Category: Higher education

The challenge of attracting international students in an increasingly competitive marketplace

“Universities might not be corporate entities, but they do need to adopt a business mindset to compete successfully”

How can universities in the UK protect themselves from losing ground to other countries hungry to encourage more applications from international students?

Although currently sitting at number two in the global rankings, the higher education sector is facing rising competition from other nations keen to maximise the income and enrichment that international students bring to campuses. And the stakes are high, writes Ian Anderson, Global Enterprise Architect at Ellucian.

June 29, 2022
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British Council, Europe, Higher education, Study abroad, UK

A UK degree in the UK or in China? Exploring Chinese students experiences and motivations

“Many education providers have started to think about alternative ways to allow their international students to receive in-person support and experience a physical learning environment”

The Covid-19 pandemic has posed important challenges but also proposed new opportunities and solutions to international education.

Most students worldwide have had to spend most of the past two years studying remotely, which has raised pressing questions about value for money, in particular for international students, and about the quality of the student experience.

June 9, 2022
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Edtech, Europe, Higher education, Transnational education, UK

What will global student mobility look like post-pandemic?

“We have outlined four key focus areas which can help benchmark your internationalisation strategy against rapidly changing market dynamics”

As we move beyond the Great Lockdown into the new normal, the challenge of attracting and engaging international students is no longer the same.

Covid-19 disruption has forced universities to think outside the box and build a more diverse international student pipeline, but what will global student mobility look like in three years’ time and which markets should recruiters prioritise?

“Aspirations are shaped in early years with more than one in 10 international students considering HE abroad before their eleventh birthday”

The past two years have undeniably presented significant barriers to international student mobility. Closed borders, digital learning, social unrest, virtual outreach, visa uncertainties and geopolitics to name but a few – but, far from hitting the panic alarm, millions of students continue to follow their dream of studying overseas.

Within UCAS’ new report, published today in collaboration with the US-based non-profit organisation College Board which delivers programs like the SAT and Advanced Placement, we estimate that during the pandemic, over 155,000 international students chose the UK as their destination of choice and begun their studies. The global HE marketplace appears to have weathered the Covid storm.

“None of the SDGs can be achieved in isolation: to truly deliver lasting change, collaboration between universities and partners around the world will be critical”

In an opening address to the Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers late last month, Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta sounded a clarion call to government education ministers around the world.

They should, he said ‘be alarmed to note that, by 2050, Korea and Japan will be enrolling 80% or more of their high school graduates to higher education, while countries such as the Central African Republic and Niger will be struggling to reach 5%.’ This gap, he said, was a critical issue for the Commonwealth, whose 54 member states are home to one in three of the world’s young people.

“As China begins to emerge from the pandemic, it is important to understand the future for UK China International Education”

Research commissioned by Study Group shows rebounding demand from Chinese students to broaden their horizons at UK higher education institutions. However, the study makes clear there won’t be a return to pre-Covid times – education providers will need to employ innovative approaches to unlock future opportunities, writes James Pitman, Study Group’s managing director UK and Europe.

Unlike the often-fragile relationship between countries and governments, education provides a unique opportunity for students worldwide build solid relationships in a supportive and open environment. Tertiary institutions in the UK have traditionally held high appeal for many Chinese students and their parents. With China representing a fifth of the world’s population and a rapidly growing economy, the UK and China have one of the world’s most important international education relationships.

“We pride ourselves on developing our offer around students’ needs and our student-centric approach”

The financial returns of international student recruitment are well-documented across the sector, including the most recent HEPI Report, ‘The costs and benefits of international higher education’, says David Bell, Pro Vice-Chancellor (International) at Teesside University.

The implications for the Tees Valley, where the monetary contribution of international students was valued at over £240m (total net impact) is welcomed by the region, but the significant benefits of international student recruitment stretches far beyond the financial return.

March 23, 2022
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Higher education, Student Services, survey, UK

Why student feedback should inform, and indeed transform, international business education

“The headline is just how seriously student voice is being taken and how business and management education providers are collecting and responding to feedback”

How can the student voice deliver transformational international business and management education?

This is the question we explored in Feedback Matters: Business and Management Education Focus Report, which examines how student feedback – including feedback derived through evaluation surveys – influences institutional enhancement, says John Atherton, general manager (Europe and Africa) at Explorance.

“We need one Computer Science department that is able to program an app that can link the needs of the academics with the offers on European side”

As someone working in internationalisation of higher education and teaching international relations, I have spent quite some time in the last days how we in our specific area might be able to help the Ukraine – besides what we all do: donations, food, psychological support. And here is a very practical idea what we in higher education can do to help Ukrainian academics, writes Uwe Brandenburg, managing partner and founder of the Global Impact Institute in Prague.

“Edtech will be key to pushing us towards an education style that suits the individual, no matter where they are based”

The last two years have been a torrid time across a number of sectors and education is no exception to that rule, but we can also take some key lessons from the experience of teaching through a pandemic.

One of the effects of lockdowns across the globe has been the breaking down of borders in education, as the shift towards online or blended learning allows educators to reach a larger virtual ‘classroom’, spread across large geographical areas, says Rahim Hirji, UK Country Manager of online learning platform and app, Quizlet.