Degrees offered by universities are to be ranked under a new grading system, the Department for Education has announced.
The new move by the Government, which they say aims to ‘shine a light on course quality’, comes as an extension of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) already used to rate universities as a whole.
In a statement, Universities Minister Sam Gyimah MP said that institutions ‘will no longer be able to hide’ if their quality of teaching ‘is not up to the world-class standard that we expect’.
“The new subject-level TEF will give students more information than ever before, allowing them to drill down and compare universities by subject.
“This will level the international playing field to help applicants make better choices, and ensure that more students get the value for money they deserve from higher education,” he said.
The Government also announced that 50 universities and colleges will pilot the scheme for academic years 2017/18 and 2018/19, with the aim of the system being rolled out in full for the academic year starting in 2019.
While the University of Lincoln is not involved in the pilot of the scheme, a spokesperson told The Linc: “We’re very proud of teaching quality and student experience at Lincoln, reflected in our TEF Gold award.
“Like universities across the country, we will be considering carefully the proposals set out as part of the consultation launched this week, and we will be taking part in subject level TEF in future years as necessary.”
The news of a new scheme comes after Prime Minister Theresa May launched a review of ‘the whole post-18 education sector’ at a speech in Derby last month.
She said: ““All but a handful of universities charge the maximum possible fees for undergraduate courses. Three-year courses remain the norm. And the level of fees charged do not relate to the cost or quality of the course.”
The Government has since launched 10-week public consultation on the new framework, which can be completed on the GOV.UK website.