A brief history
The first 'access' courses were established in the 1970s. Many of these courses were set up to encourage entry to teacher training by people with a wider range of backgrounds than the traditional types of students who were attracted to teaching. Over the years, the success of these early courses led to the development of courses in other areas.
In the 1987 White Paper Higher Education: Meeting the Challenge, the Government identified Access to HE as 'the third recognised route to HE', and sought to extend Access to HE provision through a national framework for the recognition of Access to HE courses.
A national framework has been in existence since 1989. QAA has been responsible for this framework in England, Wales and Northern Ireland since it was established in 1997. This responsibility was transferred from one of QAA's predecessor organisations, the Higher Education Quality Council. Read more >>