Regulation of legal education at the master’s level in the universities of Great Britain

Abstract

The worldwide recognition of the effectiveness of British higher education is largely echoed by state administration in this sphere. The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education and the central government of Great Britain are coordinating education, but the national governments of England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland are primarily responsible for education and its development. This explains a number of differences in the classification of qualification levels, different training requirements, and sometimes in the prescribed periods of training. The key idea that currently dominates is that law school programmes should provide unified knowledge and general skills, which involves a retreat from the autonomy of the university in matters relating to the development of the programme and its content to meet the interests and needs of society. The main thing here is to take into account the demand for qualified representatives of legal professions that dominate the labor market.
Since April 2018, issues of policy, funding and access to master and postgraduate education have fallen into two new bodies set up under the Higher Education and Research Act 2017, in particular the Office for Students, and an independent regulating organ – the UK Research and Innovation.
The quality and content of higher legal education in Great Britain depends not only on government policy and existing regulations; equally important role is played by various organizations and associations that involve law practitioners and prominent scholars, professors from about 115 law schools in the UK.
Much of the quality assessment work is carried out at law schools through internal university quality assurance mechanisms, including regular reports on individual courses, curricula that are considered at the school and university level.