British Accreditation Council Inspection Report

BRITISH ACCREDITATION COUNCIL INSPECTION REPORT

INTERIM INSPECTION

(Short Course Provider)

ORGANISATION:Oxford Prospects Programmes

(formerly accredited as Oxford International Youth Academy)

ADDRESS:c/o Wolfson College

Linton Road

Oxford

OX2 6UD

HEAD OF ORGANISATION:Dr Shidong Wang, Director

Accreditation status:Accreditation awarded for the full four-year period.

Date of inspection:23 July 2015

ACCREDITATION COMMITTEE DECISION AND DATE: 10th September 2015

PART A - INTRODUCTION

1.Background to the organisation

Oxford Prospects Programmes (OPP) is a venture initiated by the owner-Director of Oxford Prospects Ltd under the company Oxford World Ltd. The venture was originally set up as the Oxford International Youth Academy and accredited by BAC under this name. Currently it is a small organisation managed by a Senior Management Team of two: Programme Director and Academic Director. The latter is supported by an Administrator/Personal Assistant, who is currently a part-time permanent member of staff, and who also acts as a full-time student-group Co-coordinator during the programmes.

The prime aspiration for the venture is to prepare students for the perceived inevitable migration overseas. Increasingly, students are intending to study, work, and live in countries other than their homeland, so that cultural and practicalintegration into the new environment needs to be established more quickly and effectively for the longer term commitment. Initially, the students have been recruited solely from China, but it is the intention to extend this opportunity to students from Germany and the USA. In particular, it is believed that Chinese students hold great respect for the English culture and education system, and it is commonplace for students to speak good English as their second language. The Programme Director's established personal and academic contacts in China, Germany, USA and the UK provide a considerable source of advice, marketing facilities, and student selection and support from these countries. In fact, one of the Oxford colleges, the main teaching venue, has acted on behalf of OPP as the established visiting-student sponsor for the current programmes. Host Oxford Colleges have continued to act as visiting-student sponsors alongside OPP which has, more recently, been issuing its own sponsor letters following BAC accreditation in 2014.

Cohorts of students are carefully selected and briefed from a larger application group of initial enquiries and applicants, both from students and their parents. Prospective students learn about OPP from personal contact with their own home university teachers,their friends, and a few searched for similar opportunities via websites.

2.Brief description of the current provision

OPP students are primarily undergraduates, with a few postgraduates, from their home universities in China. They originate from a wide variety of regions in China, and are mostly in the age range 18 to 24 years, with a few students who are a little older and often postgraduates.

The course programmes are each of 13 days' duration and comprise a rich and intensive mix of learning and experience, including some choice from topic options. Courses and accommodationare focused on the OxfordCollegevenues, both during term-times and vacations. They include English tuition each morning. Programmes include a selection ofvisits to London, Cambridge, Bath, Stonehenge, and with possibilities including ballet, theatre and museums. Accommodation and breakfasts are in Oxford Colleges, lunches in a different OxfordCollege and evening meals in different Oxford restaurants each evening. There are meetings with Oxford graduates and undergraduates, and the students work in small groups towards final projects that culminate in oral presentations supported with audio-visual aids. The students experience a variety of teaching and learning within groups of different size, from the whole programme cohort for formal presentations by recognised experts, to groups of 10 for English tuition. More generally, they are divided into groups of 40, each with an accompanying Co-ordinator whoroutinely accompanies them and is available for personal support and general advice.

The programme was run twice in summer 2014 (cohorts of 26 and 86), and once in winter 2015 (cohort of 83).

The programme for summer 2015 will be run twice (enrolled cohorts of 122 and 28).

3.Inspection process

The inspection was carried out by one inspector over one half-day at Oxford Prospects’ new office located within Wolfson College in north Oxford. Meetings were held with each of the two Directors (Programme and Academic), the Administrator/Personal Assistant to the Academic Director, and the Wolfson College Conference Manager. All were readily available and most hospitable.

A private room was made available for the meetings, and all documentation was readily available with a few items sent the following day by email.

The inspector viewed the relevant facilities at Wolfson College: student accommodation, kitchens, common rooms, lecture and meeting rooms, and College Hall/restaurant. Wolfson’s student rooms are en-suite. All facilities were commodious, well equipped and in excellent order. Wolfson College premises include sports facilities and extensive grounds adjacent to the river Cherwell, one and a halfmiles from central Oxford.WolfsonCollege can accommodate the majority of the larger cohorts. Balliol College and Queens College are currently also used for combined domestic accommodation and teaching rooms.BalliolCollege was inspected in February 2014.

4. Inspection history

SCP Full Inspection:6 and 7 February 2014

PART B – JUDGEMENTS AND EVIDENCE

The following judgements and comments are based upon evidence seen by the inspector(s) during the inspection and from documentation provided by theprovider

1.Significant changes since the last inspection

Since the full inspection in February 2014, the name has been changed from Oxford International Youth Academy to Oxford Prospects Programmes. Considerable and most satisfactory development was seen to have been undertaken with the documentation foradministration, information,handbooks andquality control. There are now two Directors, not three, and the staff now has established employment and clearly defined roles.

There has been considerable growth in student numbers enrolled for the summer and winter programmes.

St Catherine’s College was used for the summer 2014 programmes and some temporary office accommodation was also provided. However, the following Oxford Colleges are being used for the summer 2015 programmes: Wolfson, Balliol, and Queens. Balliol was inspected in February 2014, and Wolfson at this interim inspection:a permanent OPP office, student domestic accommodation, lecture theatres, teaching rooms and College Hall/restaurant.

There are plans for diverse but related short course programmes to be offered to different students/clients.

2.Response to action points in last report

Policies, procedures and systems must be clearly and consistentlydocumented.

This has been done.

Website and brochure images should better represent the Oxfordvenues, students' activities and places visited.

This has been done and a new web address purchased which allows opportunity for development and inclusion of additional and diverse programmes.

The design and documentation of systems of quality controlmust be completed and implemented formally.

This has been done. In addition, this documentation was accessible via the new website, but properly restricted as appropriate to staff/tutors/students via a range of security levels and a password system. One significant advantage is that students and their parents can now quickly access important information before travelling to Oxford.

SMT roles and responsibilities need to be more clearly and concisely documented.

This has been done.

The documentation of procedures and analytical tools for quality monitoring and control of staff and of tutors should becompleted.

This has been done and was about to be implemented for the summer 2015 programmes. Some earlier analysis of student feedback had already proved to be most valuable in programme development.

The re-editing of website and brochure texts should be completed, to provide an improved focus.

This has been done and a new web address purchased.

All relevant policies should be shared appropriately in all handbooks – Staff, Tutor, Student.

This has been done and the documents are now accessible at appropriate levels of security to staff/tutors/students.

A script could be developed to ensure that every possible and relevant aspect is raised with every student prior to arrival.

A suitable script has been developed and had recently been used during recruitment and selection of students via Skype interviews.

A students' general notice board might usefully be made available within the lecture/tuition venue.

This will be done at all the OxfordCollege venues used for the 2015 programmes.

3. Compliance with BAC accreditation requirements – spot check

3.1 Management, Staffing and Administration

3.2 Teaching, Learning and Assessment

3.3 Participant Welfare

3.4 Premises and Facilities

PART C – SUMMARY OF STRENGTHS AND ACTION POINTS

COMPLIANCE WITH STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS

1