Teacher and students
Quality assurance

Be confident that the UK institution you choose for your academic or English language study offers high quality teaching and a good value for money.

Higher education rankings

We have compiled a list of independent agencies that generate rankings based on the quality of Higher Education and university life at UK universities.

Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education: The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) safeguards that academic quality standards are maintained and improvements are made.

Research Excellence Framework (REF): The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is the new system for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions (HEIs) from 2014 and will replace the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE).

The Times Good University Guide: UK universities’ performance rated by editors of The Times according to criteria such as teacher/student ratio, career prospects of graduates, facilities and equipment etc.

The Guardian University Guide: UK universities ranking carried out by The Guardian, including information on universities’ profiles.

Unistats from Universities and Colleges in the UK: This portal is run by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Universities and Colleges Admission Service (UCAS). This web portal is unique in bringing an important variety of evaluative data together.

Language school accreditation

All language schools and centres accredited by the British Council are regularly visited by experienced and independent school inspectors who ensure that they maintain a high standard of teaching and a good value for money. Read more about Accreditation UK, our quality assurance programme for language schools and centres in the UK.