As Indian higher education institutions seek to attract more international students, evolving methods of assessment may hold the key to widening their reach
Reforms to admission assessments can support the recruitment of international students but universities should not compromise on quality, a panel speaking at theTimes Higher Education India Universities Forum 2021 agreed.
A joint THE and Password webinar examined how reforming university assessment can provide a gateway to internationalisation.
Chair Anna McKie, a reporter at THE, said recent policies indicated that the Indian government wanted to open up the country’s higher education sector to greater internationalisation, with potential for admissions reform.
Bobby Mehta, director of global at the University of Portsmouth, told the panel that the admissions process would be key as Indian universities looked to diversify student recruitment.
“I think that this type of reform will really help universities in the drive to increase international students coming to study in India,” Mehta said. “We’ve seen the same in the UK. It was that drive in admission reforms, the use of testing and different approaches…that ensured you were getting the best quality students coming to study at UK universities. I think that’s something we will see in India as we move forward as well.”
Adam-Lucas Pettit, head of university partnerships at Password, a provider of world-leading online English-language and maths assessment, said assessing international students before they arrived at university would improve student retention.
“Admissions testing also helps identify students that have some support needs. You might spot students who have great grades, great critical reasoning, but maybe have trouble articulating their ideas or writing an essay in English. Rather than allowing them to struggle, you can identify them from day one and support them through it,” Pettit said. “It’s good strategy because those students are going to then become successful graduates that will go on to be ambassadors in their own country for your institution. That will only benefit the international reach and reputation of the university.”
Indian institutions should look to UK universities, which have historically punched above their weight on international recruitment, for examples of good practice and to learn from past mistakes, said Adrian Dutch, director of global recruitment and admissions at the University of Westminster.
Dutch told the panel that any reform should not be driven by recruitment goals but by a desire to ensure students can thrive at the institution.
“I think where it helps with recruitment is where you are able to keep things as simple as possible. The minute that you introduce complications as a recruiter, complications are barriers,” he said.
“The simpler you can keep things, both in terms of the actual tasks the individual has to do and in how you communicate it, that then becomes a gateway to recruitment, whether international or at home.”
Find out more about Password’s online assessment services.
Watch the Times Higher Education and Password webinar on-demand above or on the Times Higher Education YouTube channel.
