Educational institutions and study programmes
Educational institutions and study programmes in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Below, we explain what types of educational institutions and study programmes there are in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. We also explain how we check whether these are recognised. We check the to make sure that the quality is sufficient. We give the necessary information per educational sector.
Recognition
The government of a country grants an official status to an educational institution and/or study programme. Usually, if the government recognises an educational institution, all its study programmes are also recognised. However recognition may also be arranged at the programme level. This means that the government must recognise not only the educational institution, but also its study programmes. We only evaluate diplomas from recognised institutions and recognised study programmes. Read more about recognition in the EAR manual.
Secondary education | examining boards
The GCSE and GCE exams are administered not by the secondary schools but by regional examining boards. Many of these examining boards have merged over the years. The most well-known examining boards are:
In addition to these regional examining boards, there is a board for international secondary education: Cambridge International. It offers international variants of British qualifications.
Checking the recognition of examination boards and qualifications
Examination boards and their qualifications must be approved by a regulatory body: an organisation responsible for the quality assurance of secondary education (and vocational education). Each region has a separate regulatory body with a database for looking up examination boards (and other organisations) and qualifications. The databases by region:
- Ofqual-register for England;
- Council for the Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment (CCEA) for Northern Ireland;
- Qualifications in Wales (QiW) for Wales.
Please note: it is usually sufficient to only check the Ofqual register. This register often includes examination boards (and other organisations) and qualifications from Wales and Northern Ireland.
Secondary education | relevant subjects
There are different types of subjects at GCE AS level and A level:
- academic subjects
- vocational subjects
- skills-based subjects.
Only relevant subjects can count towards a credential evaluation. The academic and vocational subjects are relevant subjects because they contribute to admission to higher education. The skills-based subjects, on the other hand, are never ‘relevant subjects’. British universities do not accept these subjects as grounds for admission: they are non-academic subjects, also known as ‘non-preferred subjects’.
Skills-based subjects as an extra subject
The skills-based subjects can have added value as an extra subject (skill). Examples of such subjects are General paper, Global Perspectives & Research, General Studies, Critical Thinking, Thinking Skills and Extended Project.
The applied subjects, such as Applied Business and Applied ICT, also do not contribute to admission to higher education. These subjects were eliminated in 2017.
Below, we will set out which GCE subjects can count towards an comparison with a or diploma.
HAVO
Senior general secondary education (hoger algemeen voortgezet onderwijs, HAVO). A HAVO diploma is awarded upon successful completion of a 5-year programme of general secondary education.
VWO
Pre-university education (voorbereidend wetenschappelijk onderwijs, VWO). A VWO diploma is awarded upon successful completion of a 6-year programme of pre-university education. VWO is the highest level of general secondary education available in the Netherlands.
Which subjects can count towards a comparison with a HAVO diploma?
- In case of GCE AS Levels, academic and vocational subjects can count. It is, however, important that the subjects be relevant to the desired field of study in Dutch higher professional education.
- In case of GCE A Levels, academic and vocational subjects can also count.
Please note: in addition to relevant subjects, there are also other requirements for a comparison with a HAVO diploma. See General Certificate of Education (GCE) AS Levels and A Levels.
Which subjects can count towards a comparison with a VWO diploma?
- GCE AS Levels cannot count towards a comparison with a VWO diploma.
- GCE A Levels usually need to be obtained in academic subjects. Vocational subjects can also be valuable provided they are relevant to the desired course of study and the obtained results are between A* and C or 9 to 4.
Please note: in addition to relevant subjects, there are also other requirements for a comparison with a VWO diploma. See General Certificate of Education (GCE) AS Levels and A Levels.
Higher education | educational institutions
In the United Kingdom, there are different types of higher education institutions:
- universities;
- non-university institutions, such as colleges, institutes, schools and academies.
These institutions provide both research-oriented education ( ) and higher professional education ( ). For example, some institutions of higher education offer engineering both in research-oriented and in more professionally oriented bachelor's programmes.
Collaboration with partner institutions
Many British universities offer degree programmes in collaboration with a British or overseas partner institution. This type of partnership is known as collaborative provision. Most British universities keep a list of partners and the degree programmes concerned in the collaborative provision register.
Types of collaboration
Two types of collaboration are particularly widespread:
- validation, in which the partner institution develops and provides the degree programme and the British university both awards the degree/qualification and safeguards its quality; and
- franchising, in which the British university develops the degree programme and the partner institution provides it.
The QQA’s Quality Code for Higher Education provides guidelines for the collaboration with partner institutions: see partnerships.
WO
Research-oriented higher education (wetenschappelijk onderwijs, WO). Dutch higher education distinguishes between research-oriented higher education (wetenschappelijk onderwijs, WO) and higher professional education (hoger beroepsonderwijs, HBO). WO is oriented more towards theory and research than HBO, and has traditionally been offered at research universities (universiteiten).
