Abstract: The construction of higher education quality assurance system is a core issue of contemporary higher education management. Historical analysis and comparative research are adopted to explore the evolution of quality assurance system in British higher education. From the university autonomy to the binary system and to the unified system， the current higher education quality assurance model has been established ultimately， which gives priority to the internal education quality assurance at colleges and universities and which is supplemented by external evaluation. With reference to British successful experience， the laws and regulations of Chinas higher education system should be perfected， and the quality assurance work should be regulated. Meanwhile， the autonomy of university operation and management should be expanded， and the construction of internal quality assurance system should be strengthened. Whats more， we should make good use of professional intermediary evaluation organizations so as to form a multi-appraiser guarantee mechanism.

Key words: UK, higher education, quality assurance system, legislative system, multi-appraiser