Academic regulation in UK higher education: part I ‐ the concept of collaborative regulation

The first of a series of three articles which map the dimensions and evolution of academic regulation in the UK. Argues that regulation is an important and substantial concept and set of activities which is far more comprehensive in scope and substance than the concept of quality assurance which it subsumes; that it involves the act of regulating (controlling and adjusting behaviour and practice against explicit or implicit rules) and the state of being regulated (practising within a framework of rules and accepted professional norms). Describes three basic types of regulatory regime ‐ self‐regulation, external regulation and mixed regimes ‐ and concludes that the size, complexity, diversity, history, public investment and interests in the UK higher education sector make it necessary to operate a mixed regime which incorporates elements of both external regulation and institutional self‐regulation. When viewed at the system level, the continuous interaction of external regulators with HE institutions, which have considerable autonomy over their internal regulatory mechanisms, is consistent with the concept of collaborative regulation (where co‐operation is both voluntary and mandatory).