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UK tertiary sector
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India and China continue to represent the most important student source markets for the UK higher education sector. Nicola Hancox reports.
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We are really pleased with the growth of student intake over the last few years,” comments Stephen Healy, Director of Strategy and Development at Into University Partnerships. Into currently runs six UK study centres in conjunction with universities in Manchester, East Anglia, Exeter, Newcastle, Belfast and City University, London. Offering English language and academic pathway options at foundation, diploma and graduate diploma level, Healy relates that academic pathway enrolments tipped 2,500 alone in September. “Overall commencements for programmes across all university partners [were] expected to reach over 6,000 international students in January,” he adds.
At Kaplan International Colleges – which also has educational partnerships with several UK universities – Simon Gooch, Regional Sales Director, notes, “Many markets have increased their business to us this year; the exchange rates have in fact helped business at some of our schools and the fundamental need to learn English continues to grow. Overall, we are happy with the student numbers for 2009.”
Total student enrolments were up by an impressive 24 per cent at Sheffield Hallam University and according to a spokesperson at the institute, this was almost certainly down to its decision to take a more active role in the recruitment of foreign students. Strong educational ties with China also helped stimulate the market and today, over half of all undergraduates are Chinese in origin. Indian students, meanwhile, dominate postgraduate study.
Indeed, over the last few years, Indian and Chinese students have dominated the entire tertiary sector’s international make-up – as reported by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa). An estimated 47,035 Chinese students were said to be studying at undergraduate or postgraduate level in the 2008/09 academic year, the top nationality in the UK, followed by Indian students in second place with 34,065 students.
Some providers detect change is afoot. Healy, for one, notes that although the number of Chinese students is greater than ever before, as a whole, the nationality base is diversifying. “As a share of our student body, Chinese students have decreased from 70 per cent to 50 per cent over the last three years, while their numbers have actually doubled,” he states. Instead, he notes that Into universities have seen a surge in students from the Middle East, Eastern Europe, South Asia and South East Asia.
Gooch paints a very different picture, however. “Whilst certain countries have been more affected by the financial crisis than others, we have found that more or less the same countries that provided the most students in 2008 have done so again in 2009,” he says. However, he does point out that the strength of the euro has helped rouse business in the euro zone.
The sector seems robust, then, but is frustrated with ongoing Tier 4 issues. Professor Steve Smith, President of Universities UK, noted that although the online system will streamline visa processes, the trial run (conducted in October) did not go as well as expected. “The first few months of its operation have not been smooth,” he said. Gooch is concerned about the review relating to part-time work rights for students, but Healy remains optimistic that the system will benefit, not hinder, enrolment in the long run. “Our enrolments have not suffered since the introduction of the new service. This is largely to do with the fact that under the new UK visa system, our students are recognised as students of their centre’s partner university, which is unique in the wider university preparation sector,” he says.
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