The experiences of Chinese students entering top-up courses: Comparing students from UK-style HND courses and students from Chinese diploma courses

Students from transnational educational (TNE) programmes who then move across borders to progression courses in other countries may follow a different trajectory of adjustment than other international students who have not had a previous TNE experience. A comparison study of students who had followed a UK-style Higher National Diploma course delivered in China, and a similar cohort of students who had studied to the same level within the Chinese culture of education, showed differences in initial expectations and in subsequent experiences during their first term on top-up degrees. The research employed mixed methods: a repeated quantitative survey, focus groups and interviews. The findings prompt recommendations both for the organisers of TNE courses and for universities who recruit TNE students onto top-up or Master’s courses. The issues identified concerned methods to assist students to respond to changes in cultures of learning, rather than filling any lacks of knowledge. It is hence recommended that responses should not focus on perceived deficits, such as supplying language training or information such as referencing guides techniques, but instead should seek to assist adaptation to a new and unfamiliar situation