The higher education sector is still reeling from claims in January by the Sunday Times that some Russell Group institutions admit international students, who often pay much higher fees than home students, with lower grade requirements.
Despite swift rebuttals by the Russell Group and Universities UK, the issue remains a hot topic. Key to the accusations was the claim that ‘international foundation years’, one-year courses which are integrated with a full degree course, are being used to circumvent normally strict entrance requirements. Universities UK has since commissioned the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) to undertake a review of foundation years and the Department for Education has committed to investigate recruitment practices around international students. As these reviews tick on, the issue seems likely to remain topical for some time.
Many in the sector still reject the claims made in the original Sunday Times article and it is useful to understand why. Firstly, in a now-infamous table, the article compared the entry requirements for an Economics degree for home students to international students entering through a foundation course. In response, the sector bodies pointed out that the comparisons are not like-for-like, and that it is wrong to compare the requirements for a foundation year – which is supposed to be a preparatory course – with the requirements for a home student starting the full course immediately.
