There are fewer differences between traditional universities and independent providers than you might think, says Alison Wride, who has just made the pre-92 to private move.
The British Accreditation Council (BAC) has launched two new accreditation schemes, covering international private institutions based outside of the UK and online/distance learning.
The international centre accreditation scheme is designed for education and training institutions operating outside of the UK and offering courses in English. Institutions will need to have been delivering high-quality education and training for at least two years and be recognised by their local or national regulatory body. They will also need to provide testimonials supporting claims of global-quality provision and meet BAC’s stringent tests of probity and financial accountability.
The British Accreditation Council (BAC), one of the UK’s leading quality assurance bodies for private higher and further education, has launched an ambitious scheme to accredit non-British providers based outside the UK.
The evening of Monday 1 October 2012 saw a wide range of education and training providers and other education professionals meet at a classy and modern venue near St Paul’s to celebrate the launch of the British Accreditation Council’s two new accreditation schemes. The new schemes extend BAC’s current operation accrediting private colleges, training organisations and international higher education institutions to incorporate providers of on-line, distance and blended learning, as well as a wider range of international education and training providers.
The British Cookery School Awards give schools and colleges a chance to display their achievements and receive recognition for the important role they play in the culinary arts. The judges include BBC Radio 2 food & drink presenter Nigel Barden, and they will be looking for cookery schools which go above and beyond.
The government has moved towards granting for-profit higher education firms VAT advantages to put them on "the same footing" as universities - although some firms have already gained that advantage by switching to non-profit status.
Many people in higher education think of distance learning the same way one would a distant cousin: aware of its existence, perhaps even thinks well of them, but reluctant to pick up the phone and find out how they are doing. And like the cousin you don't know well, the justification for your lack of interest is that distance learning is just a little bit awkward.
Three of the 15 institutions initially chosen as potential destinations for London Metropolitan University's overseas students are commercial operators, it has emerged, after a £2 million fund was announced by the government to help students transfer.
Britain's first private dental school will open next September. The school, which will take 100 students a year on a five-year course costing £180,000, is expected to be the forerunner of many more private institutions offering specialist degree courses.