And like other service providers, universities have begun outsourcing some of their “services”. That is particularly true of foundation and pre-master’s programmes, which are increasingly being offered in close collaboration with for-profit private providers. The proliferation of such preparatory courses has the potential to broaden access to higher education while shoring up universities’ emptying coffers. Private providers may struggle to replicate this ingrained quality assurance owing to a potentially less established academic culture. Those allegations prompted the QAA’s current review of academic standards on international foundation programmes.
