"Comparable to Bachelor degree”: what does this comparison statement mean?
UK ENIC evaluates some qualifications as comparable to 'Bachelor degree'.
This might appear in UK ENIC Statements of Comparability issued to individuals, or in our qualification databases used by educational institutions and employers.
Some of our users have questions about how to interpret this evaluation.
Variation across education systems
UK ENIC statements reflect national standards rather than individual achievement. The comparison relates to degree-level qualifications from a national education system as a whole.
In some countries and education systems, course content and/or learning outcomes can vary quite significantly from one institution or programme to the next. Some programmes may align more closely with a Bachelor Honours degree. Others may not share all the features associated with a Bachelor Honours degree in the UK.
A ‘Bachelor degree’ assessment may indicate variable standards across a diverse range of institutions.
It may indicate that independent research is not a mandatory feature of all undergraduate programmes, or does not play as central a role as it would in the UK.
A 'Bachelor degree' comparability does not therefore preclude the possibility that a particular degree programme is comparable to the UK Honours standard, but signifies that this cannot be guaranteed in all cases.
What to look for
Where an award is listed as comparable to a UK 'Bachelor degree', we would encourage institutions and employers to consider, on a case-by-case basis, whether the programme aligns with the UK Honours standard.
Relevant factors to consider include:
- the extent of independent research including a dissertation, thesis, final-year project or similar
- specific course content
- the institution where the degree was studied
Honours and non-Honours degrees
The 'Bachelor degree' statement can also be used to capture the nuances between an Honours and non-Honours Bachelor degree, where both of these exist in a national education system.
This may be particularly relevant where:
- the overseas Honours degree compares favourably to the standard of a UK Bachelor Honours degree
- the non-Honours programme approaches this level
- comparison to UK Bachelor (Ordinary) or below would not accurately reflect the learning outcomes associated with the non-Honours degree
- the non-Honours programme gives access to postgraduate study
In these cases, the relevant national qualifications framework may comprise a greater number of levels than its UK counterparts and align the two undergraduate degrees to different levels.
For further information
More information on the UK ENIC Band Framework and the comparison statements used in our assessments can be found on the UK ENIC Band Framework page.