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  • Report shows UK slipping in global education stakes A new report published today warns that the UK risks losing its appeal to international students and seeing its share of the growing global education market decline. The report by Wild ReSearch, 'Education: A Great British Export?', finds that tighter visa restrictions and the implied message that students are not welcome may already be impairing the UK's competitiveness in some of the world's most important markets. In a survey of Chinese school students and their parents, over 40% indicated that changes to the UK visa system would lead them to choose to study in rival countries such as the USA instead. Of particular concern was the imminent abolition of the Post-Study Work route, just as key competitor Australia is introducing its own PSW scheme. One of the authors, Graham Able, former head of Dulwich College and CEO of the Alpha Plus group of independent colleges, told BBC news yesterday that "the UK has some of the best colleges and universities, but we are in danger of losing market share to the US, Canada and Australia." His co-author, Fraser White, is an expert in exporting British education abroad through his Shangai-based company DCMI, which operates a number of British-model schools throughout East Asia, and shared his concerns that Chinese students were increasingly turning away from Britain towards American schools and universities. This new report, arriving soon after British Council research drew similar conclusions, emphasises the huge potential of the education sector to be a key driver of the UK's economic growth through exports, but also the real danger that recent successes could be easily reversed. The authors conclude that "long-term growth must not be sacrificed for the short-term political gains of government departments" and call for "a consistent approach across government to help promote and develop education from British providers". A key recommendation of the report is for official immigration statistics to show separately the number of students entering the UK, echoing a recent call by Universities UK to exclude students from the Government's ambitious target for reducing net migration. Study UK would strongly support such a move to enhance the transparency and usefulness of these statistics while avoiding the economic and educational disaster of artificially restricting student numbers. Study UK Association Manager Alex Proudfoot said: "the UK's long-term economic strength and global influence may very well depend on our ability and willingness to be the world's educator. Our centuries-long history of academic excellence cannot be matched by any other country, and it is an asset that we squander at our peril. Many leading figures in emerging nations are educated abroad and we should strive to ensure that British values and ideas inform their worldviews and that the UK is first in the line of potential partners for these thriving economies."
  • British Council warns Government on student visas New research published by the British Council yesterday has called into question Government policies aimed at reducing the intake of international students.  The Education Intelligence report 'Impact of Visa Changes on Student Mobility and Outlook for the UK' looks at the recent experiences of the USA and Australia in tightening student visa controls and the effect that it had on their higher education sectors and economies. It warns that the adoption of policies that other countries have now abandoned has "managed to single out the UK as the country with the toughest immigration regime when compared to its competitors" and risks losing "genuine and career-driven students" to Australia, Canada and the US.  The report warns further that "the publicity overseas of recent closures of private colleges is expected to have a negative impact on the UK education brand as a quality destination". Dr Jo Beall, director of education and society at the British Council, told Times Higher Education that the Government's policies on student visas and post-study work needed "urgent review... if we're not going to undermine the economic benefit that higher education as an export sector brings" and accused the Home Office of favouring "short-term" goals over "the strength of our industrial innovation, our research and development base, [and] our reputation as a higher education provider". Study UK welcomes the British Council's valuable contribution to this ongoing and essential debate, and calls on the Government to respond with new measures to repair the UK's reputation as a country that welcomes international students and the economic, academic and cultural benefits they bring.  Alex Proudfoot, Study UK Association Manager, said: "Dr Beall makes an important point by recognising the essential part that private colleges play in giving students from diverse backgrounds a pathway into higher education. The catastrophic decline in enrolments and closure of good colleges should send alarm bells ringing across Whitehall, because it is not just the private sector that suffers - the UK's universities will also feel the pain."
  • New report highlights visa rules damage to private sector A report released today by a leading think tank brings into sharp focus the damage being caused by new immigration controls on the private higher education sector. In 'Tier 4 tears: how government student visa controls are destroying the private HE sector', CentreForum issues a damning verdict on the effect of changes to the student visa system, which have been "devastating for many in the sector". Study UK's own research indicates that enrolments in the sector have dropped by around 70% as a result of the rule changes and interim cap on recruitment, costing some £400 million in lost tuition fees and an even greater impact on the wider economy. The CentreForum report concludes that "the government must act if we are to avoid seeing the destruction of much of the private HE sector in the UK" and calls for the reinstatement of part-time work rights for students at independent colleges. Picking up the story yesterday, the Independent on Sunday highlighted the disconnect between Home Office policies and efforts by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to promote more choice in Higher Education. As Chris Nicholson, CentreForum chief executive and the report's author, puts it: "the student visa controls make a mockery of the Government's aim to promote greater diversity in higher education. The private sector is being critically undermined." Study UK member Cavendish College is one of those forced to close by the squeeze on recruitment caused by Tier 4 changes and has been used as a case study for the CentreForum report. Its Principal, Dr John Sanders, told the Independent: "Withdrawal of these part-time work rights has really killed off recruitment for private colleges. They are clearing out a lot of good colleges as well as the bad". Alex Proudfoot, Study UK Association Manager, responded today: "It is very sad that a highly regarded college such as Cavendish has had to shut its doors after 25 years of providing an excellent education to students from diverse backgrounds. We share the Government's aim of protecting the sector from the profiteers that once thrived thanks to lax regulation, but we cannot support a sledgehammer approach that hits good institutions as hard as the bad. Every Cavendish that closes is a loss to the local economy, a blow to our national recovery and a stain on the name of UK education."
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