‘Being part of TVET UK can take us into different markets’
Julia Weedon, Head of International Development,Edinburgh’s Telford College
‘Edinburgh’s Telford College has an established reputation for international student recruitment with more than 1700 overseas students and a number of international awards. We offer a transnational education model for overseas students, where the course is started in their home country and completed in Edinburgh. This is cheaper for the student and also gives good international work experience and a chance to continue to higher education.
‘As Head of International Development, I’m always looking to move into new and different markets. The UK vocational education sector has a powerful brand and, as the representative of that brand, TVETUK gets government recognition worldwide and high level engagement with policy makers at ministerial level. I also like the fact that TVETUK membership stretches across equipment suppliers, which gives us the opportunity to work with partners across the UK to provide the full package. And recent tender alerts to members have brought some very interesting projects to our attention.
‘TVETUK missions help us to be in the right place at the right time. On my first TVETUK mission to Korea I established my fastest successful working relationship with a fellow presenter at the conference - nine months from introduction to launch of programme! And, following a second mission to Asia, we are now implementing the transnational education model with the Philippines Institute, which had never worked with a UK partner before.
‘We are now looking to move into less familiar markets and I believe that with TVETUK, we will be able to travel safely and effectively in areas such as Nigeria, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, where we would not be able to make an impact working individually.’