HBO
Higher professional education (hoger beroepsonderwijs, HBO). Dutch higher education distinguishes between research-oriented higher education (wetenschappelijk onderwijs, WO) and higher professional education (hoger beroepsonderwijs, HBO). HBO is more oriented towards professions in specific areas than WO, and has traditionally been offered at universities of applied sciences (hogescholen).
Checking the recognition of higher education institutions
You can find overviews of recognised higher education institution of the website of the British government. A distinction is often made between recognised bodies and listed bodies.
Recognised bodies
Recognised bodies are institutions known to the British government, such as all universities in the UK. These institutions are permitted to award degrees and other non-degree qualifications. The British government can formally recognise higher education institutions by law, such as with a Royal Charter.
Listed bodies
Listed bodies are higher education institutions that are not permitted to award degrees. They are, however, allowed to offer degree programmes in cooperation with a recognised body. In that case, the recognised body with which they are partnering will guarantee the quality of the degree programme and award the degree itself. In case of listed bodies, you should check to see whether a recognised body awards the degree.
Listed bodies are permitted to offer non-degree programmes independently, and then award the certificates and diplomas from these programmes themselves.
Please note: the government no longer ensures these overviews are up to date. Instead, the government is now compiling a register of recognised institutions of higher education, the Office for Students Register (OfS Register).
Higher education | diplomas
For higher education diplomas, you need to perform an extra check. Below, we describe what you need to check for diplomas we often see:
- Higher National Diplomas need to be included in the Ofqual Register.
- Bachelor's en master's degrees need to be awarded by an educational institution with specific degree awarding powers. Below, we describe how you can check this in the OfS Register for bachelor's and master's degrees from England.
HND programmes: checking the Ofqual Register
In case of study programmes for a Higher National Diploma (HND), you can check the recognition in the following way:
- Go to the Ofqual Register.
- Below ‘Search the Register’, type the name of the diploma and press 'enter'.
- Is the diploma listed in the search results? In that case, the study programme is recognised.
- Is the diploma not listed in the search results? In that case, the study programme is nog recognised.
Bachelor's degrees from England: checking the OfS Register.
- Go to the OfS Register.
- Click on ‘Search for a provider’ , type the name of the British educational institution and click on 'Go'.
- Is the educational institution not listed in the search results? In that case, bachelor's degrees from this educational institution are probably not recognised.
- Is the educational institution listed in the search results? Then click on it.
- Then click on ‘Awarding degrees’. There are now 3 possibilities:
- Does it say ‘The provider has research degree powers’? In that case, this educational institution is allowed to award bachelor's degrees.
- Does it say ‘The provider has taught degree powers’? In that case, this educational institution is allowed to award bachelor's degrees.
- Does it say ‘The provider does not have powers to awards its own degrees’? Then this educational institution is not allowed to award (bachelor's) degrees. However, it is possible that this educational institution only offers the study programme and that another educational institution (with taught or degree powers) awards the degrees. Please check if that is the case:
- Go to the website of the educational institution offering the bachelor's programme.
- Search for information about which educational insitution awards the degree. This may be another educational institution, often referred to as the ‘awarding body’.
- Is it mentioned on the website that the degree is awarded by another educational institution? Then check if this educational institution has research or taught degree powers by following the above mentioned instructions.
- Is the degree not awarded by another educational institution? In that case, bachelor's degrees from this educational institution are probably not recognised. The educational institution is not allowed to award (bachelor's) degrees.
Master's degrees from England: checking the OfS Register
- Go to the OfS Register.
- Click on ‘Search for a provider’ , type the name of the British educational institution and click on 'Go'.
- Is the educational institution not listed in the search results? In that case, master's degrees from this educational institution are probably not recognised.
- Is the educational institution listed in the search results? Then click on it.
- Then click on ‘Awarding degrees’. There are not 3 possibilities:
- Does it say ‘The provider has research degree powers’? In that case, this educational institution is allowed to award all types of master's degrees.
- Does it say ‘The provider has taught degree powers’? In that case, the following applies:
- This educational institutions can only award 'standard' master's degrees.
- The educational institutions is not allowed to award a MA/MSc by Research, Master of Research and Master of Philosophy.
- Does it say ‘The provider does not have powers to awards its own degrees’? Then this educational institution is not allowed to award (master's) degrees. However, it is possible that this educational institution only offers the study programme and that another educational institution (with taught or degree powers) awards the degrees. Please check if that is the case:
- Go to the website of the educational institution offering the master's programme.
- Search for information about which educational insitution awards the degree. This may be another educational institution, often referred to as the ‘awarding body’.
- Is it mentioned on the website that the degree is awarded by another educational institution? Then check if this educational institution has research or taught degree powers by following the above mentioned instructions.
- Is the degree not awarded by another educational institution? In that case, master's degrees from this educational institution are probably not recognised. The educational institution is not allowed to award (master's) degrees.