Held at Chelsea football club’s Stamford Bridge stadium, the event will connect professionals working in higher education, private education, edtech, study abroad and suppliers serving the global education ecosystem.

The PIE Live – Leaders in International Education is a step up from the successful series of The PIE Live virtual events that the company has run since 2020.

Building on a desire to connect the community and ensure international student voices are central to conversations about future direction, a flagship international student roundtable will take place during the event.

International students studying in the UK – sourced by supporting partners UUKi, IndependentHE, EnglishUK, COBIS and UKCISA – will be able to be quizzed by delegates about their reasons for choosing the country, their process of selection and applying, their arrival and orientation, experience and broader ambitions.

The event will form part of a wider goal to focus global attention on the UK’s successful international education sector – one which the government hopes it can nurture and grow in line with its focused strategy launched earlier in 2021.

Global Education Festival UK – or GlobalEdFest – is an umbrella brand that will shine a spotlight on events happening over two weeks in March but also the hashtag #GlobalEdFestUK will be sharing many student video testimonials during the two-week long celebration of all things UK #intled.

“These will be events to discuss and debate the latest emerging challenges and priorities in international higher education”

The PIE is also working with UUKi to promote its virtual IHEF event with both parties selling discounted tickets to be at both conferences.

Andy Howells, assistant director of external relations at UUKi, commented, “UUKi is delighted to partner with The PIE to create GlobalEdFest 2022, and we are excited to work together to create opportunities across Universities UK’s International Higher Education Forum (IHEF) and the PIE Live.

“These will be events for colleagues to come together and discuss and debate the latest emerging challenges and priorities in international higher education with senior leaders from across the world.”

Amy Baker, CEO at The PIE, added, “The UK hosts many thousands of international students each year and we’re keen to connect professionals working in all parts of this flourishing sector, from international schools and English language teaching to universities and business schools, skills training and edtech suppliers.”

“To some extent, it’s a stealth sector, under-valued or ignored by the public at large, yet helping enrich and diversify our communities, contributing millions in export revenue to the country, changing lives and building last cultural ties globally.

“GlobalEdFest seeks to raise the profile of student voices and our sector professionals, and it’s great to have strong support from DIT and Sir Steve Smith in this regard.”