Global appetite for UK TNE shows no sign of diminishing

While most observers predict that a decade of growth in overseas students coming to the United Kingdom for their higher education will now go into reverse, thanks partly to a clampdown on foreign masters students bringing dependants, there is no sign of the global appetite for UK transnational education (TNE) coming to an end any time soon.

The post-COVID boom in overseas students heading to British universities may well have peaked at 758,855 in 2022-23, with India overtaking China as the top sending country and Nigeria moving into third place, as the House of Commons Library recorded.

However, the number of students staying in their own country, or moving to a neighbouring nation to study for a British higher education qualification overseas, is rocketing.

Universities UK International reported a 8.8% increase in the total number of UK TNE students, with the data for 2022-23 showing that 606,485 students across 228 countries took part in TNE provided by 173 UK higher education institutions.

Two years before, the number of UK TNE students broke through the half million mark, with 510,835 students studying for a UK TNE qualification overseas in 2020-21.

Regionally, Asia is the largest host region for UK TNE, accounting for 51.5% of students studying for British degrees and other qualifications abroad, followed by Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

But piling on the numbers is only part of the reason why British universities and other higher education institutions travel the globe looking for partners to host their courses under franchise or other arrangements, or to seek out suitable locations for international branch campuses.

Despite pressure on university finances back in Britain and fears about the fall in visa applications to study in the UK widely reported in the media, a three-day symposium organised by the British Council from 12-14 November in Manchester heard plenty of encouragement to go further and deeper with UK transnational education.

Deep dialogue

The Manchester conference, jointly hosted by the UK’s Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) for Higher Education and the Education Insight international higher education consultancy, was the latest in the British Council’s ‘Deep Dialogues’ series and attracted university and government representatives from 19 countries.

It looked at TNE from the regulatory and policy environments.

Much of the discussion centred around the need to understand the local contexts and educational priorities of countries targeted for UK transnational education and the need to find a common understanding of the benefits for both the country exporting its higher education overseas (in this case Britain) and the country hosting the TNE.

To focus on these priorities, a new report has just been published by the British Council in partnership with Education Insight and the QAA titled A global framework for transnational education engagement.

Shannon Stowers, head of international policy and engagement at the UK’s QAA, told University World News: “We hope the report will help progress the development and promotion of high-quality, sustainable and impactful TNE.”

To help tackle any barriers to UK TNE growth, the QAA recently won a 20% share of a new £2.3 million (US$2.9 million) British government fund to “unlock export opportunities” in key target countries for UK higher education, which include Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Qatar, Vietnam, India and China, as University World News has reported.

Equitable partnerships

Eduardo Ramos, director of international and professional services at the QAA and a former head of TNE at Universities UK International, asked delegates from across the world attending the Manchester ‘Deep Dialogue’ what they thought was the purpose of TNE in their country.

Most partner agencies and university representatives put “Internationalisation of domestic higher education provision” at the top of the list, followed by “Enhancing the quality” of their HE system and then “Widening access”. In fourth place came “Increasing diversity” and in fifth spot came “Attracting international talent”.

Professor Vangelis Tsiligkiris, founder of the TNE (international) Hub based at Nottingham Trent University in the UK, said: “The top four answers show why we need to talk about equitable partnerships and the need for host countries to gain something from TNE partnerships.

“That’s not always clear to the exporting institutions and it should be embedded, but isn’t always, into collaboration.”

Ramos responded by saying: “It is fine to talk about ethical TNE, but it needs to make sense economically for both partners.”

During the interactive group sessions at the Manchester conference, delegates from the 19 countries taking part gave their views on what might be holding back UK TNE from making even greater progress.

One table representing delegates from Peru, Indonesia, Algeria, Iraq and Malaysia said: “TNE providers usually teach in English, but where you get students from the bottom level of the country, not many can use English to the necessary level and this is one of the challenges of TNE.

“Americans sometimes do TNE in the Arabic language and if we want to widen participation (in transnational education), it will require overcoming language barriers.”

A representative from Saudi Arabia said one of the key challenges was “making sure TNE providers took account of the culture of the country” and argued that “TNE programmes should be flexible enough to align the curriculum with the strategy of the country”.

From West Africa, a delegate stressed the importance of “finding a partner who is credible” and able to attract students, not only from the country where the TNE is based, but also from neighbouring countries.

“You will also need to develop local capacity and someone who can apply for grants to offer some scholarships.

“So, you must find a partner. Don’t come in on your own. In the African context, Ghana is a little informal. If you don’t have someone who can open some doors, you feel frustrated and you go back home. So select a credible partner. It is key to success,” they said.

Responding to the discussion, Piers Walls, head of international quality assurance and enhancement at the QAA, agreed.

“Take time to make sure this is the right partner to work with and get away from top-down relationships and use training to develop a joint approach. Two partners in different countries will have different ways of working, he said.

“Be clear and honest and have good communication. We’ve seen examples where some people know what’s supposed to happen, but others don’t.

“You also need to make space for contextualisation. In the UK we say the TNE student experience needs to be comparable to the one in the UK.

“‘Comparable’ is a very big word with a lot of interpretations. So, it can be comparable, but not the same because the context in which the partner is operating is different. Contextualisation should be a positive thing,” he noted.

A sustainable model

As for the new TNE framework report, Dr Janet Ilieva, director of Education Insight and one of the co-authors of the new report, told University World News: “What we’ve done with the new framework is attempt to bridge information gaps and broker interactions between those setting the rules for TNE engagement – the national policymakers – and the higher education institutions engaged in its delivery.

“Sustainable TNE partnerships understand and engage with the local development agenda by responding to the needs of local stakeholders and their priorities.

“However, this can only take place when there is clarity on what the priorities of local higher education systems are.”

Ilieva said global universities can help expand access to higher education around the world beyond trying to recruit more and more globally mobile students to their campuses.

“A more sustainable model of higher education engagement is to teach students, often in partnership with a local institution, in students' home locations, rather than solely relying on students continuing to travel across continents to acquire degrees.

“Students with the means to travel overseas will continue to do so, but most global learners are likely to study nearer to home.”

As for the criticism that cash-strapped British universities can ill afford helping other countries, such as the UAE, increase their higher education provision while they are cutting courses and making staff redundant in the UK, Ilieva told University World News: “TNE students are a soft target – easy to blame for troubles at home.

“But, it is not a binary choice. Many UK staff teach these programmes and you could argue that TNE engagement fully utilises existing staff and can cushion declines in domestic or international students to the home campus.

“It would be a different story if the reason for the troubles at UK universities was declines in TNE students, but numbers are growing rapidly, with the UAE becoming one of the fastest growing study destinations for international students – and Dubai being a particularly successful education hub,” said Ilieva.

Final words to Maddalaine Ansell, director of education at the British Council, who told University World News: “Demand for higher education remains high but many UK providers are seeing a drop in international enrolments.

“Offering the opportunity to study for a UK degree overseas could be part of the answer to sustainable and equitable access to higher education across the world.

“TNE provides a way of maintaining international connections and relevance and continuing to reach those students seeking an international education, but who are perhaps unable to afford to come to the UK.

“What’s important is to develop models of TNE which work for all partners and which meet the needs of the student.”

Nic Mitchell is a UK-based freelance journalist and PR consultant specialising in European and international higher education. He blogs at www.delacourcommunications.com