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About the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education\n\nThe Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) was established in 1997 to provide independent assessment of how higher education institutions in the UK maintain their academic standards and quality.\n\nThe primary responsibility for academic standards and quality rests with individual institutions. QAA reviews and reports on how well they meet those recommendations, and encourages continuous improvement in the management of the quality of higher education. We do this by:\n\n * conducting external reviews of universities and colleges\n * publishing reports on the confidence that can be placed in an institution's ability to maintain standards and quality\n * offering expert guidance on maintaining and improving the quality of higher education\n * advising the government on applications for degree awarding powers and university title.

Code of practice for the assurance of academic quality and standards in higher education The Code of practice for the assurance of academic quality and standards in higher education (the Code of practice) provides guidance on maintaining quality and standards for universities and colleges subscribing to QAA. It is made up of 10 sections and was originally prepared by QAA between 1998 and 2001. Revisions of individual sections began in 2004.

Frameworks for higher education qualifications The frameworks for higher education qualifications describe the achievement represented by higher education qualifications. They apply to degrees, diplomas, certificates and other academic awards granted by a higher education provider with degree awarding powers. QAA has developed two frameworks:

Subject benchmark statement Art and design QAA 238 03/08 PDF version Contents * Preface * Joint foreword * Introduction * Defining principles * Nature and extent of art and design * Subject knowledge and understanding, attributes and skills: typical standard of achievement * Teaching, learning and assessment * Benchmark standards: threshold level of achievement * Appendix A: Consultation groups * Appendix B: Membership of the review group for the subject benchmark statement for art and design * Appendix C: Membership of the original benchmarking group for art and design Preface Subject benchmark statements provide a means for the academic community to describe the nature and characteristics of programmes in a specific subject or subject area. They also represent general expectations about standards for the award of qualifications at a given level in terms of the attributes and capabilities that those possessing qualifications should have demonstrated.

Programme specifications A programme specification is a concise description of the intended learning outcomes from a higher education programme, and how these outcomes can be achieved and demonstrated. QAA has produced guidelines to offer help and guidance to those preparing programmes specifications. They draw on the experience of others in a range of subjects and institutions who have already prepared programme specifications.

The framework for higher education qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland August 2008