To ask Her Majesty’s Government what quality assurance measures are in place for the International Foundation programmes run by United Kingdom universities or by partnerships between such universities and private education providers.

Publicly funded higher education providers are currently reviewed by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA). These reviews look at the adequacy of a provider’s system to maintain academic standards and ensure quality across all its provision; irrespective of where it is delivered. The reviews check that expectations set out in the UK Quality Code for Higher Education are being met.

In addition, QAA have been leading sector work on how to strengthen the assurance of UK higher education delivered overseas. They have recently published a report detailing how external quality assurance processes can be adapted to support UK higher education institutions in both maintaining their reputation in delivering high quality education overseas and in growing their provision. The report can be found on the QAA website at

http://www.qaa.ac.uk/publications/information-and-guidance/publication?PubID=2978#.VfKp1fnF98E