The Daily Update spoke to the Times Higher Education’s (THE) Dr Ishan Cader, a director in THE’s consultancy division, to learn more about the UK’s higher education sector, which has undergone significant shifts in recent years.
Popularity
Cader notes the UK has a “fantastic brand” as a destination for international students “based on very real credentials, such as excellence in research and teaching”.
He highlights an interesting irony in that the allure of UK university courses for many international students is that they offer practical career preparation. Despite UK employers frequently complaining that graduates lack the skills needed for the workplace, UK degrees “are actually much more skill-oriented than degrees in many other countries”.
Being a hub for diverse international talent also creates a virtuous cycle, drawing more students to UK universities: “they meet a lot of other international students, which can be good for networking”.
“It also gives them a set of opportunities, different viewpoints that wouldn’t have existed otherwise”.
Price edge
Among the big four Anglophone nations in the higher education sector – also including the US, Canada and Australia – the UK benefits from offering more affordable qualifications than its major academic competitor, the US.
“Many markets are ranking-sensitive. It doesn’t mean students only want to attend top-ranked universities, but they might begin their search with global league tables to better understand the ecosystem and get a gauge of what’s going on.
“The top hundred are dominated by US universities, then you have UK institutions, which are still expensive but much cheaper.”
Competition
While the UK tends to benefit from its affordability in comparison to the US, it’s also in “an increasingly competitive environment”.
“Over the last ten years there’s been an acceleration in the number of English language-taught (ELT) degrees from well-regarded continental European universities”.
“For an Indian student who wants to do a masters in engineering, they can study that cheaper at Technological University Munich – which is very high ranked, more so than most English universities.”
As well as Germany, increasing competition can be found in France and the Netherlands, with English-language courses so popular in the latter that the most recent government has tried to “clamp down” on the trend to stop it undermining Dutch-language study.
Higher education models
Cader explains that there are two key models for ‘exporting’ higher education: a direct model, in which international students move to the UK to attend university, and a series of Transnational Education (TNE) models, in which they study predominantly in their home country, whether through a branch campus of a UK university, online or through a hybrid system.
TNE has shown significant growth in recent years, accounting for over 650,000 of UK international students, meaning about 45% of the UK’s international students are studying outside the UK.
The appeal ranges from financial to cultural. Contrary to the popular belief that international students must be very wealthy to afford high fees, many make great sacrifices to study in the UK.
“There may be some countries, like Saudi Arabia, where all the students could be sponsored directly by the government, but in other countries, like India, there have been cases where parents have sold property and possessions in order to send their children abroad. Many Indian students might have to work while they’re here.”
“These are enormous barriers to students from middle- and lower-income countries.”
The other obvious benefit of TNE is reaching students that might not be comfortable travelling for university.
“It can be a really good option in conservative countries where families don’t feel comfortable sending their daughters away for higher education, but if you turn to a local branch campus of a UK university you can still have the benefit of having the UK degree.”
Market trends
In terms of the markets that UK institutions attempt to reach, Cader says there is “no unified strategic approach”.
“The Department for Business and Trade, the British Council and Universities UK provide frameworks for understanding opportunities and challenges, but universities are very independent in terms of the choices they make.”
Currently, China leads for both TNE and direct recruitment. India and Nigeria are next for direct recruitment, Sri Lanka is second largest for TNE.
Pakistan and Bangladesh were described by Cader as “large-leap markets”, which are seeing increased growth in direct recruitment to the UK
Sustained growth from China and India has also absorbed the loss of EU students in the wake of Brexit. These EU students saw their fees increased to the standard international student tariff – a significant increase that has deterred them from pursuing both undergraduate and Masters’ study in the UK.
Governmental role
Although institutions will make their own decisions about which markets are worth pursuing, they’re shaped by the regulatory environment created in the UK, for direct study, and international governments for prospective TNE markets.
“There are relatively few Egyptian students studying in the UK, which could be for financial or cultural reasons.
“However, the Egyptian government has made it easier for UK universities to set up branches. They’ve now got campuses run by University of Hertfordshire and Coventry University.”
In the UK, opportunities for international students have shifted in line with the politicisation of migration. Cader says that the rising interest from Nigeria and India in recent years accompanied the “opening up of the graduate visa route”.
However, he predicts a fall in numbers in light of the “retrenchment” of this programme.
“Indian and Nigerian students are more likely to want to remain in the UK for post-study work opportunities, whereas Chinese students now are overwhelmingly returning to China.”
Moving forward
As with any viable business, Cader notes that the most important goal for most higher education students is diversification.
“There’s increasing anxiety in the sector because some universities went very hard on India and Nigeria as a result of the graduate visa and now there’s talk of retrenchment, so suddenly that’s quite a big loss.”
“They’ll need to think about compensating for that through different source markets or TNE”.
However, he also notes the plight of the Nigerian and Indian students caught up in the changes and questioned whether universities have invested in sufficient pastoral care to support international students.
“It’s important to ensure international students are well-looked after; they do have additional challenges around wellbeing, accommodation, living costs and also employability and careers.
“Universities must invest more in pastoral support and employability for international careers and make it distinct from their domestic offering.”
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