Over 70% of UK TNE students represented in new QE-TNE Scheme

Over 70% of the UK transnational education (TNE) student population is represented in the QE-TNE Scheme, which was launched this week by QAA. 76 UK universities have signed up to participate in the five-year scheme, collectively representing over 300,000 UK TNE students.

The Scheme was launched online on Monday 20 September with 100 attendees and included speakers from the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, two of the three countries to be reviewed in 2021-22. Guest speakers shared their key priorities and areas of interest for the reviews and noted local developments that they wished to draw to the attention of scheme participants.

Speaking at the event were:

• Professor Rhys Rowland-Jones, Commissioner, Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA), United Arab Emirates
• Professor Dr Youhansen Y. Eid President of National Authority for Quality Assurance and Accreditation of Education (NAQAAE), Egypt
• Dr Nitesh Sughnani Director of Higher Education Classification and Rating Framework, Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), United Arab Emirates
• Dr Susanna Karakhanyan, Director Higher Education Policy and Regulation, Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK), United Arab Emirates

Commissioned by Universities UK International (UUKi) and GuildHE, the Quality Enhancement and Evaluation of UK Transnational Education (QE-TNE) Scheme was developed by QAA following a series of consultations with higher education stakeholders in the UK and worldwide. The programme aims to support UK providers of TNE to enhance the quality of their provision, and to support the continued excellent reputation for which UK higher education is known internationally.

QAA’s vision for the Scheme is for UK TNE to continue to be recognised worldwide as providing education of the highest quality, an outstanding student experience, added value and enhanced outcomes.

QAA’s Acting Chief Executive, Vicki Stott said: ‘The overwhelming participation of UK institutions in the QE-TNE Scheme reflects the strong commitment to quality across the higher education sector. We look forward to working with all Scheme participants over the next five years to share best practice in the quality enhancement of UK transnational education.’

The QE-TNE Scheme will run for five years from September 2021. Those who have registered for the Scheme will participate for the full five years of the programme. Further details can be found on the QE-TNE Scheme web page.