UK university leaders gathered last week in the historic city of Oxford for the International Student Recruitment and Retention: Challenges and Solutions event at the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government.
Hosted by Oxford University Press, the day celebrated the launch of the new Oxford Test of English alongside insightful discussions from sector stakeholders about the constantly evolving landscape of international student recruitment. Here are the highlights of what we learned:
- Expect a more hostile environment from the government’s immigration white paper
With the sector eagerly awaiting the imminent publication of the UK’s immigration white paper, all eyes are on Number 10 as it sets out what the government’s new approach to immigration will be.
Don’t be fooled by our centre-left government, cautioned UUKi deputy director Harry Anderson: “They were elected on a manifesto commitment to bring down net migration so we’re working on the assumption that [the white paper] will result in a more restrictive approach to immigration policy,” he told delegates.
“Even though we have a centre-left government… the more you’ve seen of this government, the more you see that it is willing to do things that we in the sector wouldn’t think of as very progressive,” said Anderson.
While UK universities have avoided some of the more hostile policies seen in competitor markets – with study permit caps in Canada and Australia, and a slew of anti-immigration policies unleashed in the US – immigration is a central issue in the UK.
“Certainly, whenever we see the immigration white paper, it will result in a more hostile immigration approach,” Anderson predicted.
Number 10 sees reducing net migration as key to their re-election success
Harry Anderson, Universities UK International
- The “Asian decade” is upon us
As the dominance of the ‘big four’ – Canada, Australia, the UK and the US – increasingly wanes, delegates heard in depth about the growing influence of Asian countries, which should no longer only be viewed as sources of international students.
“The Asian decade is upon us,” said StudyPortals CEO Edwin Van Rest, highlighting the rise in the provision of higher education as well as the demand for it, with inter-Asian mobility also growing at a rapid rate.
Sara Pierson, global sales and marketing director for OUP’s ELT division, highlighted the crowded landscape of international recruitment, urging colleagues to look beyond their traditional competitors.
“Universities tend to think about differentiation and competition within their own environment and within their peer group of universities, but the dynamic is changing… we’re not only competing against peers in our own country but also other English-speaking destinations and increasingly non-English speaking destinations seeking to attract those students,” said Pierson.
“Chinese students may be thinking about the UK, but they may also be thinking about Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia,” she noted, encouraging institutions to lean into partnerships and to think about how to differentiate their value proposition.
- Diversity is more important than ever
The issue of diversity garnered much attention from speakers and panellists, advocating for a broader view of diversity in international student recruitment.
“Talking about diversity only as it relates to nationality is no longer enough,” said James Brown, head of international student recruitment at the University of Oxford.
To get to the root of what makes up a truly diverse classroom, we need to be thinking about it in terms of gender, socio-economic background and urban versus rural, Brown suggested.
“We mustn’t forget the sheer diversity of [the UK] which is a massive draw for international students,” said Brown: “I think that’s really important and that is quite a contrast to some of our new competitors,” he added.
Beyond the many benefits of a diverse student population, Anderson espoused the merits of the continued diversification of student recruitment practices.
“When it comes to the large markets of India and China, I don’t think we’re going to see huge year-on-year growth. Competition from within those regions for retaining those students will only increase,” said Anderson.
Given the challenging geopolitical environment, he encouraged institutions to consider a larger number of smaller markets to make recruitment strategies “more sustainable and more robust”.
- The health of the UK sector depends on “squeaky clean” student recruitment
Set against the government’s stated goal of reducing net migration, institutions need to make sure their recruitment strategies are “squeaky clean”, so as not to give the government “any reason to target international students as a group through which to reduce net migration,” said Anderson.
“Because when you look at the figures, international students do contribute a huge amount to net migration,” he added. “And it would be very easy – if the sector was seen not to be taking international student recruitment very seriously – for the government to come down on international students as an easy way of bringing net migration down.”
Amid increased scrutiny from the Home Office on English language proficiency, Anderson said it would be “corrosive” to public support for the sector if institutions were to be seen letting in students who didn’t have the prerequisite level of English language.
Alongside language proficiency, he encouraged institutions to engage thoroughly with the Agent Quality Framework (AQF) to ensure compliance in recruitment strategies.
