Tag: UUKi

How Sustainable Development Goals can mobilise collaboration

“University teaching and learning will shape generations of graduates who will go on to tackle these challenges in their professional lives”

In just a few months’ time, a very different sort of university league table will make its debut on the world stage. This new global ranking will be the first to measure universities’ success, not by reputation or research output, but by their contribution to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – a set of global targets aiming to end poverty, protect the planet, and promote peace and prosperity for all.

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The UK must engage with businesses to increase the number of UK students studying abroad

“Doubling the number of students studying abroad in three years is an extremely ambitious target, but the UK sector is united in its determination to get there”

The recent Open Doors data revealed that in 2016-17, the number of US bachelor students studying abroad as part of their degree rose by 2.3% to 16%. For those of us in the UK higher education sector, these figures are both enviable and encouraging.

The UK’s Go International: Stand Out campaign to double the per cent of UK undergraduate students studying abroad to 13% is now entering its second year. This year the campaign will focus its efforts on engaging commercial and international partners – following in the footsteps of successful campaigns by the likes of the US and Japan.
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“Thanks MAC, but we should go further”

“Taking students out of the net migration target is not about fiddling the figures”

In light of the recent and long-awaited MAC report, director of Universities UK International Vivienne Stern says that the UK’s stagnant growth in international student enrolments has been an “active policy choice” and highlights the need for a clear, compelling and competitive post-study work offer.

Last week’s report by the Migration Advisory Committee confirmed what many of us in the university sector have long argued – that the benefits international students bring to the UK are enormous. The MAC team should be congratulated on some excellent analysis. But their conclusions were disappointing.

Now, attention has turned to the government response, and I believe there is a live debate between departments about whether to accept the MAC recommendations or go further.

The government should have the courage to do so.
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