The relationship between regulation and quality assurance of higher education in the United Kingdom (UK) has a long and complicated history, which contributed to the foundation of the UK Quality Assurance Agency for higher education (QAA) in 1997. After March 2023, the UK-wide QAA will stop being the Designated Quality Body (DQB) for English higher education, as the QAA wants to avoid losing its registration with the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education. In this Policy Note, Andrew Boggs considers the consequences of this change.