QAA signs Memorandum of Understanding with Chinese Service Centre for Scholarly Exchange

QAA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Chinese Service Centre for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE), a public institution reporting to the Ministry of Education in the People’s Republic of China. CSCSE is the official organisation solely responsible for the provision of overseas credential evaluation and recognition services in China.

The MoU builds upon existing engagement between both agencies, who share comparable missions and institutional objectives in the support of students in higher education. This will lead to greater information sharing and collaboration on mutually agreed programmes and activities, such as transnational education.

The partnership will also include input from CSCSE to QAA’s Quality Evaluation and Enhancement Review of Transnational Education (QE-TNE) in China, which is due to take place in the 2022-23 academic year.

As China is one of the key countries for higher education partnerships with the UK, QAA has long established relationships with Ministry of Education bodies and the Embassy here in the UK. This agreement today formalises arrangements after a lengthy period of information sharing and cooperation for mutual benefit.

QAA has conducted two previous reviews of transnational education provision in China in 2006 and 2012 and recently developed a report on China’s higher education and regulatory landscape for International Insights Members.

Douglas Blackstock, Chief Executive of QAA, said: ‘The signing of this partnership agreement with CSCSE strengthens China-UK partnerships and recognises the comparable goals and objectives of both organisations. It will allow us to work collaboratively in the pursuit of high-quality higher education, yielding considerable opportunities for the higher education sectors in both of our countries.’

Jiacai Cheng, Director of CSCSE, said: ‘The signing of this MOU is of great significance to strengthening the future higher education exchanges and cooperation between China and the UK. We hope that we can use this as a new starting point to establish a more effective communication mechanism, conduct regular workshops to discuss the issues of mutual interests, and improve interactions. CSCSE would like to work closely with QAA to fully protect the rights and interests of Chinese and British universities, as well as the students in the post-pandemic era and provide them with more targeted services.’

The agreement will last for a period of three years, with the potential of an extension for a further three years upon the agreement of both parties.