Background: This paper explores the appropriateness of using mystery customer programmes in higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK. Purpose: The main aim of the paper is to examine potential advantages and disadvantages of mystery customer programmes within HEIs, and to identify any issues that would need to be successfully resolved were they to be integrated into current quality assurance methods. Sources of evidence: The main sources of evidence employed in this paper include a review of the extant literature and a small empirical survey of staff from a university business school. Main argument: There are a number of advantages and disadvantages to using mystery customers in HE; however, mystery students could indeed be used to monitor large sections of university processes and services. For this to happen, a large number of operational issues would need to be resolved, including the development of standards of service for staff, recruitment of students, confidentiality, information utilization, the unions, costs and staff resistance. Conclusions: The use of mystery students in HE today would appear to be a long way off; however, it may have a place, alongside peer observation and feedback questionnaires, to appraise service quality at the point of delivery. For this to happen, university management would need to develop a set of metrics to evaluate all aspects of service performance.