New report considers contextualisation in TNE

A new Thematic Insights report from QAA's scheme for the Quality Evaluation and Enhancement of UK Transnational Higher Education (QE-TNE) explores the subject of contextualisation – "the practice of adapting aspects of UK provision appropriately to the TNE setting to support effective learning and deliver an equitable student experience whilst maintaining academic standards".

It sees contextualisation as "a foundational principle of the UK’s quality assurance framework, underpinning a principled approach to safeguarding academic standards while enabling institutional diversity and innovation, promoting the position that quality and homogeneity are not synonymous".

This new resource, exclusive to participants in the QE-TNE Scheme, offers insights into approaches to staff support and development, student support and student voice, governance, employability, library resources, curriculum design, teaching and learning practices and the adaptation of assessment and module content to reflect local historical, cultural, disciplinary and industry contexts.

It encourages providers to reflect on how, where and when, variation is considered, agreed, communicated and experienced in their TNE activities, and recognises effective practices as those that work well in the context of particular TNE arrangements.

The QE-TNE has also published two new visit reports on UK TNE provision in Malaysia and Vietnam, focusing respectively on the collaborations between De Montfort University and Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation, and between the University of the West of England and National Economics University in Hanoi.