Programme rankings: assessing postgraduate programme quality

The standard of British postgraduate programmes is very high. The quality and standards of every postgraduate programme are controlled in a number of ways, in part by each university itself and in part by quality assurance systems of other organisations.

So, how can you effectively assess the quality of the UK postgraduate programmes you might be interested in? Thankfully, there are many sources of information and programme rankings available, some more scientific or ‘official’ than others:

Official programme rankings

Official sources of programme rankings include government measurements of postgraduate programme quality available through the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA), the Research Assessment Exercise and other sources. Find out more.

Unofficial programme rankings

There are a number of newspapers, periodicals and books that provide their own annual guides and rankings/league tables of UK institutions and areas of study.  Find out more.

Accreditation

UK postgraduate programmes are often accredited by institutional or professional bodies. Find out more.

Miscellaneous sources

UK institutions’ own websites and the HERO site offer additional information that can give you a more rounded picture of the programmes you are interested in.
Find out more.

Remember: don't just rely on programme rankings!

Your decision about which postgraduate programme to study and which institution to do it at is an important one, and you will want to get it right, given the commitment of both time and money that postgraduate study will represent. While useful, the sources of information about programme rankings and other assessments of quality in this section can only give you part of the picture about an institution and postgraduate programme – and what is right for another person might not be right for you.

The main consideration must be what you want to achieve by undertaking study at this level. You must be clear in your own mind what your future plans are and this should drive the whole selection and application process. This section and the rest of Postgrad.com are tools to help you do this, but are nothing more.

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