Dr Mark Newmark, assistant director (academic affairs) of the Academic Bridge Programme (ABP) of Qatar Foundation, recently gave a presentation at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) on the challenges facing foundation programmes in the Gulf.
The presentation to the Qatar Foundation Research Forum (QFRF), was attended by faculty members and administrators from a number of Qatar Foundation partners and centres.
The presentation surveyed the gap between high-school graduation and university readiness in the Gulf. It outlined both the scale of the gap and the components. The presentation drew from a number of sources, including student performance in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), as well as evidence from foundation programmes and universities in Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.  
The presentation stressed five areas in which foundation programmes in the Gulf have a particularly important role to play: improvement of English proficiency, expansion of content knowledge and skills, cultivation of cultural literacy, development of soft skills and fostering of motivation.  
A detailed conversation ensued with colleagues from different institutions asking questions and sharing their experiences.  There was also a call for further dialogue between foundation programmes, between schools and foundation programmes, as well as between universities and foundation programmes.
As a centre of the Qatar Foundation, the ABP has served more than 2,300 young men and women who have attended the English language foundation programme over the past 12 years. Nearly 90% of those attending have been Qataris, and more than 85% of the ABP graduates have later attended English language universities in Qatar or abroad.