Quality of degrees to be rated gold, silver and bronze, says Universities Minister

Emilio Casalicchio

Degrees will be rated gold, silver or bronze under a Government scheme that will leave universities “no place to hide” on the quality of their courses, it has been announced.



Universities Minister Sam Gyimah said students had the right to know which institutions are “lagging behind”.

The new pilot system will be trialled in 50 universities and will be based on official teaching quality data. But it will not be functional until 2020.

It forms part of government efforts to crack down on universities who offer courses for £30,000 but pay bosses eye-watering sums while skimping on quality.

Mr Gyimah said: "Prospective students deserve to know which courses deliver great teaching and great outcomes - and which ones are lagging behind.

"In the age of the student, universities will no longer be able to hide if their teaching quality is not up to the world-class standard that we expect."

A spokesperson for Universities UK said: "The assessment of subjects needs to be effective and not overly burdensome."