QAA and UKIPG Forum

Following on from the work on HERRG, the UKIPG and QAA jointly agreed to run a series of Forums for Professional and Statutory Bodies.  Many of these PSRBs, but not all of course, are members of UKIPG.

Two events have been run in 2009, and plans are now afoot for the 3rd in the afternoon of 27th November, again in Woburn Place area of London.

There are many different arrangements for the mutual recognition of HE in different parts of the world, not least between those applying in the EU and EFTA on the one hand (with Directive/2005/36/EC and the Bologna Process) and those applying to the rest of the world.  UK professional and statutory regulatory bodies have a range of interests.  These include - for some but not all:

• The 'history' from Special Directives, and the committees which used to oversee them.
• Pan-European professional qualifcations, such as those developed through Europe-wide mono-professional bodies (eg FEANI and EurIng), and some of the work that went into the idea of 'Common Professional Platforms' in the early work on the current Directive.
• Recent work through Eurace on the recognition of accreditation systems in the EU.
• Long-standing, and on-going, mutual recognition agreements in a professional discipline relating to specific courses in specific institutions, world wide, leading to statements of equivalence to, or exemption from, UK educational requirements for registration.
• Mutual recognition agreements in a professional discipline applying not just to the  accreditation of academic courses, but to the whole 'professional formation process', leading to full acceptance for registration.
• Partnership or franchising arrangements with professional bodies in other countries.
• Dealing with UKHEIs which offer 'accredited programmes' in the UK, but which also 'fanchise' these to overseas institutions.
• Dealing with overseas educational providers which offer education and training programmes purporting to lead to UK professional body recognition or awards.
• Dealing with overseas educational providers and other agencies which have agency arrangements for the conduct of UK professional membership examinations overseas.
• The whole business of language competence, both in educational provision and in assessment of competence for UK qualifcations and practice.
• The complications of case-work relating to registrability for practise in the UK, and for qualifcations, formal study and work-based learning related to various migration rules.

This list is not exhaustive - but a sample of some of the interests of different UK PSRBs in the quality of HE outside if the UK - and in the 'brand value' of UK qualifications, whether 'academic' or 'professional'.  QAA is much involved with this work also, with some interests which overlap directly with those of the PSRBs.

QAA and UKIPG are working jointly to put together a programme, both to introduce the breadth of this topic and to review some specific areas of activity.  Presentations are therefore being sought from people who can:

• Give a broad overview across the range (or at least a major part) of this work
• Complement the above, with specific examples of agreements, how they have matured etc, how they have coped with cultural differences - or indeed 'come to grief'.

The UKIPG Secretary is working with Dr David Gale and colleagues from QAA to try to assemble an interesting but manageable programme for an afternoon's meeting.  Please help to make the programme contribute to your needs - and to those of others - by making suggestions for the programme - or even offereing a short presentation.  Contact the UKIPG Secretary initially.