This was one of the key lessons learned at Universities UK‘s event, Enhancing the International Student Experience event (#EISE16) held yesterday in London.

“Whatever happens on 23 June, we’re unlikely to see major changes to immigration policy – a post-study work scheme isn’t going to be invented,” observed Dominic Scott, president of UKCISA.

“International students spend most of their time outside the classroom. We can’t leave that experience to chance”

Institutions must therefore take it upon themselves to ensure that international students return home with “the right message”, said Robert Allison, vice-chancellor of Loughborough University.

He challenged attendees to consider: “Do your programmes deliver what they say they do?”

Speaking alongside his VC, Siddarth Kohli, an Indian master’s student at Loughborough, described module content not relevant to students’ course of study as “off-putting”.

Kohli also added that a student’s image of an institution can be dented even before their arrival in the UK if they feel like they are being sold something they do not want.

He said he was “absolutely horrified” when a UK university he had applied for sent him an acceptance letter for a course he hadn’t applied for but felt would be a more appropriate choice than the one he selected.

And universities’ responsibility for informing students about what they are offering extends to the information given by agents, many of which can over-promise on what institutions can deliver, argued Mostafa Rajaai, international officer at the National Union of Students.

He recalled the experience of a student who went to study at a UK university’s London campus and was told they would study in view of the Thames, only to find themselves “technically in Greater London” but some way out of the centre.

With “little-to-no regulation of in-country agents… [it’s your responsibility] what agencies are saying in your name”, he said.

Drawing on his own experience and that of other international students, Rajaai related some of the greatest difficulties students face when coming into the country, and how universities can help to mitigate potential damage to their experience of studying in the UK.

“With little-to-no regulation of in-country agents… it’s your responsibility what agencies are saying in your name”

“Let me tell you, most international students, their image of their first day in the UK is not queuing at a police station,” he said, referring to the requirement for international students to register with the police on arrival.

However, he added that the situation has improved since universities began helping international students through the procedure.

Similarly, he praised universities including Queen Mary and LSE that have schemes in place whereby they will effectively act as a guarantor for international students, as securing accommodation can be extremely difficult for those that don’t have a family member in the UK to act as a guarantor.

Ultimately, the biggest challenge for many international students – including himself – is being away from their social network, Rajaai said.

He challenged the idea that international students prefer to stick together rather than integrate with the broader campus community, saying students often seek out “a community where they don’t have to justify themselves”, but that the responsibility for integration should not lie with international students but with the environment they are coming into.

Stephen William at Nottingham Trent University said that to facilitate this, NTU has introduced an on-campus ‘global lounge’, which has been welcomed by both international and domestic students.

This provides a year-round place to meet for students, as many universities can feel like “30-week institutions”, with reduced access to student services outside of term time, he said.

Universities can feel like “30-week institutions”

Initiatives such as this can encourage peer-to-peer support, observed Scott at UKCISA, who noted that “Many students don’t access services because they don’t want to walk through a door that says ‘I have a problem’.”

Underlining the importance of investment in extra-curricular support for international students, David Taylor at the University of Huddersfield urged: “International students spend most of their time outside the classroom. We can’t leave that experience to chance.”

Though targeted services for international students can be valuable, universities should also help to increase access for international students to other activities that appeal to their broad range of interests, charged Rajaai.

“We are not, and don’t want to be identified as, only international,” he said.