External quality assurance

The Office for Students (OfS) regulates the higher education system in England. The Office for Students’ primary aim is to ensure that English higher education is delivering positive outcomes for students – past, present, and future. It seeks to ensure that students, from all backgrounds (particularly the most disadvantaged) can access, succeed in, and progress from higher education. The OfS formally replaced the Higher Education Funding Council for England as the regulatory body in April 2018.

The OfS is a risk-based regulator, and as such, its assessment and monitoring activities are targeted at providers who represent a higher risk to students and their outcomes. Through ongoing monitoring the OfS aims to identify organisations that are not providing the academic experience and the reliable standards students should expect. When providers seek to register with the OfS, they will be tested against its quality and standards conditions, known as the Conditions of registration. Once registered, the OfS will continue to monitor that a provider meets those conditions. The quality and standards conditions are as follows:

Condition B1: The provider must ensure that the students registered on each higher education course receive a high-quality academic experience.

Condition B2: The provider must take all reasonable steps to ensure:

Each cohort of students registered on each higher education course receives resources and support which are sufficient for the purpose of ensuring:

• high quality academic experience for those students; and
• those students succeed in and beyond higher education; and

Effective engagement with each cohort of students which is sufficient for the purpose of ensuring:

• a high quality academic experience for those students; and
• those students succeed in and beyond higher education.

Condition B3: The provider must deliver positive outcomes for students on its higher education courses.

Condition B4: The provider must ensure that:

• students are assessed effectively;
• each assessment is valid and reliable;
• academic regulations are designed to ensure that relevant awards are credible;
• academic regulations are designed to ensure the effective assessment of technical proficiency in the English language in a manner which appropriately reflects the level and content of the applicable higher education course; and
• relevant awards granted to students are credible at the point of being granted and when compared to those granted previously.

Condition B5: 

The provider must ensure that, in respect of any relevant awards granted to students:

• any standards set appropriately reflect any applicable sector-recognised standards; and
• awards are only granted to students whose knowledge and skills appropriately reflect any applicable sector-recognised standards.

Condition B6: The provider must participate in the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF).

The UK Quality Code for Higher Education 2024, produced by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) in tandem with sector representatives, articulates the principles of UK higher education for securing academic standards and assuring and enhancing quality. The Quality Code enables providers to see what is expected of them and what they can expect of each other. It informs the public, protects students’ interests and champions the UK’s world-leading reputation for high-quality education provision. In England, there is no regulatory requirement for providers to use the Quality Code; however, it can be used as a reference point to satisfy themselves, external stakeholders and international partners that their quality processes support enhancement above the baseline.

The revised Quality Code comprises two elements: Sector-Agreed Principles and Key Practices. It is supported by a suite of Advice and Guidance:

• Sector-Agreed Principles identify the features that are fundamental to securing academic standards and offering a high-quality student learning experience in the UK.
• Key Practices set out how a provider can demonstrate they are adhering to the Sector-Agreed Principles.
• Advice and Guidance supports the Quality Code by offering further detail in relation to each of the Sector-Agreed Principles.

There are 12 Principles and each has a set of Key Practices which providers can follow to demonstrate how they are adhering to that Principle:

