“It might be worth asking whether the Quality Assurance Agency assures those aspects of university education that the public, students and future employers need to know; for it is far from clear what it means when it suggests that it assures academic standards. The QAA has stated previously that degree classifications are wobbly at best and that a first from one university cannot be compared to a first at another institution. Some will argue that a first in some places is worth less than a 2:1 or even a 2:2 in some others. The QAA has little (nothing?) to do with the curriculums that are taught, so it does not assure this for the wider world – it leaves this to professional and statutory bodies. But such bodies cover only a part of the provision delivered in universities. It is left to the universities themselves to provide quality assurance for this aspect, usually through regular internal review …” (more)
[Allan Ashworth, Times Higher Education, 16 April]