Degree courses rated gold, silver or bronze to help students choose

UNIVERSITY courses are to be given “gold, silver and bronze” ratings to help prospective students make their selection, under government plans.

The ratings will be based on criteria such as students’ job prospects after graduation, likely earnings or course drop out rates, the Department for Education has announced.

The new rating system will allow students to easily compare different courses at different universities, and view individual scores on each of the government’s criteria.

The Department for Education suggested that the new system would help expose poor teaching quality at UK universities and help students get value for money.

A Department for Education spokesman said that students would be able to make “consumer-style” comparisons of degree courses.

“This will shine a light on poor quality teaching and ensure that standards are driven upwards,” he said.

The subject rating system is the latest phase of the government’s Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), which already ranks institutions.

The existing ratings are decided by an independent panel, and re-assessed on an annual basis. The latest changes, due to be introduced in 2020, will mean that different courses at the same university could be given different ratings. A consultation will take place before the system is introduced.

Sam Gyimah, the universities minister, said the new system will “ensure that more students get the value for money they deserve”.

“Prospective students deserve to know which courses deliver great teaching and great outcomes, and which ones are lagging behind,” he said.

“Universities will no longer be able to hide if their teaching quality is not up to world-class standard. The new subject-level TEF will give students more information than ever before, allowing them to drill down and compare universities by subject.”

Yesterday, The Sunday Telegraph reported that Pok Wong, an Anglia Ruskin graduate, is suing the university for £60,000 claiming boasts in its prospectus of high quality teaching and excellent career prospects were fraudulently misleading.

A spokesman for the Russell Group, which represents 24 leading universities, said: “Developing a robust TEF that is truly reflective of the UK’S excellent higher education system and which provides genuinely helpful information for students in their decision-making will take time.

“We look forward to engaging with this technical consultation, and to the independent review of TEF which will take place next year.”