At The PIE Live Europe 2026 in March, Sir Steve Smith revealed the Home Office and Cabinet Office will be members of ESAG, the ministerially led committee that will formulate action plans to deliver the UK’s international education strategy. Now, the government has released the full list of core members, along with further advisory members.
ESAG brings together government, industry and representatives from across the education sector to address key challenges and identify partnership opportunities.
The sector will play a central role in delivering the strategy through action plans, set to be developed and published within the first 100 days of the group’s inaugural meeting, which took place in April.
Core members will attend all ESAG meetings and lead the development of sector action plans, in collaboration with advisers. Advisers attend subgroup meetings organised by the core membership and deliver delegated elements of the sector action plans.
The core ESAG members are:
- Chair, UK Skills Partnership
- Chief executive, Early Years Alliance
- Chief executive, National Association for Special Educational Needs (NASEN)
- Director, Universities UK International (UUKi)
- Deputy director general, British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA)
- Chief executive, English UK
- CEO, Independent Schools Council (ISC)
ESAG members taking an advisory role are:
- Association of British Schools Overseas (AoBSO)
- Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL)
- British Association of Independent Schools with International Students (BAISIS)
- British Council
- British Education Travel Association (BETA)
- Cambridge University Press Assessment (CUPA)
- Council of British International Schools (COBIS)
- ECCTIS
- IDP
- Independent Higher Education
- Pearson
- Quality Assurance Agency
- Study Group/Destination for Education
- Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS)
- UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA)
A number of government representatives are joining ESAG, along with cross-government departments and devolved governments:
- Sir Steve Smith, UK international education champion
- Department for Business and Trade (DBT)
- Department for Education (DfE)
- Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO)
- Northern Ireland
- Scotland
- Wales
Additional government departments joining are:
- Cabinet Office
- Home Office/UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI)
- Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT)
- Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
According to the UK government, “selection of members to the ESAG will be based on keeping numbers to a minimum whilst making it the most effective group it can be”.
In January 2026, the UK government revealed a new – and long-awaited – international education strategy, including an ambitious aim to grow education exports to £40 billion per year by 2030, with growth expected to come from TNE, ELT, skills and edtech.
The strategy looks to oversee sustainable overseas student recruitment and amplify the UK’s international standing through education – including a focus on cutting red tape for TNE partnerships abroad.
