The UK government is making good progress towards its ambitious economic goals for the international education sector, a Department for Business and Trade (DBT) told delegates during a panel discussion at the at the Universities UK International (UUKi) transnational education conference.
The UK’s international education strategy – first unveiled in 2019 and set for a review under the new Labour government – includes a target to boost the economic impact of the industry to £35 billion annually by 2030.
“We have two overarching targets within the strategy. One is around recruitment. One is around export earnings. And both of them we’ve made really good progress towards,” said DBT’s regional lead for Africa and Europe, Richard Grubb at the conference last week (October 9).
“We’ve reached our target for international students for the past three years. In terms of the export earnings for international education, we’re at about £28bn per year at the moment. We’ve got a target to reach £35bn within the ten years of the strategy. And we’re well on course to to achieve that.”
A key part of the UK’s success in this area has to do with leaps forward in TNE, Grubb said.
“Things have gone really well for the first five years of the strategy [and] we want to continue that success… In terms of TNE, let’s be really upfront – when we talk about £28bn of exports, a huge percentage of that is because of the successes that we’ve had with international students. But the progress that we’ve seen in TNE has been very significant for that as well,” he explained.
And he stressed that the new government’s renewed interest in higher education – which he said puts HE at the “heart” of its “mission” – is centred around its understanding that the sector can drive economic growth.
“We want to demonstrate if we want to see economic growth across the UK in the regions, that we need to have really strong support for a higher education sector and that extends into transnational education as well,” he said.
But he stressed that despite the opportunities that TNE partnerships can offer UK universities, they should not be seen as a replacement for international student recruitment.
“First and foremost is being upfront that at the moment that TNE is not a replacement for international recruitment and it’s not viewed that way by government. It’s an important part of the way that the universities approach international partnerships.”
TNE is not a replacement for international recruitment and it’s not viewed that way by government
Richard Grubb, DBT
Stakeholders at the conference extolled the opportunities that can come from TNE.
“There are so many more students internationally who aren’t mobile for all kinds of reasons. And transnational education has the potential to provide really great, high quality and collaborative access to UK HE all over the work. And you all know that is a fantastic opportunity,” , said Oscar Tapp-Scotting, deputy director, international evidence, trade and union at the Department for Education.
“Widening that access is something that we all think is incredibly exciting and something that fits very well with the priorities this government has set out.”
But despite its obvious benefits, delegates were warned against viewing TNE opportunities solely as money makers.
“TNE just doesn’t work if you’re going into it because you’re strapped for cash – that is never going to succeed… Going into it for the right reasons is absolutely critical,” said Josh Fleming, director of strategy and delivery at the Office for Students.