standards and the quality of education, regardless of whether degrees are awarded in their name in the UK or abroad. This is why not all UK institutions offering bachelor’s and master’s programs have the right to award formal degrees themselves.
According to the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), 157 UK HEIs are officially called Recognized Bodies and can award a wide range of degrees. They have this right by law. All state universities and some colleges in the UK are Recognized Bodies. All UK universities are listed in the UK Universities Directory.
Over 600 British educational institutions, so-called Listed Bodies, also teach programs leading to degrees, but do not have the right to award them. About 330 organizations and colleges offer bachelor’s degrees and just over 200 organizations and colleges offer various postgraduate degrees. Graduates of Registered Organizations earn a degree from a Recognized Organization with which their institution has a partnership agreement.
The Prevalence of British Education in the World
About 400 overseas colleges, universities, and other institutions teaching in higher education programs have worked through British programs leading to a bachelor’s or master’s degree from one of the Recognized Organizations.
According to preliminary data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), there were about 388,000 students studying abroad in British programs leading to a degree from a recognized organization in the 2009 academic year.
The countries with the greatest concentration of British Recognized Institutions partners are: Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Greece.