Colleges in London - Make Sure of the Right Choice

When searching for colleges in London, the huge choice of Educational Organisations and courses appear to be overwhelming. Universities and colleges in London enrolled 426,175 students in 2008/9 according to recent research carried out. The 60 public universities and colleges in London are quality controlled by the UK Government run Quality Assurance Agency. In addition to these publicly funded Educational organisations, exist a multitude of specialist Independent colleges offering courses ranging from Diplomas in Fashion Drawing to Masters of Business and Administration.

Finding a Good College in London

If you are searching for colleges in London from overseas you may have made your final selection online. Please be cautious and do your homework before you make any payments!

Check if the college is recognized to issue UK degrees and qualifications. Unfortunately, fraudulent independent colleges in London attract many International students each year by purporting to be either accredited or of university status.

Recognised UK Degree Awarding Bodies

Universities and colleges in the UK are renowned throughout the world for their academic excellence partly due to strict external reviews which must be carried out at every publicly funded educational organisation. For an educational institute to be able to call itself a university and to have UK degree awarding powers it must be assessed by the Advisory Committee on Degree Awarding Powers (ACDAP), part of the UK Quality Assurance Agency of Higher Education (QAA) and is required to carry out regular and mandatory external quality assurance reviews. Quite a mouthful!

Once the HEI has been officially accepted by ACDAP it can be added to the DBIS list of Recognised Bodies and is authorised as an Independent Organization to award UK certified qualifications.

Look Out for Bogus Colleges in London

Private colleges are not legally required to undergo external quality reviews and cannot be registered as Recognized Bodies preventing them from independently distributing UK degrees as an official university. If you are a prospective International student about to apply to any of the private colleges in London, please make the following checks before signing anything.

Precautionary Checks

• Do not approach any private college without accreditation from an independent external quality agency such as the British Accreditation Council (BAC).
• Ensure the college is recorded by DBIS as a Listed Body, and affiliated with a recognized UK university.
• Ensure that the college is partnered with an internationally recognized awarding body by checking on UK NARIC.
• Make sure the college offers accredited qualifications by a recognized awarding organization such as Edexcel or OCR listed on the Register of Regulated Qualifications (OFQUAL).
• Do not choose a college which is not authorized by the UK Border Agency to enrol international students.
• Only colleges which have official Tier 4 licences registered with the UK Border Agency have the authority to distribute Visa letters (CAS letters).

It is undeniable that there is a broad spectrum of courses and colleges in London to choose from providing a host of opportunities, however to ensure you get the best learning experience from one of the leading cities for study in the world, make sure you do your homework first.