QAA publishes Country Insight on Kazakhstan

A new Country Insight has now been published for our International Insights Members. Our new Insight focuses on partnerships in Kazakhstan, the largest economy in Central Asia and the ninth largest country in the world by area.

Kazakhstan is also currently experiencing an especially high demand for higher education, thanks to the fact that nearly 40% of its population are under the age of 25.

Its Ministry of Science and Higher Education last year outlined its key priorities to support the country's economic development. These included plans to make Kazakhstan a regional academic mobility hub by establishing branches of leading foreign universities there.

Kazakhstan is a full member of the European Higher Education Area and played a key role in the creation of the Central Asian Higher Education Area in 2021. Its higher education strategy has been clear in its commitment to internationalisation and quality enhancement.

Although the number of Kazakhstani students studying abroad has seen significant increases over the last decade, the numbers of those choosing the UK as their destination have declined in recent years.

Our report takes a deep dive into these figures and explores in detailed case studies, the partnerships run in Kazakhstan by two UK universities - Queen's University Belfast and the London School of Economics.

The former charts the progress of a new collaboration, based on an articulation mechanism for courses, which is scheduled to see the registration of its first cohort of students this September.

The latter looks at LSE's 15-year-old partnership with the Kazakh-British Technical University and examines the reasons for its success and longevity.

The report is part of QAA's series of Country and Territory Reports, offering insights for QAA International Insights Members. We publish these reports to give universities and colleges in the UK contextual information about strong and growing markets overseas, to help them develop their international operations and enhance their TNE capabilities.

QAA International Insights Members can access this Country Insight on our Membership Resources site. Sign up to use the site by completing our simple registration form.

If you’re interested in finding out more about QAA’s International Insights package, please contact your Membership Engagement Manager or email membership@qaa.ac.uk