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Academically disadvantaged students encounter many problems in coping with a medium of instruction other than their own mother tongue at tertiary level. The authors established additional needs, e.g. the upgrading of thinking and study skills, which were, in the programme under discussion, addressed simultaneously with the language component. They outline the plan, structure and implementation of a project consisting of a seven-week bridging course and an academic support programme lasting a full academic year. A blueprint for an Academic Preparational and Support Programme is discussed. Conclusions and recommendations follow. Studente met akademiese agterstande ondervind baie probleme op tersiere vlak met die onderrigmedium wat nie hul moedertaal is nie. Die skrywers het addisionele behoeftes bepaal, soos die opgradering van denk- en studievaardighede, wat saam met die taal aandag geniet het in die program onder bespreking. Hulle verstrek die plan, struktuur en implementering van 'n projek wat bestaan uit 'n sewe-week brugkursus en 'n akademiese ondersteuningsprogram vir die duur van 'n volle akademiese jaar. 'n Meesterplan vir 'n Akademiese Voorbereidings- en Ondersteuningsprogram word bespreek. Gevolgtrekkings en aanbevelings sluit die artikel af

Higher education and more specifically University education is being called to accountmore and more. It follows therefore that the Universities must present information on thequality of service which they provide as perceived by their customers and their supporterswho supply their funding.In this thesisr esearchi s reported on the measuremenot f the quality valuesw hich Students,Lecturing Staff, and Senior Management display within the period of a leamingprogramme. The principal aim was to ascertain through hypothesis testing if the level ofcongruence of the value systems of these three main contributors to the learning experienceinfluenced the degree of satisfaction of the Students as the customers and to develope aframework for measuring contributor's quality values.Theseo bjectivesw ere researchedin stagesa s follows;The first stage was an extensive literature review which was used to underpin the ainis andobjectiveso f the researchb y establishinga n understandingo f the relationshipsb etweenCulture and Values, Quality, and Service. The Service review focused upon HigherEducation in the University environment including such aspects quality and culture, valuesand the determinantso f servicqq uality, customerf ocus and society's role within theeducatione xperience,s takeholderp ositioning within the educationp rocess,f inancialconsiderationsm, easuremenot f satisfactiona nd dissatisfaction,a nd studentt ransformationin terms of their educatione xperience.T he review revealeda numbero f weaknessesinexisting knowledge primarily that there has been little research undertaken into themeasuremenot f more than two parties within an educationt ransactiona nd how theinvolvement of more than two parties within such is perceived in relation to customersatisfaction.The second stage of the research was a Case Study using a mixed method approach whichcomprised interview techniques from which a framework for measuring quality in highereducation was developed, and a questionnaire survey undertaken which was used to testthe framework from which a number of conclusions were drawn.The Case Study was conducted within the Business School of the Napier University ofEdinburgh. Using qualitative and quantitative methodologies the study examined theexpectations as prescribed by the Importance which Senior Management, Lecturing Staff,and Students placed upon aspects of their learning programme. Additionally Students wereasked their perceived levels of Satisfaction with their programmes. The outcomes ofiiithe Case Study were analysed using triangulated methods and used to highlight anyproblem aspects within programmes. These aspects were then subjected to value analysis totest the effects of congruity of stakeholder values on the levels of customer satisfaction.The findings of the case study were that, during the period of the research, the degree ofcongruenceo f the three main stakeholdersh ad no impact upon the levelso f satisfactiono fthe Students as customers of the learning programme as offered by the Business School.Further analysis of the Case Study findings indicated the following :1) That significant core value Gaps between the levels of Student Importance andSatisfaction exist within certain aspects of their learning experience more particularlyduring the later period of their learning programme.2) That the role of Senior Management within the learning programme seems to have littleinfluence upon the Student level of satisfaction.3) That communication channels between Lecturers and Senior Management on policieswithin the learning programme appear to need reappraisal.4) That significant differences in core values of Importance exist between Lecturers andStudents5) That Student importance levels and by definition their value systems changed over theperiod of their learning programme.6) That there were non-core value significant differences in the importance which Full-timeand Part-time Studentsp lacedu pon certain aspectso f their progranu-neo f learning7) That there were non-core value significant differences in the importance whichUndergraduatea nd GraduateS tudentsp lacedu pon certain aspectso f their programmeo flearning8) That there were non-core value significant differences in the importance whichUndergraduatea nd Lecturersp lacedu pon a programmeo f learningy ear on year.The size and distribution of the populations sampled has enabled conclusions to be drawnon the validity and generalisabilityo f the framework for measuringq uality valuesi n thefield of higher education throughout the Napier University and to some extent when factorssuch as cross cultural values,d emographicc onsiderationsq, uestionnaire'sw ording, etc.,are taken into account as the basis for the further examination of stakeholder value systemswithin the education experience in the UK and internationally.