NARIC guide on Higher Education Systems in the European Union

Diploma courses: Full-time: two or three years
Degree courses: undergraduate Full-time: three to six years
postgraduate Full-time: one to four years
In general the minimum length of an undergraduate course is three or four years. Some courses are longer; for example,
undergraduate degree courses in medicine are of 5 or 6 years duration.
Examinations are normally held at the end of each year with a decision about specialisation being taken after the first. The
final examination and the students continuous assessment record are decisive.
Assessment of the progress of the students is likely to be continuous with a key examination at the end of their first or second
year as well as at the end of the course. A good student will be awarded a classified honours degree.
Validation
Universities are not only responsible for setting their own standards, but also for awarding their own degrees. For historical
reasons, some of them also validate (i.e. guarantee the quality of) first degree courses in some other institutions. As mentioned
before, however, validation of non-university higher education is mainly by the OU and some of the other universities.
For the majority of students, courses run for three years and lead to the degree of Bachelor of Arts or of Science (BA or BSc);
for some, the course will be much longer and the degree different (see Section II.3 for a detailed description).
A high proportion of students finish the course successfully and on time. This is partly due to the very competitive entry, the
small size of classes, individual attention given to students through the tutorial system and the high degree of specialisation at
A level.