Find out more about universities, colleges and courses
Before making a final decision on your application, it’s worth researching universities, colleges and courses using independent and unbiased sources. Two ways you can do this are through the Unistats website and reading reports from the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) .
Comparing courses
Discover Uni is the official source of information and guidance on higher education in the UK to help you when deciding whether, where and what to study.
It also allows you to search for and compare information and data for individual undergraduate courses across the UK.
It includes information and guidance about higher education, including:
- what higher education is and different ways to study
- deciding whether to go into higher education
- student finance
- support with how to choose a course
It also has information about courses, such as:
- student views from the National Student Survey (NSS)
- employment outcomes and earnings from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) survey, the Graduate Outcomes survey and the Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) dataset
- information on professional accreditations, the number of students who continue on the course and entry qualifications held by previous entrants
- links to detailed information on providers’ course pages about course content and delivery, and fees and funding
Checking course quality
Academic standards across the UK are checked by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA). This means that whichever university or college you study at and whichever course you take, the 'threshold level' to reach a particular standard, a first or 2:1 degree, for example, will be comparable.
Universities and colleges are responsible for the standards and quality of the courses they offer. This is internal checking. However, the QAA also checks to see how well universities and colleges keep to these standards.
The QAA produces reviews and reports which highlight areas of good practice and make recommendations for action. It also provides guidance on the reliability of the information on standards and quality published by each university or college.
Course accreditation from professional bodies
Some professions approve or accredit related courses. If you're planning to pursue a career in a particular area, you should check that your course is one of those approved by the relevant organisation that represents the career you are choosing. Every university or college should be able to give you this information.
Other sources of information on universities, colleges and courses
Choosing where to go and what to study is an important decision, so it’s worth getting together as much information as you can.