1. © IGI Services Ltd 2009
The Transnational Student Experience
Will Archer and Kevin Brett, i-graduate
Friday October 16th

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Please don’t hesitate to contact us to further understand this research and how it may be
applied within your institution or organisation

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The International Graduate Insight Group (i-graduate)
i-graduate is an independent benchmarking and research group, working in
partnership with institutions and education organisations to enable positive
change through comparative insights.
Using student and stakeholder insight as a management tool
A ‘finger on the pulse’ for policy makers and educators
Risk management for higher education
Working with over 500 education institutions
Feedback from more than 500,000 international students of 190 nationalities
Engaged in the UK, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Estonia, Ireland,
Netherlands, USA, South Africa, Australia, New
Zealand, Singapore, Brazil, China

4. © IGI Services Ltd 2009

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Introduction
Context
Method
Response
Decision-making
Learning
Living
Support
Recommendation
Conclusions
Next steps

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Introduction
In 2008, a group of universities from Australia and the UK agreed to pilot a
comparative measure of the student experience in transnational education.
i-graduate established the Barometer for Transnational Education - a
benchmark for offshore provision; specifically, a comparative measure of the
decision-making, expectations and perceptions of students studying outside
the country of the awarding institution.
More than 3,200 responses were received from students studying for
qualifications from six awarding institutions.

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Context
The growth of TNE over recent years has been significant and demand is
predicted to increase.
While there are a number of opportunities offered by branching into TNE
provision, there are also substantial risks. There is a lack evidence-based data
available about the quality of transnational education, not to mention the
support/facilities/resources available to students undertaking these
programmes.
There is also a need for a greater understanding of the decision-making
process of the students who decide to undertake a transnational programme
of study.

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Overall India China Malaysia Indonesia Nigeria Pakistan
Overseas qualification in
country of qualification
(traditional overseas
study)
65.9% 61.5% 86.0% 56.7% 46.3% 54.3% 61.2%
Home country,
local qualification
26.6% 28.4% 22.9% 28.2% 31.5% 17.2% 24.6%
Home country,
overseas qualification
(TNE)
46.3% 59.8% 14.3% 65.4% 64.7% 61.2% 67.9%
Overseas qualification,
in another country (TNE)
32.2% 33.7% 8.0% 48.0% 59.3% 47.4% 34.8%
Which study options are you considering? (Source: StudentPulse 2008)
Base: 9,886

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Adaptation of i-graduate’s International Student Barometer (ISB) format
The ISB is a tried and tested measure of the international student
experience, currently being utilised in 13 countries. This tool has received
responses from over 500,000 students since 2005 across 450 + institutions
A TNE questionnaire was developed by i-graduate. Participating institutions
specified:
List of teaching institutions
Designated mode of each
List of courses/programmes that each institution offers
i-graduate built each survey online and awarding institutions emailed the
hyperlink to their TNE students or coordinated the survey launch with their
international partners
Method

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Response

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41%
28%
26%
4% 1%
Franchising arrangements
Distance Learning
Locally supported distance
education
Branch Campus
Twinning programme
Mode of delivery (n=3,229)

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Where are you from? (n=3229)
19%
13%
10%
9%
5%
5%
4%
3%
2%
2%
2%
2%
2%
2%
2%
19% Malaysia
Singapore
Hong Kong
China
Trinidad and Tobago
Sri Lanka
Pakistan
Nigeria
Malta
Mauritius
UK
Jamaica
Russian Federation
Bangladesh
USA
Other

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Where are you from? by mode of delivery
Distance learning (n=900)
Locally supported distance
(n=850)
Franchise arrangements
(n=1331)
UK 7% Malaysia 28% Malaysia 26%
Nigeria 6% China 28% Singapore 15%
Hong Kong 6% Sri Lanka 10% Hong Kong 14%
USA 6% Hong Kong 8% Trinidad and Tobago 11%
Singapore 6% Russian Federation 5% Pakistan 6%
Canada 5% Singapore 5% Malta 5%
Sri Lanka 4% Vietnam 4% Mauritius 4%
Trinidad and Tobago 4% Pakistan 3% Jamaica 3%
Mauritius 3% Indonesia 2% Bangladesh 3%
Malaysia 3% Zambia 1% Sri Lanka 2%
Other
50
% Other 7% Other 11%

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Are you studying in your home country? (n=3,229)
No
14%
Yes
86%

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Are you studying in your home country? By mode of delivery
Distance learning
(n=900)
Franchising
arrangements
(n=1331)
Locally supported
distance education
(n=850)
Yes 74% 91% 90%
No 26% 9% 10%

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Respondents by age group (n=3,053)
3%
40%
19%
14%
10%
10%
4% <20
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-49
50+

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Level of study (n=3,227)
48%
33%
16%
1%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Undergraduate (BA, BSc, etc)
Postgraduate (Diploma, MA, MSc, LLM, MBA, etc)
Undergraduate (Diploma/Advanced diploma)
Professional qualifications (ACCA, CIME, etc)
Foundation Course
English language programme
Research postgraduate (PhD, MPhil, MRes, etc)
Single module - no academic level
Other
TNE (3227)

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Is your current form of study your preferred choice? (n=3,130)
18%
82%
No Yes

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Conclusions
Satisfaction reported by transnational education students is slightly lower
than satisfaction reported by students pursuing traditional study modes
Despite generally lower levels of satisfaction, the TNE Barometer results do
provide some encouragement. Over 80% of respondents were satisfied with
the experience overall
In addition to lower satisfaction with certain elements, overall satisfaction
rates at some teaching institutions are disconcertingly low, sufficient to raise
significant concerns over the value of provision
There is a strong case for TNE being an effective channel for education
providers. This is demonstrated in the motivations of two distinct segments
of students, who would be otherwise unlikely to pursue a UK or Australian
qualification

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Segment 1
• Full-time undergraduate students
• Typically studying in supported distance or franchised education
• Want to study abroad but are limited by financial constraints

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Segment 2
Undertaking education for career development and progression
Continue to work full-time while studying and likely to be distance learners
Less likely to consider traditional international education
Value flexibility in their choice of study mode

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Attitudes change and market conditions have changed very significantly
from the time of this pilot study. Future waves of the study will track changes in
attitudes towards TNE and traditional international education.
A greater level of support and engagement from local teaching institutions
will be necessary, to optimise student response levels.
Next steps

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For further information about i-graduate’s research contact Kevin Brett or a member
of the i-graduate Research Team (info@i-graduate.org)
Kevin Brett
t 02 61624393
m 0410 619 054
e kevin.brett@i-graduate.org
International Graduate Insight Group
29 Harley Street
London W1G 9QR
t +44 (0)207 222 7890
f +44 (0)207 182 7152
info@i-graduate.org
www.i-graduate.org
Thank you!