Consider teaching assessments for offshore courses, says Hepi

England’s sector regulator should consider introducing an evaluation modelled on the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) for higher education courses delivered offshore, according to a report.

More than 500,000 students are enrolled on transnational education courses run by UK universities, but a Higher Education Policy Institute report published on 19 December says that relatively little is known about them – with no public record of the subjects they study, their degree outcomes and their prospects as graduates – and that there is limited sector-wide information on the quality of their experience.

Report author David Carter, professor of transnational education at the University of Reading, argues that gathering more and better data would help to maintain the reputation of UK higher education and to reassure students. Regulators should take a greater interest in this area, he says, because of “the complexity of international partnerships and the academic risks”.

Extending the National Student Survey overseas may yield “limited insights”, he writes, “given the variety of provision and local contexts”, which take in branch campuses, distance learning and teaching delivered by validated local partners.

Professor Carter says the Office for Students (OfS) could consider running an exercise like the TEF, which judges English universities on key student metrics and submitted statements, “but on a smaller scale and a different cycle”.

This would appear to align with the regulator’s direction of travel. The OfS’ draft strategy outlines plans to fold transnational education into an “integrated” approach to quality, with the TEF at its “core”.

Professor Carter also advocates wider engagement with the Quality Enhancement of Transnational Education scheme run by the Quality Assurance Agency, and greater use of externally run student surveys.

“Individual universities and other providers care deeply about their TNE students and gather detailed information about their experience. If we can unlock some of the learning held in the sector, there could be huge gains for accountability, the continuous improvement of academic provision and the global reputation of UK higher education,” Professor Carter said.

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com