This presentation was given as part of the 2016 UK-China Education Policy Week, organised by the British Council and the Chinese Ministry of Education in Beijing. It considers the new forms of transnational education (TNE) being developed in China under the legislation on Sino-foreign joint ventures: joint institutes and joint programmes. It argues that many of the students in these programmes are absent from the official UK statistics on TNE, which only capture students studying ‘wholly offshore’, and considers the implications of this new form of TNE for quality assurance, where the providers have to satisfy both UK and Chinese regulatory bodies.

1. A collaborative and effective approach to quality
assurance for TNE:
a perspective from Nottingham Trent University
Professor Nigel Healey, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (International)Professor Nigel Healey, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (International)
Nottingham Trent UniversityNottingham Trent University
Workshop on Quality Assurance for UK-Workshop on Quality Assurance for UK-
China Transnational EducationChina Transnational Education
2016 UK-China Education Policy Week2016 UK-China Education Policy Week
Beijing Normal UniversityBeijing Normal University
18 March 201618 March 2016

2. Overview
• What is TNE?
• Nottingham Trent University: TNE
provision
• TNE provision in China is new
• What does quality assurance mean for TNE
in China?
• TNE and quality assurance: the trade-offs
• The Nottingham Trent University
perspective on TNE
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3. What is TNE?
“Any teaching or learning activity in which the students are in
a different country to that in which the institutional providing
the education is based” (Global Alliance for Transnational
Education, 1997)
University
(country A)
Students
(country B)
‘Principle of transnationality’
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4. Nottingham Trent University: TNE provision
2014/15
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India 2705
Czech Republic 706
Malaysia 483
Italy 343
Japan 205
Hong Kong SAR 163
Ireland 143
Singapore 104
Greece 21
Denmark 19
Total 4892

5. Most Chinese TNE figures missing from official
UK statistics
• HEFCE estimate that as many as 57,000
Chinese students are engaged in a UK TNE
programme…
• …from where they progress to study in the
UK with advanced standing (eg, 2+2, 3+1)
• Nottingham Trent University has a number
of articulation / progression arrangements
in China
• They are NOT reported to the Higher
Education Statists Agency (HESA) as TNE
students because they progress to the UK
– These students do not study “wholly offshore”
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6. Nottingham Trent University in China
•Communication University of China
Sino-Foreign Joint Programme
Ministry of Education approved
•Beijing Language and Culture University
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7. TNE provision in China is
• Traditionally TNE meant UK universities licensing delivery of
their degrees to private colleges
• or… setting up international branch campuses
• Power relationship very clear: UK university ensures quality
by controlling dependent international partner
• TNE in China involves UK and Chinese peer universities:
– Joint institutes
– Joint programmes
• Power relationship very different – and involves Chinese
Ministry of Education
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8. What does quality assurance mean for TNE?
• The student experience in country B is the same as country
A?
• The curriculum (content, pedagogy, assessment) in country B
is the same as country A?
• The learning outcomes for students in country B are the
same as country A?
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9. TNE and quality assurance: the trade-offs
Global integration Local adaption
Academic Staff Academic culture Cost of provision
Curriculum Global equivalence Local relevance
Research International excellence Local impact
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10. The limits to local adaption
Host
Government
Students
Joint
Venture
Partner
Home
institution
Academic Staff
Curriculum
Research
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11. The Nottingham Trent University perspective
on TNE: why engage in TNE?
• Objective of internationalisation @ NTU is:
– to create a meaningful international learning experience for NTU
students so they graduate as highly employable global citizens
• We want to focus on:
– International curriculum
– International student body
– International student mobility
– International faculty development
• Delivered through international
partnerships
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12. What TNE fits with internationalisation @ NTU?
• Joint and dual degrees with peer institutions
• Co-tutelle (joint research degrees)
• Articulation / progression arrangements
• Flying faculty provision
• Distance / blended learning
• Franchised degrees
• Validated degrees
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Higher
Lower

13. For NTU, TNE means genuine partnership
• Dual / joint degrees involve knowledge exchange, faculty and
student mobility
• Assuring quality involves acknowledging the interests of all
stakeholders:
– Host government (Ministry of Education)
– Students
– Partner university
– Home university / Quality Assurance Agency
• Being a ‘global’ university does NOT mean being an ‘imperial’
university
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14. For more information:
• E-mail: nigel.healey@ntu.ac.uk
• Website: http://nottinghamtrent.academia.edu/NigelHealey
• Website includes conferences presentations, papers and
resources on TNE developed for the Higher Education
Academy
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