The Frameworks for Higher Education Qualifications of UK Degree-Awarding Bodies lays down five levels of qualification with the title of degree: foundation (not in Scotland), ordinary and honours bachelor's (only separate levels in Scotland), master's and doctoral.
[1] It is common to put the name of the awarding institute in brackets after the degree abbreviation, e.g. BA (Lond).
For historical reasons some universities (the ancient universities of England and Scotland) do not fully adhere to the Framework (particularly with respect to the title of Master of Arts), and degrees in medicine, dentistry, and veterinary medicine are titled as bachelor's degrees despite being at master's level.
The origins lie in the ancient practice of regarding all areas of study as elements of 'philosophy' with its Greek meaning, 'friend of wisdom'.
As noted above, the MAs of the ancient universities of Scotland are also at this level and may also add "(Hons)" after their acronyms.
Both these and bachelor's degrees with honours at Scottish universities are four-year courses at level 10 of the Framework for Qualifications of Higher Education Institutes in Scotland.
[2] Primary qualifications in medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine are taken as undergraduate-entry courses and are denominated bachelor's degrees, but are normally offered without honours These are also qualifications at the same level as postgraduate master's degrees, but retain the name of bachelor's for historical reasons.
[2] The Bachelors of Medicine and Surgery are always taken together as the primary medical qualification in the UK, equivalent to the American MD.
All doctoral degrees include "original research or other advanced scholarship" demonstrating "the creation and interpretation of new knowledge".
[35] Due to the flexibility of Latin word order, there are two schools in the abbreviation of doctor's degrees.
The Framework for Higher Education Qualifications lays down the naming convention that Doctor of Philosophy is reserved for doctorates awarded on the basis of examination by thesis or publication, or by artefact, composition or performance accompanied by written academic commentary.