UK transnational education review warns on growth and assessment

UK universities need to be cautious when expanding their existing transnational education (TNE) programmes to avoid overloading staff, a quality assurance body has warned. 

In the interim report of its TNE evaluation scheme, the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) identifies a “lack of planning and assessment” of the impact of expanding programmes – either by student numbers or course offerings – on staff workloads. 

The organisation also stresses the “need for increased awareness of the changing circumstances” in which UK providers are developing partnerships, noting that horizon-scanning should not be reserved for identifying new markets but also needs to be done on an ongoing basis to plan “for rapid changes in circumstances”.

Developments that could impact partnerships include changes of government and new legislation, with the 2022 Sri Lankan economic crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic flagged as examples of when TNE providers would have benefitted from such activities. 

The report also highlights concerns around assessment, with outcomes-based assessment and the use of rubrics often “unfamiliar to staff and students in many countries”. The QAA says that assessment feedback needs to be more common, with staff trained on how to do this and students shown how to use it “to promote improvement”. 

The findings are part of an ongoing scheme launched in 2021 to monitor and improve the quality of TNE offered by UK higher education institutions, with 75 institutions participating and sharing data on a voluntary basis. 

In the first two years of the scheme, TNE recruitment has continued to grow, with total student numbers rising by 18.6 per cent between 2020 to 2023, from about 250,000 students to nearly 420,000. The provision of TNE among participating institutions increased by 66 per cent. 

The countries with the greatest numbers of UK TNE students have remained unchanged throughout the reporting period, with China, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Egypt the top five host locations. 

In 2022-23, the most popular type of provision among participants was collaborative – mostly consisting of validated or franchised degrees – representing more than 40 per cent of all TNE offerings. 

However, the QAA flags that the distinction between validated and franchised provision is not always clear, with some franchised programmes on offer not identical to those on home campuses, as would usually be expected. 

The report states: “What became evident is that, as partnerships mature and partner input to enhancement develops, tailoring to partner needs can lead to considerable modification and, hence, a once franchised course may look more like a validated one.”

In a foreword, Vicki Stott, chief executive of the QAA, says the sector is aware of the “importance of continuing efforts to evaluate, enhance and support the quality of our transnational provision”.

“This not only mitigates uncertainties and risks which may be involved in any mode of overseas partnership and delivery, but also promotes the global recognition of the quality of UK TNE and its capacity to help transform so many people’s lives,” she says. 

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com