• Principle 1 - Taking a strategic approach to managing quality and standards – Providers demonstrate they have a strategic approach to securing academic standards and assuring and enhancing quality that is embedded across the organisation.
• Principle 2 - Engaging students as partners – Providers take deliberate steps to engage students as active partners in assuring and enhancing the quality of the student learning experience. Engagement happens individually and collectively to influence all levels of study and decision making. Enhancements identified through student engagement activities are implemented, where appropriate, and communicated to staff and students.
• Principle 3 - Resourcing delivery of a high-quality learning experience – Providers plan, secure and maintain resources relating to learning, technology, facilities and staffing to enable the delivery and enhancement of an accessible, innovative and high-quality learning experience for students that aligns with the provider’s strategy and the composition of the student body.
• Principle 4 - Using data to inform and evaluate quality – Providers collect, analyse and utilise qualitative and quantitative data at provider, departmental, programme and module levels. These analyses inform decision-making with the aim of enhancing practices and processes relating to teaching, learning and the wider student experience.
• Principle 5 - Monitoring, evaluating and enhancing provision – Providers regularly monitor and review their provision to secure academic standards and enhance quality. Deliberate steps are taken to engage and involve students, staff and external expertise in monitoring and evaluation activity. The outcomes and impact of these activities are considered at provider level to drive reflection and enhancement across the provider.
• Principle 6 - Engaging in external review and accreditation – Providers engage with external reviews to give assurance about the effectiveness of their approach to managing quality and standards. External reviews offer insights about the comparability of providers’ approaches and generate outcomes that providers can use to enhance their policies and practices. Reviews may be commissioned by providers, form part of a national quality framework or linked to professional recognition and actively include staff, students and peers. They can be undertaken by representative organisations, agencies or professional, statutory and regulatory bodies (PSRBs) with recognised sector expertise according to the provision being reviewed.
• Principle 7 – Designing, developing, approving and modifying programmes – Providers design, develop, approve and modify programmes and modules to ensure the quality of provision and the academic standards of awards are consistent with the relevant Qualifications Framework. Providers ensure their provision and level of qualifications are comparable to those offered across the UK and, where applicable, The Framework of Qualifications for the European Higher Education Area.
• Principle 8 - Operating partnerships with other organisations – Providers and their partners agree proportionate arrangements for effective governance to secure the academic standards and enhance the quality of programmes and modules that are delivered in partnership with others. Organisations involved in partnership arrangements agree and communicate the mutual and specific responsibilities in relation to delivering, monitoring, evaluating, assuring and enhancing the learning experience.
• Principle 9 - Recruiting, selecting and admitting students –  Providers operate recruitment, selection and admissions processes that are transparent, fair and inclusive. Providers maintain and publish accurate, relevant and accessible information about their provision, enabling students to make informed choices about their studies and future aspirations.
• Principle 10 - Supporting students to achieve their potential – Providers facilitate a framework of support for students that enables them to have a high-quality learning experience and achieve their potential as they progress in their studies. The support structure scaffolds the academic, personal and professional learning journey, enabling students to recognise and articulate their progress and achievements.
• Principle 11 - Teaching, learning and assessment – Providers facilitate a collaborative and inclusive approach that enables students to have a high-quality learning experience and to progress through their studies. All students are supported to develop and demonstrate academic and professional skills and competencies. Assessment employs a variety of methods, embodying the values of academic integrity, producing outcomes that are comparable across the UK and recognised globally.
• Principle 12 - Operating concerns, complaints and appeals processes – Providers operate processes for complaints and appeals that are robust, fair, transparent and accessible, and clearly articulated to staff and students. Policies and processes for concerns, complaints and appeals are regularly reviewed and the outcomes are used to support the enhancement of provision and the student experience.

 In addition to the Sector-Agreed Principles, Key Practices, and Advice and Guidance, the revised Quality Code includes the following key reference points:

• The Frameworks for HE Qualifications of UK Degree-Awarding Bodies;
• Higher Education Credit Framework for England;
• Characteristics Statements;
• Subject Benchmark Statements;
• External Examining Principles;
• Education for Sustainable Development (ESD);
• Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Education.

The regulatory framework includes other reference points (baseline requirements) which are relevant for internal quality assurance arrangements, beyond those included in the OfS quality and standards conditions (detailed above) and the UK Quality Code:

• The code of HE governance;
• The providers’ relevant obligations under consumer law, as defined by the Competition and Markets Authority;
• The relevant good practice framework for handling complaints and academic appeals, as defined by the Office for the Independent Adjudicator.

Combined, the above national quality assurance and regulatory arrangements provide an overarching framework in which LSE’s internal quality assurance procedures are located. Continued compliance with the OfS conditions for registration, and with the expectations under the national framework, will remain a requirement for all higher education providers and will evolve in line with developing OfS policy and practice.

The OfS has adopted the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) as a sector-level intervention to promote excellence in teaching, learning and student outcomes beyond the minimum baseline. The TEF also provides information to students about where they might find such excellence. Participation in the TEF is a condition of registration for providers that meet the requirements for participation set out in the OfS Conditions of Registration guidance Condition B6). It is for an individual provider to decide whether or not it wishes to perform beyond its regulated minimum quality baseline in order to affect its TEF outcome. The TEF provides a sector level incentive for improvement beyond the baseline.

