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In the United Kingdom, universities are independent, self-governing bodies, empowered by a Royal Charter or an Act of Parliament to develop their own courses and award their own degrees. The universities alone decide the degrees they offer and the conditions on which they are awarded.
Universities have complete freedom to teach what they wish, research what they wish, and to decide what students to admit and what staff to appoint. With the exception of the University of Buckingham, which is not a member of BUIC, all universities in the UK are public universities. All universities within BUIC are active in both research and teaching.
A degree from a British university is recognised globally as representing quality. Being awarded a British degree is a clear and public sign that a student has achieved a quality education that is ranked among the very best you can get.
The UK's commitment to quality is upheld through what it probably the strictest form of quality assurance in any higher education system in the world. For example, standards are maintained by the extensive use of 'external examiners', a system unique to the UK. In this case samples of coursework submitted by students as part of their degree may be reviewed, anonymously, by professors at another British university. This way both universities and students can be assured that the quality of teaching and the quality of students' own work is being maintained. It is an excellent way of instilling confidence, showing that standards are high and maintained.
Throughout the country a separate body known as the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) helps assess the quality of teaching at British universities. For more information on the QAA, see www.qaa.ac.uk. Research is what makes a university, and British universities are world class players when it comes to research. As with teaching, research at British universities is regularly assessed and monitored. For example, every four or five years the quality of research at every British university is assessed by what is known as the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE. See www.rae.ac.uk).
While there is no agreed system of ranking for British universities, individual subjects are universities are actually given a score by the RAE, with a score of 4 indicating research of national/international level, 5 indicating research of an international level, and occasionally a 5* for an outstandingly strong research department.)
What also makes the UK internationally respected is the extent to which its universities listen to its own students. At a British university you will be expected to think for yourself and to question academic assumptions - even to challenge your teachers!
Learning how to think independently is one of the major benefits of a British education, and British universities listen carefully to what their students have to say about teaching and the way degrees are run.
While all British universities will regularly find out what students think of their studies and programmes, most recently a national student survey has been undertaken, to get a complete picture of student life in the UK. (See the Teaching Quality Information website at www1.tqi.ac.uk/sites/tqi/home/index.cfm for some extremely useful insights into British universities, the subjects they teach, and students' own assessment of the programmes.)
This openness and transparency of an education at a British university is one of the things that distinguishes us as providing education of the very highest quality.
The first-degree structure in all British universities is now based on the 'Honours' degree. Some degree programmes will be 'single honours', i.e. specialising in a particular area, such as Law. Other programmes might be 'combined' or 'joint' honours, i.e. bringing together two or more subjects such as philosophy and politics.
Various names are given to the first degrees awarded by British universities. At most universities, the first degree in Arts is called a BA (Bachelor of Arts) and the first degree in Science a BSc (Bachelor of Science). Other titles are also used, for example BEng (Bachelor of Engineering), BEd (Bachelor of Education) and LLB (Bachelor of Laws).
The first award in Medicine is the joint degrees of MB, ChB (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery), the designated letters of which vary from university to university. These degrees are all equal, there is no difference in quality or level between them, a BSc is not 'better' than a BA.
The standard honours degree in English and Welsh universities is only three years, compared with four in the USA and Australia. However, students taking a foreign language as part of their first degree will usually take four years. In Scotland the first degree takes four years, but that is because it is a masters.
This is because a year abroad is part of their studies. So a student studying Arabic at a British university will typically spend the first two years at university, the third in an Arabic-speaking country, and the fourth and final year back at their home university.
In some countries, including Iraq, the standard of education at high school is not as advanced as in the UK. On this basis students leaving high school will not be able to straight into a British university, and will normally have to take a 'foundation' year, i.e. an extra year of study, before starting an undergraduate degree. Universities usually have a general minimum requirement for admission to a degree course and special, higher requirements may apply for particular courses.
The academic year at British universities usually lasts for 30 weeks, spread over either two semesters or three terms. Course structures also vary considerably, between and within universities. The commonest pattern for degree examinations is that they come in two sections: Part I coming after the first or second year of the course, and Part II ('Finals') at the end of the course.
Master's degrees can take two forms:
Taught degrees - candidates are required to attend taught classes, take written examinations and prepare a thesis for presentation to examiners. Taught masters programmes at British universities normally take only one year.
Research degrees - candidates undertake fewer taught classes and undertake a longer research programme. This often leads to the Master of Philosophy (MPhil), which normally requires higher entry qualifications. A research degree such as the MPhil will normally take two years.
As with bachelors degrees master's degrees come with different titles, including Master of Arts (MA), Master of Science (MSc), Master of Business Administration (MBA). Again, there is no difference between these titles, an MBA is not 'better' than an MSc, for example. Just different.
Admission to a masters degree will almost always require a first degree, with a good mark, equivalent to a British bachelors degree. Occasionally a university may accept a student to a master's degree without this equivalent academic background, especially if relevant work experience is held to compensate.
Doctorates are normally awarded after at least three years of supervised research. The most common award is the Doctor of Philosophy, which can be called either a PhD or DPhil. There is no difference between these two titles. Universities will almost always expect a student to have a good masters degree before being allowed to start a PhD/DPhil.
All PhD students are required to present a thesis, which by definition must be of publishable quality. Some students may be required to take an examination paper as well as being examined orally on their thesis.
Generally speaking all students from Iraq will be required to demonstrate proficiency in English, unless they have already been educated to degree level in an English-speaking country. BUIC universities will recognise a number of English language tests for admissions purposes, the most commons being the International English Language Testing System (IELTS, see www.ielts.org) or the Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL, see www.toefl.org).
Entry to undergraduate medicine is extremely competitive. Competition is so fierce that medical schools will usually require top marks in a-levels or the international baccalaureate. Other qualifications, including 'foundation programmes' are recognised for admissions purposes, but this is relatively rare. Each medical school is allowed to take only a very small percentage of non-eu students: typically less than 20 each year. Some give preference to countries that have no medical schools.
Entry to clinical postgraduate medicine requires registration with the General Medical Council, and universities are not involved in the process. New immigration rules prohibit doctors from outside the European Union being given training places.
Entrants to postgraduate dentistry must first pass the Overseas Registration Exam and then apply to universities for a place.
PhD programmes in Medicine and Dentistry are laboratory-based, and cannot include any contact with patients unless the postgraduate is registered with the GMC or GDC. The PhD is not a clinical training programme.