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Written question asked by Lord Storey (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 15 September 2015, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 29 September 2015. It was answered by Baroness Evans of Bowes Park (Conservative) on Thursday, 24 September 2015 on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Overseas Students

Question

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what quality assurance measures are in place for the International Foundation programmes run by United Kingdom universities or by partnerships between such universities and private education providers.

Answer

Publicly funded higher education providers are currently reviewed by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA). These reviews look at the adequacy of a provider’s system to maintain academic standards and ensure quality across all its provision; irrespective of where it is delivered. The reviews check that expectations set out in the UK Quality Code for Higher Education are being met.

In addition, QAA have been leading sector work on how to strengthen the assurance of UK higher education delivered overseas. They have recently published a report detailing

how external quality assurance processes can be adapted to support UK higher education institutions in both maintaining their reputation in delivering high quality education overseas and in growing their provision. The report can be found on the QAA website at

http://www.qaa.ac.uk/publications/information-and-guidance/publication?PubID=2978#.VfKp1fnF98E

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL2230
Session
2015-16
Subjects
Higher education Overseas students Standards
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk