May 1, 2023

EXPLORING THE GLOBAL RISE OF PATHWAY PROGRAMMES

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May 1, 2023 Slide 2

Nice to meet you

Edwin van RestStudyPortals

Claudia van den BosUniversity of Amsterdam

Michael BartlettCambridge Assessment

Arnold PersoonStudy Group

May 1, 2023

WHY PATHWAYS?

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Edwin van Rest

May 1, 2023 Slide 4

StudyPortals

16.5 million visitors / year(est. 20 million for 2016)

2,450 institutions in 68 countries

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PreparationCoursesPortal.com

May 1, 2023 Slide 6

Why pathways?

May 1, 2023

$1.4bnSlide 7

Estimated size of market

May 1, 2023 Slide 8

Get your copy

May 1, 2023

WHAT IS THE SHAPE OF PATHWAYS GLOBALLY?

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Michael Bartlett

May 1, 2023 Slide 10

What is a pathway programme?

May 1, 2023

Private/corporate providers

50%

Universities32.5%

Colleges16%

Language schools1.5%

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Who provides the programmes?

May 1, 2023

Guaranteed56%

Conditional6%

General Preparation38%

Guaranteed42%

Conditional7%

General Preparation51%

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How does progression work?

May 1, 2023

Type Guaranteed Conditional General preparation

Pre-bachelor 56% 6% 38%

Linked to (avg) 10 courses 24 courses 10 courses

Pre-master 42% 7% 51%

Linked to (avg) 7 courses 5 courses 13 courses

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How does progression work?

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How much do programmes cost?

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What subjects are most popular?

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UNITED KINGDOM42% • 8%

UNITED STATES

19% • 10%

CANADA1% • 0.2%

AUSTRALIA12% • 0.7%

NEW ZEALAND

1.4%

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English and academic entry requirements

May 1, 2023

• Proof of academic credentials usually required– High-school certificate– Bachelor certificate– Years completed in education

• Level of knowledge required varies widely

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Academic entry requirements

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English entry requirements

2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0

A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 C2 CEFR level

IELTS band score

10%

20%

30%

40%most students are expected to increase about 0.5 on the IELTS band score system each semester.

“

”

May 1, 2023 Slide 20

Language learning journey

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Language learning journey

1 440-50%

Pathway programme

32 ELT University

May 1, 2023

• No national standards for progression from foundation programmes

• Not all universities track student performance based on entry channel

• Cambridge English now working with HEFCE on pilot project to measure academic gains

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Progression to university

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Increasing trends in the sector

May 1, 2023

• Joint ventures• Managed campuses• Offshore delivery• 2+2, 3+1 models

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Different models

Growing trends• Diversity of subjects• Diversity of source countries• Greater penetration in the US

May 1, 2023

WORKING WITH A PATHWAY PROVIDER

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Claudia van den Bos

University of Amsterdam (1632)

• Ranking: THE 58th / QS 55th

• 31,000 students/ 5,000 staff

• 3,500 international degree students

• 11/57 BSc & 52/66 MSc programmes in English

• 1 on-campus pre-bachelor programme, offered by

Cambridge Education Group (since 2012)

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Quick Facts & Figures

• Controversial

• 1st in the Netherlands

• About 2 years of decision-making

• GO in March 2012 for Economics & Business

• 1st students in September 2012, so..

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Starting OnCampus Amsterdam with CEG

• Legal aspects

• Course structure and level/ quality assurance

• Admission requirements

• Marketing & Recruitment

• Staff

• Office & classroom space

• Practicalities: registration of students, insurance, housing, ict, etc etc

• SO WHY DID WE DO THIS?

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..Only 6 months to arrange it all

Opportunity to widen our subject pool:

• Combined marketing efforts

• Large CEG agent network

• Branding now extended to ‘new’ countries

• More diversity in our class room

• Bridge gap between student’s and our education system

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Life has no limitations, but our M&R budget certainly does

• On-campus model so early settling-in

• 3 terms of 7-9 teaching weeks (9 months)

• 26 hrs classroom-based study per week

• Tuition fee € 16,500 vs. € 9,150 for Bachelor

• IELTS 5.0 -> 6.5 or 5.5 -> 7.0

• 3 academic subjects incl. math & academic skills

• Final tests equal direct entry test for BSc programme

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What does the programme look like?

Year Non-EEA Intake Foundation Programme

Progression to UvA BSc

Programmes*

Progression rate

2012-2013 13 10 77%

2013-2014 87 53 61%

2014-2015 99 58 59%

2015-2016 144 101 70%

2016-2017 143(Sept. intake)

*4 BSc programmes in 2016

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Results: we increased intake numbers..

