The Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary University Group (APPUG), Rt Hon Chris Skidmore MP, welcomed members to the event and introduced the panellists:
- Nick Hillman, Director of the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI)
- Professor Cara Aitchison, President and Vice-Chancellor of Cardiff Metropolitan University
- Professor Sir Steve Smith, UK Government International Education Champion
In his opening remarks, Nick outlined how different UK governments had approached international student recruitment. He highlighted the broadly negative approach taken by Theresa May's government and noted the positive shift in direction under Boris Johnson. Nick described recent government messaging on international students as a “source of concern” for the sector.
Nick proceeded to outline the findings of recent HEPI reports pertinent to the discussion.
- Regarding the costs and benefits of international students to the UK economy, Nick highlighted a report published jointly with London Economics and Universities UK International (UUKi) that found one year’s intake of international students was worth £28.8 billion to the UK economy, with every part of the UK benefiting.
- To further demonstrate the contribution of international students to the UK economy, Nick revealed that the tax and National Insurance payments of one cohort of international students staying in the UK to work after their studies amounted to £3.2 billion. This was made up of over £1 billion in income tax; over £700 million in employees’ National Insurance Contributions; over £800 million in employers’ National Insurance Contributions; and nearly £600 million in extra VAT payments.
- In considering the career support for international students, Nick described a mixed picture. The HEPI report, published in 2021, found an overwhelming majority of international students said the careers support (82%) and employability skills (92%) they thought they would receive were ‘important’ or ‘very important’ when choosing their university. Yet only around half (52%) think their institution is doing well at satisfying the careers support needs of international students.
- Exploring the Graduate Route, HEPI analysis from 2023 found that the Route was used by only a handful of employers (3%), while a much bigger proportion (27%) said they were unaware of it and a further 20% said they had not used the route and had no plans to do so.
Nick concluded his presentation by encouraging attendees to join upcoming events hosted by HEPI.
Cara’s presentation provided an “on the ground” assessment of international student recruitment at Cardiff Metropolitan University. This included (i) background on recruitment, (ii) the benefits that international students bring, (iii) the measures that the university is taking to grow recruitment sustainably, and (iv) raising concerns that the sector needed to address.
In her opening remarks, Cara provided context of international student recruitment at Cardiff Metropolitan University. She noted there had been a 36% increase in international students since 2016/17 and that applications from international students were up by 77% since 2021/22. The growth in numbers was taking place across most courses, except art and design.
On the benefits that international students bring, Cara said that universities operate in a “global environment” and the flow of staff and students was integral to this. She particularly highlighted the EDGES (Ethical, Digital, Global, Entrepreneurial, and Sustainable) scheme at Cardiff Metropolitan University and noted the Taith learning exchange programme. With fixed domestic tuition fees, international student recruitment cross-subsidise undergraduate provision. It also cross-subsidises research activities, civic mission programmes, and global engagement such as the Universities of Sanctuary and Researchers at Risk Fellowships.
To ensure sustainable growth in recruitment, Cara outlined the targeted strategy with Universities Wales and the Global Wales programme. She warned against over-reliance on a single market and highlighted the growing markets in Nigeria, India, and Pakistan. On diversification, Cara said the university was developing new programmes such as biomedical sciences and reaching out to existing markets such as Canada for its PCSE programmes.
Cara concluded her presentation by raising two concerns that the sector had not yet tackled “head-on”. First, she highlighted gender imbalances in international recruitment, with increasing disparities at subject level for home and international students. Her second concern was with the provision of accommodation which was particularly acute for cities with multiple providers.
Steve’s presentation provided a reflection of his work as International Education Champion and outlined his commitment to deliver the ambitions of the International Education Strategy (IES).
In his opening remarks, he described the sector as “world leading”, and noted the two ambitions outlined in the IES, to increase education exports to £35 billion a year and to host at least 600,000 international students a year by 2030. Steve celebrated the cultural contribution of international students through enriching campuses and supporting soft power. He noted that international student recruitment for 2021/22 totalled 680,000 students meeting the ambition of the IES 9 years ahead of schedule.
Steve proceeded to outline which markets had contributed to this growth. He noted that the increase was coming from India (50%), Nigeria (107%), Pakistan (78%), Bangladesh (91%) and United States (20%). Steve was pleased that higher education providers were increasingly recruiting from a more diverse base, a theme that was central to the IES. He said that higher education providers need to think collectively about expanding the breadth of markets and look further and wider into new and emerging markets. This would protect the quality of UK education and add to the UK’s attractiveness in the face of stiff international competition.
Steve further commented on the second ambition of the IES to grow the value of education exports to over £35 billion a year by 2030. He celebrated the steady growth and noted that the value of education exports stood at £25.6 billion in 2020. The UK’s higher education contributed to 76% of this total. Steve said there was a “great potential” for Transnational Education (TNE) with the UK government strongly committed to supporting its growth. He described an extraordinary appetite for engagement for TNE and outlined his work to foster partnerships in priority regions of India, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Steve celebrated recent work including a trade and investment partnership with Nigeria and a visit to India that resulted in a Memorandum of Understanding.
In his concluding remarks, Steve stressed the importance of diversifying the base of recruitment to ensure the UK remained the destination of choice for international students.