Category: UK

How is international learning shifting?

“For international education to move effectively to a blended model involving both online and physical campuses, it is not just teaching approaches that need to be considered”

Digital advancements have given universities an innovative way of offering international learning to students who may not be in the position to move abroad. Whether it is due to family commitments or financial reasons, students can gain an internationally recognised degree regardless of their ability to travel.

With Arden University partnering with its first international partner, Roots Ivy International College, to offer students in Pakistan the ability to gain a UK degree earlier this year, Debra Hinds, associate pro-vice-chancellor of Partnerships at Arden University writes about how international learning is shifting, the opportunities at hand and how universities can aim to give a better learning experience for international students.

“Beyond a robust knowledge of the admissions process, agents should also be prepared to help prospective students plan out their larger educational journey all the way through to employment”

Agents will play a vital role in achieving the UK government’s bold goal of increasing “the number of international higher education students hosted in the UK to 600,000 per year by 2030.” As the industry ramps up international recruitment to meet this goal, many institutions are working with agents for the first time, says Study Group’s chief revenue officer, Manoj Shetty.

“There is a serious lack of understanding about how and when to use government-generated share codes”

Starting a new university course is always going to be a daunting prospect, but for international students it’s also about embarking on life in a new country too, writes Matt Oldham, co-founder of Unizest.

For overseas students, proving their immigration status is one of the many challenges they need to overcome, yet what should in theory be a relatively simple process, often becomes a complex one due to a lack of understanding around share codes.

“One of the greatest limitations that has undoubtedly been felt within schools across the board has been the removal of opportunities for young people to broaden their horizons beyond the classroom”

For the past 18 months, lockdown restrictions have had a huge impact on young people, arguably more so than any other generation, with schools for the first time in living memory closing their doors in 57 countries across the world. In March 2020, 682 million students worldwide had to continue their studies from home, writes Keith Birch, Principal of Westminster Campus at Southbank International School.

“There is a growing awareness that UKI students have unique needs that are not necessarily being met by support that is focused on either purely ‘international’ or ‘domestic’ students”

Every year the UK welcomes over 29,000 international students to come and study in UK Boarding schools (UKI students).

Many will then want to stay in the UK for their higher education and indeed this is the goal for many international parents-pay for a great Boarding school education to secure a place at a world renowned UK University.

However, the higher education path for ‘UKI students’ is sometimes not straightforward, says Pat Moores of UK Education Guide.

“Adopt a strategic approach and long-term commitment to partnership building”

The UK regulatory and quality assurance landscape for transnational education has undergone significant change since 2018, when the contract that the then-Higher Education Funding Council for England had with QAA for conducting in-country TNE reviews ended.

In England, the statutory responsibility for safeguarding the quality and standards of English TNE rests with the Office for Students, which is currently looking into developing better data on TNE to inform its metrics-based approach to quality assessment.

A challenge so far has been a lack of data comparable to UK-based students about graduate outcomes for TNE students that is comparable to data collected for UK-based students. Fabrizio Trifirò of Ecctis (the operators of UK ENIC, formerly UK NARIC) explains.

“We wanted to create an international university in China and a Chinese university recognised internationally”

The future of education is about bringing together multiple worlds. To create a robust higher education sector, universities need to form partnerships with each other, industry, and the community. It Is also beneficial to blend teaching methods and philosophies. Youmin Xi of Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University explains.

May 28, 2021
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China, Higher education, Internationalisation, Transnational education, UK

Catching up with lost study time this summer

“Some of the new initiatives that have emerged during the pandemic may be here to stay”

According to recent reports, children in England are three months behind in their studies after lockdown measures, and while schools have worked hard to help their pupils keep up to date with their studying, many parents will view the summer holidays as a good time to help their children catch up.

For many international students, the summer months are traditionally an opportunity to come to the UK for an academic or cultural education experience. Pat Moores of UK Education Guide explains what schools are planning.

Rethinking university strategies for global engagement: insights from the UK

In the UK, as elsewhere, 2020 was a year of fire-fighting and crisis management in the higher education sector. As we slowly regain the bandwidth to consider future plans, what role will global engagement play in post-pandemic strategies? How will this build on what went before? And what will need to be different as institutions seek to find their place within a much-altered global higher education landscape?

These are questions which Vicky Lewis Consulting tried to address through research conducted in late 2020 and early 2021, which has now been published in the form of a report for the HE sector: UK Universities Global Engagement Strategies: time for a rethink?

“Students don’t currently have the soft skills needed to prepare them for the workplace”

It looks increasingly likely that a new system of post qualification offers from universities will replace the current system of offers being made before IB/BTEC and A Level results are announced.

This change inevitably raises the question about the value and current content of GCSEs and IGCSEs. If they are no longer needed to inform a university offer, are they still fit for purpose? Pat Moores of UK Education Guide looks at the options.

Category: UK

How is international learning shifting?

“For international education to move effectively to a blended model involving both online and physical campuses, it is not just teaching approaches that need to be considered”

What makes a great international recruitment agent?

“Beyond a robust knowledge of the admissions process, agents should also be prepared to help prospective students plan out their larger educational journey all the way through to employment”

Why there needs to be more education on share codes

“There is a serious lack of understanding about how and when to use government-generated share codes”

Broadening horizons beyond the classroom

“One of the greatest limitations that has undoubtedly been felt within schools across the board has been the removal of opportunities for young people to broaden their horizons beyond the classroom”

How to better support international boarding school pupils to make well informed higher education decisions