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..and we got some new nationalities

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Foundation & direct-entry students perform similar

Start year in BSc

BSc Economics &

Business

Progression to BSc year

2

% max of 60 EC obtained

2014-2015 Foundation 73% 27%

Direct-entry 73% 28%

2015-2016 Foundation 76% 39%

Direct-entry 74% 39%

• Partnership: you’re colleagues

• Collaboration in M&R and admissions

• Physical proximity helps

• Start with a limited pilot group

• Internal PR: make sure rest of organisation knows

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Some tips: how to work with an on-campus pathway provider

• May require internal mind shift: takes patience

• Learning process: takes time & flexibility

• Long-term strategy: takes vision

• Growth potential in programmes: takes capacity

• 1st-mover advantage is short-lived;

5 out of 9 comprehensive research universities now offer

pathways

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Implications of foundation programme

May 1, 2023

ESTABLISHING PATHWAYS IN (NON-UK) EUROPE

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Arnold Persoon

May 1, 2023

• Owned by Providence Equity Partners

• Employs over 2,800 staff in 60 locations

• 73,000 students from 145 countries on Study Group programmes

• Providence acquired Blackboard in July 2011

• Corporate Social Responsibility – Building Futures

• World leaders in the ‘university pathways’ sector with over 100

affiliations

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About Study Group

May 1, 2023

Rank Institution Country

8 Imperial College, London UK

47 Wageningen University Netherlands

52 Australian National University Australia

56 University of Sydney Australia

74 University of Groningen Netherlands

97 University of Sheffield UK

109 University of Western Australia Australia

129 Royal Holloway, University of London UK

130 Lancaster University UK

133 University of Leeds UK

140 University of Sussex UK

149 University of Twente Netherlands

154 VU University Amsterdam Netherlands

167 University of Leicester UK

172 University of Auckland New Zealand

176 University College, Dublin Republic of Ireland

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16 universities in the THE world top 200 trust Study Group with their brand and reputation

May 1, 2023

• Operating a joined pathway programme to TCD and UCD from 2011-2016. Moving to an on-campus UCD pathway programme in 2016

• Operating in the Netherlands since 2012 with an increasing range of partners linked to a single hub called ‘Holland International Study Centre.

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About Study Group in (non-UK) Europe

May 1, 2023

• Pathway centre providing access to 9 partners

• Programmes offered:- 2012: English Language Programme- 2013: Business Foundation & Pre-Master- 2014: Science & Engineering Foundation

• Holland ISC had 185 students in AY 015-16, with the majority of the students enrolled onto the Foundation Programmes.

• 2nd teaching location opening on the Groningen/Hanze campus this September!

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About Holland ISC

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So we’ve been successful in establishing operations in a new country, but what are the challenges we’ve experienced…

May 1, 2023

• No/limited regulations for Foundation Education ‘everyone,

including regulators, are in the dark about how to be ‘compliant’

• Efficient & Responsive Admissions processes

• Visa & Residence permit regulations

• Staying informed about developments/changes without being

part of the Public HE system

• Establishing an appropriate accreditation and Quality Assurance

Framework

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With the Legal Framework

May 1, 2023

• Aligning all aspects of the partnership: - Marketing/Sales Admissions Visa departments- Faculties vs Central departments- Policy for University A vs University B

• Keeping track of changes to the internal structures/policies of partners

• Managing expectations:- start up challenges requiring adaptations- programme & nationality diversity- we can’t sell what they can’t sell

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With our partner universities

May 1, 2023

• Creating a brand and positioning within the existing portfolio

• Brand & product awareness what is the same, but more

importantly what’s different?

• Managing an evolving product via a globally operating machine

• Finding the appropriate markets for the new destination

Basically we needed to throw all basic assumptions out of the

window and start from scratch

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With our global organisation

May 1, 2023

• No!

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Is establishing a pathway in a new country easy?

Is it worth it?

• Yes!

So, what have we learned?

May 1, 2023

• The adaptations required have created momentum for changes that also benefited the wider organisation

• We’ve opened a new market, increasing the size of our operations and diversifying risks away from the UK

• We’ve established strong partnerships with ambitious partners creating opportunities for future growth.

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Why?

May 1, 2023

• What is your country’s legal framework for Foundation Education & working with agents?

• What’s the legal framework for Admissions & visa? Can you make it work?

• Do you teach in English? The Bachelor market is significantly larger than the Master market

• How big is the appetite in your institution? Is it willing to make concessions to facilitate growth?

• Which model is for you? Competition or partnership?

• Are you ready to rumble?... The competition is turning around applications in 24 to 48 hours, and so should you…

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Is it for you? Points to consider

May 1, 2023

THANK YOU

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