More international students expected to join UK universities in next decade

The number of international students choosing to study in Britain is set to rise faster than overseas student enrolments anywhere else in the world.

This growth is set against an expected global slowdown in the number of internationally mobile students, and will be significantly smaller than the increasing intake of overseas students experienced by UK higher education over the past ten years. ‘The shape of things to come: Higher education global trends and emerging opportunities to 2020’, commissioned by the British Council, shows that within the next decade nearly 30,000 more international students can be expected to join university courses in the UK – more than its greatest higher education competitor the United States – as Britain benefits from its links with rapidly growing countries, particularly India.

But competition for increasing numbers of globally mobile students will remain strong, especially from the US and Canada, with higher university tuition fees and tougher visa rules in the UK potentially impacting negatively on the international popularity of British universities and colleges.

Education is currently the fifth largest service export sector in the UK economy, representing 8.4% of total service exports. Analysis of demographic, economic, and educational drivers and trends in over 50 key countries suggests that the UK’s economy could reap the rewards of a "decade of opportunity" through global higher education and research as long as its universities, colleges and businesses make the right moves in emerging markets, with support from Government.

Much of the predicted growth in international student numbers for the UK will be fuelled by rising demand for university places from India, which is forecast to overtake China as the world’s fastest growing source of globally mobile students. It will also be driven by the UK’s high and expected growing share of other rapidly expanding markets including Nigeria, Malaysia, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Only Australia will lead the UK on international student recruitment, taking in over 50,000 more overseas students by 2020. This is largely due to its proximity to expanding markets and it not being exposed to falling demand from students in mainland Europe – which is already affecting the UK through its rise in university tuition fees. As a growing number of university researchers seek international partners to work on solutions to global problems, the best opportunities for research collaboration for the UK, according to the British Council, are expected to be in the US, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Australia.

For large companies seeking international collaboration on research and development, multinational corporations in the US, Europe, China, India and Latin America present the best prospects, along with emerging niche opportunities in the Nordic countries, Switzerland and Israel. Another expanding area where the UK stands to do well is Transnational Education, where students are based in a different country from the one where the university awarding their degree is located. UK universities hoping to establish new branch campuses should seek openings in China, the Far East, and Middle East, while the best countries for developing franchised courses will be Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Hong Kong, the study suggests.

(the source: adapted from http://www.relocatemagazine.com/education/education-news-main/3954-30000-more-international-students-expected-to-join-uk-universities-in-next-decade

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