Since their first publication nearly a quarter of a century ago, subject benchmark statements have become the standard reference points and go-to resources used by higher education providers for the design, development and delivery of courses across the UK, setting out a bedrock of shared expectations that are considered during programme approval and revisited during programme review.
Each subject benchmark statement (SBS) articulates the purposes and distinctive features of a degree in a particular discipline, approaches to content, teaching, learning and assessment, and the knowledge, understanding and skills which graduates are expected to be able to demonstrate.
Over the course of twenty-four years – and perhaps especially through times of increasing turbulence and divergence for UK higher education – these statements have accrued degrees of both authority and affection which reflect the effort committed to their production by stakeholders across, and beyond, the sector.
