![]() ![]() NCUK has 31 UK partner universities and indicates that its International Year One course is accepted at 16 of them. It is here that it becomes easy to see why the Russell Group of Universities was so irritated at the assertions from the Sunday Times – none of Study Group’s Russell Group partners appear to offer International Year One. Study Group has fourteen UK partners (not counting Huddersfield London) and offers International Year One at 11 of them. IYO courses are available at the first five locations and also at Kaplan International College, London. Kaplan’s Degree Finder page indicates it offers progression through International Year One to 219 degrees at seven of its fifteen partner universities – University of Essex, UWE Bristol, Nottingham Trent University, Brighton Univesity, Bournemouth University, University of Birmingham, University of Westminster. The wholly owned subsidiary INTO Manchester claims that successful completion of IYO gives “a guaranteed offer for one of 14+ NCUK universities” – presumably in Year 2 of the degree.Ĭambridge Education Group offers IYO through five of its eight OnCampus operations – those at the universities Aston, Birkbeck, Sunderland, Hull and London Southbank. The wholly owned subsidiary INTO London claims to have progression agreements with 118 universities including specific arrangements relating to IYO with the University of Kent, Exeter University, University of Westminster and Surrey University. INTO offers IYO at four of its seven UK partners and the number of IYO options at them exceeds Foundation options by 36 to 21. As a comparison the Foundation degrees are available at all 12 partners and link to 799 degrees. Their current degree Study Options page leads to a selector which indicates that all 12 of their university partners offer IYO and that these qualifications link to 430 degree options. Many consider Australian behemoth Navitas as the instigator of IYO. While data is fragmented and actual student number unavailable it is possible to see how IYO has become a big business. That disregards issues of fairness, equality and quality in admissions decisions and is also a dubious claim. ![]() One argument that has been put forward is that the IYO element of the market is not big enough to worry about. There are also a number of comparable Foundation programmes providing pre-degree opportunities to domestic students. Foundation programmes have a long history and most would agree that they serve a useful purpose for international students in developing language capability, culture assimilation and academic preparation before studying in the university. ![]() This distinguishes it from a Foundation which is a pre-degree, preparatory programme that offers the opportunity on completion of progressing to year one of a degree programme. A key question is whether it is an unfair, back door route for low quality international students to enter UK universities. It is not available to domestic students and is offered exclusively to international students at lower grades than those required for direct entry. IYO is usually offered by a pathway provider, but gives the opportunity, on completion, to join year two of the student’s chosen degree programme in the university proper. As Douglas Adams writes, “If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family Anatidae on our hands.” Most seem to be studied at NQF 4 which OnCampus at Aston University tell us “.is equivalent to the first year of an undergraduate degree in the UK” and on successful completion they give direct entry to year two of an undergraduate degree programme. Sector mouthpieces like Universities UK have insisted on talking about Foundation Programmes but this blog will focus on International Year One (IYO) (which is sometimes called First Year or Stage 2 by certain providers). A more Jacques Cousteau type of deep dive is needed to give some data on the relatively uncharted depths of International Year One. If so, it was as inept as the hapless Inspector Clouseau’s efforts to understand and bring to justice criminal elements. The Sunday Times articles looking at pathway programmes has been positioned by some as a political hit job on the higher education sector.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |