The Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) was the national degree-awarding authority in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

from 1965 until its dissolution on 20 April 1993.

Background

The establishment followed the recommendation of the UK government Committee on Higher Education (

Robbins Committee The Robbins Report (the report of the Committee on Higher Education, chaired by Lionel Robbins) was commissioned by the British government and published in 1963. The committee met from 1961 to 1963. After the report's publication, its conclusions w ...

), one of whose recommendations being the replacement of the diploma-awarding National Council for Technological Awards with a degree-awarding council. That gave colleges more flexibility, as they could devise their own courses with the oversight of the council, rather than depend on existing universities to accredit courses. In 1974, the

National Council for Diplomas in Art and Design The National Council for Diplomas in Art and Design was a UK statutory body responsible for awarding Diplomas in Art and Design undertaken in further education colleges. It operated from 1961 to 1974 when its responsibilities were merged into the ...

was merged into the CNAA. The CNAA's Latin motto, as it appears on its coat of arms, is: ''Lauream qui Meruit Ferat'': this can be translated as 'let whoever earns the

laurel Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mus ...

bear it'.

Qualifications

Qualifications included diplomas, bachelor's, master's and doctorate research degrees; by the time of dissolution, it had awarded over 1.3 million degrees and other academic awards. The CNAA awarded

academic degree An academic degree is a qualification awarded to a student upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a college or university. These institutions often offer degrees at various levels, usually divided into und ...

s at polytechnics,

central institution {{Short description, Type of higher education institute in 20th and 21st century Scotland A central institution (CI) was a type of higher education institute in 20th and 21st-century Scotland, responsible for providing degree-level education but emp ...

s and other non-university institutions such as colleges of higher education until they were awarded university status. When the CNAA was wound up, the

British government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

asked the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

to continue the work of awarding degrees in the remaining non-university institutions. Additionally, the OU has responsibility for CNAA records. The CNAA, through its many subject panels, oversaw the degree-awarding powers of polytechnics. Above all, the CNAA saw itself as preserving a comparability at the national level with degree level awards in universities, a feature which can be seen as having both positive and negative aspects: positive in that it preserved a formal "parity of esteem" between the awards of the two parts of the

binary system A binary system is a system of two astronomical bodies of the same kind that are comparable in size. Definitions vary, but typically require the center of mass to be located outside of either object. (See animated examples.) The most common ki ...

(such as retaining the common currency of the undergraduate degree for entry to postgraduate study), but other scholars viewed it as negative because it encouraged an "academicism" in the new sector and slowed an acceptance of the transformations required finally to break the boundaries of the old, "elite" system. In the event, the polytechnics were associated with many innovations, including

women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on Feminism, feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining Social constructionism, social and cultural constructs of gender; ...

, the academic study of

communications Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...

and

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

sandwich degree A sandwich degree, or sandwich course, is an academic degree or higher education course (also known as tertiary education) involving practical work experience in addition to academic study. The work experience is often referred as an industrial pla ...

s, advanced

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

degrees in all functional specialities, and the rise of management and

business studies Business studies, often simply called business, is a field of study that deals with the principles of business, management, and economics. It combines elements of accountancy, finance, marketing, organizational studies, human resource manageme ...

; not least, they were much more responsive than older institutions in providing for the admission of non-standard students from technical colleges, advanced apprenticeships and other sources.

Patronage and governance

The presidents of the Council for National Academic Awards were: * The

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the capital city of Scotland, Edinburgh, is a substantive title that has been created four times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not pr ...

, 1965 to 1976 * The

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

, 1976 to 1989 * The

Princess Royal Princess Royal is a substantive title, title customarily (but not automatically) awarded by British monarchs to their eldest daughters. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal famil ...

, 1989 to 1993. The Council comprised a chairman and 21 to 25 members all appointed by the

secretary of state for education The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. ...

. The CNAA's seven chairmen were:Who's Who and Who was Who * Sir Harold Roxbee Cox, Lord Kings Norton, 1964 to 1971 * Sir Michael John Sinclair Clapham, 1971 to 1977 * Sir

Denis Rooke Sir Denis Eric Rooke (2 April 1924 – 2 September 2008) was an English industrialist and engineer. Early life Denis Eric Rooke was born in New Cross, London, the younger son of Frederick George Rooke, a printer and travelling salesman, and h ...

, 1978 to 1983 * Sir

Alastair Pilkington Sir Lionel Alexander Bethune Pilkington (7 January 1920 – 5 May 1995), known as Sir Alastair Pilkington, was a British engineer and businessman who invented and perfected the float glass process for commercial manufacturing of plate glass. E ...

, 1983 to 1987 * Sir Ronald Ernest Dearing, Lord Dearing, 1987 to 1988 * Sir Bryan Nicholson, 1988 to 1991 * Sir Raymond Mildmay Wilson Rickett, 1991 to 1993

Academic dress

For graduation ceremonies the CNAA had its own academic dress comprising gown, hood and headwear. The bachelors’

gown A gown, from the Latin word, ''gunna'', is a usually loose outer garment from knee-to-full-length worn by people of both sexes in Europe from the Early Middle Ages to the 17th century, and continuing today in certain professions; later, the t ...

was a black Cambridge pattern worn twelve inches off the ground with sleeves reaching the elbow; the doctors’ and masters’ gowns were a standard black Oxbridge pattern worn eight inches off the ground; PhD gowns had a maroon silk yoke and facings;

higher doctorates A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

had a gold-yellow gown with cream

brocade Brocade () is a class of richly decorative shuttle (weaving), shuttle-woven fabrics, often made in coloured silks and sometimes with gold and silver threads. The name, related to the same root as the word "broccoli", comes from Italian langua ...

facings. Hoods were a gold-yellow

panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

, with a silk lining: turquoise for bachelors’; white for masters’; turquoise with a white facing for a MEng; maroon for a PhD; cream

damask Damask (; ) is a woven, Reversible garment, reversible patterned Textile, fabric. Damasks are woven by periodically reversing the action of the warp and weft threads. The pattern is most commonly created with a warp-faced satin weave and the gro ...

for higher doctors. Bachelors’ and masters’ wore a black mortar board; PhDs a cloth bonnet with a maroon cord; higher Doctors had a velvet

Tudor bonnet A Tudor bonnet (also referred to as a doctor's bonnet or round cap) is a traditional soft-crowned, round-brimmed cap, with a tassel hanging from a cord encircling the hat. As the name suggests, the Tudor Bonnet (headgear), bonnet was popularly w ...

with a gold cord.

References

External links

Catalogue of the CNAA archives
held at the

Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collect ...