2019 updates for UK NARIC’s information and databases

In 2019, 166 country files in the UK NARIC International Comparisons database will be updated by UK NARIC’s Research and Data team.

The 2019 Information Development Plan (IDP) will be published in March and sets out the research, information and data priorities for the year ahead across all UK NARIC databases and services.

The IDP can be viewed here: https://bit.ly/2F9HcKw (login as member to view)

Following the December 2018 and January 2019 qualification reviews, 615 higher education institution entries from 48 different countries were added to, changed on or removed from the lists of recognised higher education institutions.

As well as that, 17 new qualification assessments or changes to levels of comparability have been published.

New country charts have also been published for Australia and Trinidad and Tobago.

In the course of the year, three new country profiles will be added to the International Comparisons (IC) database: Montserrat; San Marino [pictured above*]; and São Tomé and Príncipe.

More than 200 specific, targeted updates will be carried out for 138 countries. The prioritisation of these targeted updates is designed to update particular sections of information to reflect recent notable changes. A further 25 countries will undergo a comprehensive update of all International Comparisons sections.

The plan also describes the primary themes around which UK NARIC research is taking place, highlighting some of the current issues and trends affecting international education.

UK NARIC currently holds data on 208 countries, former countries, and territories on its IC database and the information is updated on a continual basis to ensure that our data is as comprehensive and relevant as possible.

Another 2019 priority will be the development of new country information, through new country- and region-specific Training Workshops focusing on: China; Turkey; the Middle East; and Latin America. This tightens the training focus on key and emerging markets and allows more flexible combinations of Workshops to tailor information delivery for particular needs.

An important recent development in the IC database is the Certificate Bank. This has grown to now having 5000 digital images of certificates, including images for over 750 upper secondary and undergraduate qualification entries across 200 countries.

The Certificate Bank will grow again in 2019 to incorporate postgraduate and profession-specific awards, covering a total of 128 countries.

The expansion of the International Grade Comparisons (IGC) database will continue in 2019.

So far this year, a new transnational education section has been added to the country file for Uzbekistan.

Throughout the year, there will be 29 other updates to entries already on the IGC database, including 27 countries and 2 non-country-specific entries; there will also be the addition of 10 new IGC country files, in response to sector feedback, member requests and enquiries.

In addition to the changes and updates identified in the IDP, UK NARIC will remain flexible in incorporating further updates throughout the year, to ensure responsiveness to changes in international education, wherever and whatever they may be.

*Image credit: Max_Ryazanov, This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.