online-education
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- NewsThe PIE News23 Jul 2026
UK unis join forces to offer study pathways for visa brake students
UK universities have launched the Mosaik Scholarship to provide alternative pathways for students from Myanmar, Cameroon, Sudan, and Afghanistan affected by the Home Office's visa brake. The initiative offers online or transnational education (TNE) routes, with 19 funded places secured so far. This collective response aims to maintain access to UK postgraduate education for affected students.
Original abstract
The universities have committed places through the Mosaik Scholarship, a new initiative providing alternative pathways to UK postgraduate education for students affected by the Home Office’s “visa brake” introduced in March. It followed rising concerns over asylum claims made by international students, with the government claiming that students from Myanmar, Cameroon, Sudan and Afghanistan were proportionally the worst culprits and pausing study visa applications from these nations. The policy prevented students from the four countries from accessing UK campus-based scholarships, including the Chevening program , through which around 50 students from these communities previously accessed postgraduate study each year. So far, 19 funded places have been secured through commitments from King’s College London, the University of London, the University of Leicester, the University of Northampton, the University of St Andrews, Cardiff University, Birkbeck, University of London, the University of Salford and Aberystwyth University, in partnership with Higher Ed Partners UK. All programs will be delivered through online or transnational education (TNE) routes, currently the only available pathways for new students from the affected countries to gain a UK degree. The initiative has been coordinated through the Global Response Platform, a sector-wide collaboration led by Mosaik Education that connects UK universities with humanitarian networks supporting displaced and crisis-affected students. Through the platform, universities receive support identifying and selecting students, as well as coordinating with partners in affected regions, including UNHCR India, Prospect Burma and Open Dreams in Cameroon. Further university commitments are expected later in 2026, with the initiative aiming to support around 50 students overall. Ben Webster, CEO of Mosaik Education, said the collaboration demonstrated how the sector could respond collectively when traditional routes to education w
- PaperComputers & Education26 Jun 2026
Searching for predictors of presence, academic achievement and satisfaction in online adult education
Stefan Hrastinski, Stefan Stenbom, Helena Colliander, Andreas Fejes
This study examined predictors of presence, academic achievement, and satisfaction in online upper secondary education for adults in Sweden, using the Community of Inquiry framework. Factor analysis revealed that items from cognitive and teaching presence constructs loaded onto social presence, leading to revised factor labels. Academic achievement was primarily predicted by individual cognitive presence, while satisfaction was primarily predicted by individual teaching presence.
Original abstract
Little attention has been paid to adults pursuing online education at the upper secondary level. The aim of this article is to identify and describe predictors of presence, academic achievement, and satisfaction in online upper secondary education for adults. The study is grounded in the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework, which is based on three types of presence: teaching presence (TP), social presence (SP), and cognitive presence (CP). A survey was administered to adults who had completed, or were close to completing, an online upper secondary-level course in Sweden, yielding 672 responses. An exploratory factor analysis showed that items from the CP and TP constructs related to peer interaction and teacher guidance loaded onto the SP construct instead. Accordingly, the factors were labeled as individual TP (iTP), extended SP (eSP), and individual CP (iCP) to describe how the CoI framework is manifested in this context, characterized by substantial individual study and varying opportunities for social interaction. Multiple regression models explained a substantial proportion of the variance in iTP (adjusted R 2 = .58), eSP (adjusted R 2 = .68), and satisfaction (adjusted R 2 = .53), a more moderate proportion in iCP (adjusted R 2 = .36) and only a small proportion for academic achievement (adjusted R 2 = .13). Academic achievement was primarily associated with iCP ( β = .38), whereas student satisfaction was primarily associated with iTP ( β = .58). Key predictors included course introductions related to studying and technology, tutoring, synchronous online teaching, and collaborative course design.