NCUK – The University Consortium has revealed its University-branded International Study Centres that it has begun in China with New Zealand’s University of Auckland.
The study centres – the first of which is commencing in China early in 2021 – will seek to support international students looking to gain entry to NZ education through a pathway delivered in their home country.
“This collaboration with the University of Auckland is an ideal way for students who want to join the university”
A number of NCUK centres will recruit students looking to join the University of Auckland on successful completion of their course, the partners announced.
“The university already operates a number of international partnerships at undergraduate and postgraduate level, so it seemed natural to expand on this to offer pre-university preparation,” shared University of Auckland’s Director International, Brett Berquist.
The branded centres are part of wider range of strategies to engage with prospective international students in China, he continued.
“We have worked with NCUK and their global Study Centre network for several years, so we are delighted to extend our collaboration further.”
The first of two University of Auckland International Study Centres in China will be located at the International Business School of Beijing Foreign Studies University, with the first cohort commencing March 1, 2021.
BFSU has been a University of Auckland partner since 2005.
In December, NCUK, Education New Zealand and New Zealand’s eight universities announced an initiative to allow students from more than 30 countries to pathway from any of the NCUK’s global network of 80+ recognised study centres, to any New Zealand university.
The NCUK-University of Auckland plan will see the pathway provider offer quality assurance and oversight of the centre administration at the location at BFSU, which was recognised for both the quality and year-on-year growth of international students in 2020, as it was named NCUK Study Centre of the Year.
Along with pre-university entrance qualifications, students will complete a New Zealand studies module developed by university staff and “benefit from direct links to the University as they prepare to make the move to studying on campus in Auckland”.
“Our students are increasingly looking at a variety of destination universities of high standing quality,” said Yanping Zhang, assistant dean & director of International Office at the International Business School, Beijing Foreign Studies University.
“This collaboration with NCUK and the University of Auckland, both already partners of our university, opens up new opportunities for our students and provides a March intake which is of interest to many students.
“It is a great honour to be the first International Study Centre to collaborate with NCUK and the University of Auckland, not only in China, but around the world.”
“NCUK has a long history of providing innovative pre-university and university equivalence qualifications to students in their home country,” the organisation’s CEO, Professor John Brewer added.
“This collaboration with the University of Auckland is an ideal way for students who want to join the university, but for whatever reason are not able to begin their studies in New Zealand, to start their academic journey.”
