Internationalisation and Ireland’s International Education Mark: Reflections from Trinity College Dublin
This paper will reflect on internationalisation in the context of Ireland’s International Education Mark from the perspective of Trinity College Dublin.
Ireland’s Quality and Qualifications Authority (QQI) is introducing the International Education Mark (IEM), a new quality mark and part of a set of legislative measures to protect international learners. The IEM will be awarded to higher education and English language education providers who demonstrate that they meet national standards to ensure a quality experience for international learners from enrolment through to the completion of their education programme.
It is in this context that this paper will examine recent developments at Trinity College Dublin. Over the course of the last three years, Trinity introduced several new impactful measures as part of its own commitment to quality assurance for international students, and also in anticipation of the introduction of the IEM. These developments also emerged in the context of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its policies and procedures. Measures included:
- Admissions and Student Enrolment:
- One of the first universities in Ireland to develop an English Language Policy – triggered by the IEM
- Development of an Admissions Matrix which allowed Trinity to put a framework for benchmarking on diverse international qualifications and expand opportunities for access globally
- Education Recruitment Agents policy to ensure quality assurance and prospective student experience
- Student Experience:
- Sustaining International Students during Covid-19 and meeting government health and safety compliance requirements
- Expanding opportunities for Peer-to-Peer student contact through and pre-arrival engagement as part of expanded pre and post arrival opportunities
- Role of technology in supporting the student journey
- Partnerships:
- Partnership Toolkit for Higher education institutional partners globally
This paper was presented at EQAF and reflects the views of the named authors only.
ISSN: 1375-3797
