It is "imperative" that all engage with higher education in China, speakers said at the two-day CIHE conference at Boston College.

Student mobility trends remain largely the same as they were before the pandemic, despite predictions of significant disruption, according to higher education expert Simon Marginson. 

According to commentator Simon Marginson, Australia may take 5-to-10 years to regain its international student market share and mobility in general could take at least 15 months to get back to pre-Covid-19 levels.

Economic implications, combined with health concerns around Covid-19, could disrupt the movement of internationally mobile students for up to five years, a leading scholar has suggested. He also suggested east Asia would grow in power as an education destination.

The UK HE sector has an opportunity to shape national identity by focusing on sustainability research and furthering partnerships with Asia.

The UK is likely to lose its position as the second most popular study abroad destination to Australia, according to a paper published by the Centre for Global Higher Education, though Australian stakeholders warn of over-confidence.

Any blow to the UK’s ability to attract top academic talent could potentially have “huge” consequences, a CGHE research paper warned.

UK universities are unprepared for Brexit, warned Simon Marginson, Director of the Centre for Global Higher Education and professor at UCL, at UUKi's IHEF event in Nottingham.