The TEF assesses excellence in teaching at universities and colleges in England. It also assesses how well these institutions ensure excellent outcomes for their students in terms of graduate-level employment or further study. The TEF process awards each institution a gold, silver or bronze rating for excellence, based on what the institution is achieving in addition to meeting the baseline national quality standards. Universities and colleges that take part in the TEF receive an overall rating as well as two underpinning ratings – one for the student experience and one for student outcomes. The ratings reflect the extent to which a university or college delivers an excellent experience and outcomes for its mix of undergraduate students and across the range of its undergraduate courses and subjects.

Further information about the TEF can be found on the website of the Office for Students.

In England, parts of the frameworks for higher education qualifications have been adopted as sector-recognised standards. These form part of the regulatory requirements that providers registered with the OfS must adhere to through compliance with ongoing condition of registration B5.

The frameworks describe the achievement represented by higher education qualifications. They set out five levels of award, three of which are undergraduate and two are postgraduate.

The frameworks show what qualifications are at the same level and indicate how one qualification may lead to another, either at the same or a higher level. They describe a continuum of learning which allows any new qualifications to be placed within the educational system.

Each level is accompanied by a 'qualification descriptor,' which describes the nature and characteristics of the main qualification at each level. The framework therefore answers the questions: 'What is a BSc? What is an MSc?'

The QAA revised the FHEQs in 2024. Our external examiner reports specifically ask externals to confirm that the level of our degree programmes are consistent with the level set in the FHEQs. The School's externals have consistently confirmed that its programmes operate at least at the appropriate level.

The FHEQ is also used by the School's approving bodies when new programmes are proposed.

For further information on FHEQs, see the QAA website: The Frameworks for Higher Education Qualifications of UK Degree-Awarding Bodies.

Characteristics Statements describe the distinctive features of qualifications at particular levels within the frameworks for higher education qualifications. They describe the qualifications in terms of their purpose, general characteristics and generic outcomes, but do not include subject-level detail.

For more information about Characteristics Statements, see the QAA website: Characteristics Statements.

Subject Benchmark Statements set out expectations about standards of degrees in a range of subject areas. They describe what gives a discipline its coherence and identity, and define what can be expected of a graduate in terms of the abilities and skills needed to develop understanding or competence in the subject.

Each statement provides broad indicators within subject areas against which institutions are expected to review their provision.

The School considers each relevant statement when it is published (or updated) against its relevant degrees. It does this by asking Departments to read the statement and to confirm whether their programmes meet the broad indicators contained within them.

It is also open to Departments to make use of relevant statements when designing new programmes or when reviewing existing ones.

For more information about Subject Benchmark Statements, see the QAA website: Subject Benchmark Statements.

Discover Uni includes official statistics about higher education courses taken from national surveys and data collected from universities and colleges about their students. The Discover Uni dataset includes data from the National Student Survey (NSS). All institutions are required to publish information on the Discover Uni website. The aim is to help provide information for potential applicants. See the Discover Uni website for further information.

The Discover Uni information includes data from the National Student Survey. This is an annual survey of all full-time final year undergraduate students in higher education institutions in England. See the National Student Survey website for further information relating to the NSS.

What is the NSS?

The National Student Survey (NSS) is a national survey, which undergraduates are invited to complete in their final year of study. It is a nationally recognised survey which gives students a way of providing honest feedback on their satisfaction with their programme at their university or college. The NSS is managed by the Office for Students (OfS) on behalf of the UK funding and regulatory bodies.

Why should I take part?

• The NSS provides you with the opportunity to provide honest feedback on your student experience;
• Your feedback will be used to improve the student experience at LSE;
• The results are taken very seriously and inform the quality assurance system with regards to teaching quality;
• Results are used by prospective students, their families and advisors to make decisions on what and where to study.

What happens with the results?

The NSS results are made publicly available to help prospective students, their families and advisors make informed decisions about where and what to study. Institutions and students’ unions also use the data to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses to help bring about change and make improvements for future generations of students.

How do I complete it?

Each year, eligible students will be sent an invitation email to complete the survey by IPSOS. Later, non-respondents may be contacted by text or ultimately by telephone, so complete the survey early to avoid being reminded. You can complete the NSS online or via a mobile device at www.thestudentsurvey.com during the survey period. You may opt out of the survey at any point during fieldwork.