Benchmarking in UK HE: an overview

Abstract

Provides an introduction to benchmarking in UK higher education. The introduction of subject benchmarking by the Quality Assurance Agency means that most academics are now aware of the term but they associate it with the process of regulating academic standards through a process of referencing to a subject benchmark statement (regulatory benchmarking). But there are other meanings and applications of benchmarking which focus on the process as an aid to collaborative learning and self‐improvement (collaborative benchmarking). Provides an overview of the concept and methodology and provides examples of the ways in which benchmarking is being used in the UK.