The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) is the UK’s independent quality body for higher education: assuring standards and improving the quality of UK higher education. The primary responsibility for academic standards and quality in UK higher education rests with individual universities and colleges, each of which is independent and self-governing. QAA checks how well they meet their responsibilities, identifying good practice and making recommendations for improvement. We also publish guidelines to help institutions develop effective systems to ensure students have high quality experiences.