Partnerships

International pathway provider Study Group will take over operations of ANU College at the Australian National University (ANU). Providing English language and pathway courses at a top-50 ranked Australian institution will strengthen the global portfolio of Study Group, which issued Q3 results last week.

One of the world’s most prominent league table for universities – QS World University Rankings – has been chosen by intelligence analyst firm Interfax group to rank universities in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) and publish findings as QS University Rankings: BRICS.

Vancouver-based Canadian College of English (CCEL) has recently signed contracts with governments in the Ukraine and across Latin America to train instructors in its digital English teaching curriculum, SMRT, marking its focus to expand offshore implementation over the last year.

Collaborations between HE institutions in the UK and Indonesia were fortified last month at the Science and Innovation Conference in Jakarta, and UK and Indonesian universities will co-bid for seed funding for development projects. In the same week, the UK's GREAT campaign was rolled out in the country by the Duke of York.

IIE used its prestigious annual gala dinner in Manhattan, New York, to help bond Brazil and the US over their tertiary education ties. And Brazil's Education Minister, Aloizio Mercadante, confirmed a long-term plan to commit significant revenue from the oil industry towards empowering Brazilians through education.

LSBF has partnered with pathway provider North Consortium UK to offer English and academic preparation courses at its London campus. The collaboration will see LSBF's pathway portfolio grow to include programmes that feed into other institutions around the UK.

Non-profit, online institution the University of the People will team up with Microsoft's 4Afrika Initiative to offer 1,000 scholarships to students across Africa. The news follows recent research from eLearning Africa that shows HE stakeholders believe mobile technologies are a dominant "change driver".

A consortium of London-based universities working together to promote London as a pre-eminent international student destination recently toasted its first year milestone and significant successes increasing London's exposure and enhancing its brand as a study destination with strong employment links, notably in the markets of India and China.

Australian vocational provider, TasTAFE, is to offer new courses in China, strengthening a long-running partnership with Shanghai Bangde Vocational College. Courses on offer will include diplomas in business and banking, accounting and hospitality and will include English language tuition.

Sweden-based study travel giant, STS, has agreed the terms of a pilot project to deliver English language training in China, to 720 students at Chaoyang Foreign Language School in Beijing. The programme has the backing of the Chinese government and the company hopes it could be the first of many initiatives.

The international pathways operator ELS has launched its first centre in Europe through a partnership with SKEMA Business School in France, and says it now plans to expand on the continent. The company now wants to explore further partnerships in France, as well as Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Successful private Russian language teaching organisation, Liden & Denz Language Centre, is to open its third language centre, this time in Riga, Latvia; an EU member state. The school will be run in cooperation with another EAQUALS member and benefit from easy access throughout Europe.

The USA and UK have announced a first-ever partnership to fund collaborations between HE institutions in the two countries and valuable projects within higher education in emerging economies. Sec of State John Kerry said the scheme would foster important collaborations in science, technology and engineering.

A campaign to encourage and enable UK students to gain studying or internship experience in China was launched this week by the British Council, with an ambition to see at least 15,000 UK students in China by September 2016. Funded study and intern opportunities will be up for grabs, with a university roadshow planned to promote this and the wider importance of gaining China experience.

In a major transaction in the international schools sector, World Class Learning (WCL) Group has been sold to another major player, Nord Anglia Education, in a deal which sees Sovereign Capital "realise the investment" it made in WCL Group – which operates 11 schools globally – in 2008. The acquisition is said to be worth US$222 million.