英国高等教育的质量保障体系的演进和发展

The Evolution and Development of UK Higher Education Quality Assurance System

摘要: 英国高等教育至今已有几百年历程，在过去很长时间内其都坚持学院自治为其质量提供保证。1960年之后，伴随经济演进和社会进步，该国高等教育越发普及，人数激增与质量保证出现严重矛盾，国民对这一阶段教育的质量越发关注。总体来讲，该国保证这一阶段教育的体系历经学院自控外部强化，再到以学院自控为主导，结合外部强化的变化历程。新体系不但适于本国自办学院，还在外国合作学院中广泛适用，尤其在教学质量评测方面更被广泛认可。这一现象不仅源自该国把握规律的精准，同时源于其严谨和求实并重且足够灵活的教学。站在全球融通这一视角下剖析，对该国高等教育阶段品质保障系统演变的了解和对协作建校教学品质的保障完整体系的研究有助于完善本国体系，因此无论从现实还是理论角度看均有重要意义。

Abstract: There is a long history in the Higher Education in United Kingdom, in the past several centuries, the approach of university autonomy made a firm foundation for its quality assurance. Since the 1960s, along with the economic and social development, the UK higher education entered the popularization stage, the confliction between quantity and quality began to appear. As a result, the quality of higher education started to receive continuous attention. In general, the UK Higher Education Quality Assurance System experienced different phases from relying on the university autonomy only to strengthening external control, and then to the combination mode in which the focus is still on the university self-control while external accreditation is also employed. The new mode is not only applicable to the UK higher education system, but also covers the quality assessment of its overseas cooperative education institution, which is widely recognized in the aspect of evaluating the quality of education. These developments reflect how the UK Quality Assurance System of Higher Education respects the higher education law, as well as its rigorous, pragmatic and flexible characteristics. From an international point of view, the understanding of evolution of UK Higher Education Quality Assurance System and the study of cooperative education quality assurance system of higher education have a profound theoretical and practical significance to improve and perfect quality assurance system of higher education in China.