Closed Consultation
Qualifying law degree providers—collaborative arrangements
9 April 2009
A Joint Academic Stage Board (JASB) consultation on the recognition of qualifying law degree (QLD) providers' collaborative arrangements with non-QLD providers ended on 21 December 2007.
Following the consultation, the JASB considered an analysis of the responses received. As a result of the responses, a number of minor amendments to the proposed new policy on collaborative arrangements were made. The new policy was then approved by the Education and Training Committee of the SRA and the Education Committee of the Bar Standards Board. The new policy will be implemented from September 2010. Providers of qualifying law degree were sent a copy of the new policy in August 2008.
Background information is available below.
The purpose of this consultation was to obtain views from QLD providers on the way in which the Joint Academic Stage Board (the Board) should recognise QLD providers' collaborative arrangements with non-QLD providers (the non-QLD programme presenter).
At a meeting of the Board in February 2003 it was agreed that a representative of the Board should be invited to attend the validation event and/or site visit of any collaborative arrangement in respect of a QLD. A Board representative should also be invited to participate in any review, renewal or revalidation event. The Board's policy on collaborative arrangements is attached at Annex 1.
Over the last 12 months, the professional bodies became aware of a number of actual and proposed collaborative arrangements between QLD providers and non-QLD programme presenters (primarily overseas institutions and predominantly based in Malaysia) which do not appear to comply with the Board's policy on collaborative arrangements, the QAA Code of Practice on collaborative provision or meet the QAA Benchmarks for Law.
To ensure the maintenance of standards, the quality of the student experience and the integrity of the awarding institutions' programmes, the Board decided that a site visit should be conducted by the professional bodies to a number of institutions in Malaysia .
Representatives of the Board conducted a number of inspection visits to institutions in Malaysia in April 2007. A report was produced for each institution inspected.
At its meeting on 7 June 2007, the Board reviewed the situation. It noted that the most common collaborative arrangement was where students would enrol as Year 1 students of the non-QLD programme presenter and would not then enrol with the awarding institution until Year 2 or 3. The student would then obtain an LLB of the awarding institution, which that institution would wish to be recognised as a qualifying law degree. A number of such arrangements have been recognised in the past by the Law Society (now the SRA) and the Bar Council (now the BSB) as qualifying law degrees.
The Board decided that further information should be sought from a number of the awarding institutions that had arrangements with the non-QLD programme presenters in Malaysia. A working party was established to consider their responses and the different forms of collaborative arrangements. The notes of the working party meeting are attached at Annex 2.
An informal list of approved collaborative arrangements of which the professional bodies are aware is kept at the SRA. The working party decided that this list should be circulated with the consultation to check its accuracy, as well as to provide illustrations.
The consultation ended on 21 December 2007.