Emergence of the doctor’s and master’s degrees and the licentiate

South Africa[edit]

In South Africa, grades (which are also commonly referred to as "marks") are presented as a percentage, where anything below 50% is a failure. There are generally opportunities to rewrite the exam if the grade of your first attempt was sufficient to warrant an additional attempt. Each institution independently determines which grades warrant an additional attempt.

A degree in almost any discipline is available at one or another institution in South Africa. Some institutions are renowned for certain disciplines. Alphabetically, the major disciplines across the country are; Arts, Commerce, Engineering, Law, Medicine, Science and Theology.

There are several levels of degrees which are awarded according to a credit-based system devised by the SAQA (South African Qualifications Agency: http://www.saqa.org.za/list.php?e=NQF). Each level of degree has a different level of NQF rating, for example, an undergraduate (3-year) degree in Science is rated as an NQF level 6, and an additional year in that specific discipline will warrant the awarding of an NQF level 8 (or honours degree).

Europe[edit]

Main articles: Bologna process, European Higher Education Area, and European Qualifications Framework

Since the Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region in 1997 and the Bologna declaration in 1999, higher education systems in Europe are being harmonised through the Bologna process, based on a three-cycle hierarchy of degrees: Bachelor's/Licence – Master's – Doctorate, with the later addition of a "short cycle (within the first cycle)" to cover sub-bachelor's qualifications. This system is gradually replacing the two-stage system previously used in some countries and is combined with other elements such as the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS) and the use of Diploma Supplements to make comparisons between qualifications easier.

The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) was formally established in 2010 and as of September 2016 has 50 members.^[35] Implementation of the various elements of the EHEA varies. Twenty-four countries have fully implemented a national qualifications framework and a further ten have a framework but have not yet certified it against the overarching framework; in 38 countries ECTS credits are used for all higher education programmes; 31 countries have fully implemented diploma supplements; and only 11 countries have included all the major points of the Lisbon Recognition Convention in national legislation.^[36]

From 2008, the European Union has been developing the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). This is an eight-level framework designed to allow cross-referencing of the various national qualifications frameworks. While it is not specific to higher education, the top four levels (5–8) correspond to the short cycle, first cycle, second cycle and third cycle of the EHEA.^[37][38]

Austria[edit]

In Austria, there are currently two parallel systems of academic degrees:

• 
  the traditional two-cycle system of Magister/Diplom followed by the Doctorate and
  
• 
  the three-cycle system of Bachelor, Master and Doctorate as defined by the Bologna process.
  

With a few exceptions, the two-cycle degree system will be phased out by 2010.^[39] Some of the established degree naming has, however, been preserved, allowing universities to award the "Diplom-Ingenieur" (and for a while also the "Magister") to graduates of the new-style Master programmes.