Offer international students more on post-study work, UK told

While the UK has gained ground on its rivals as a first-choice education destination, marketers have been urged to produce more “holistic” offerings for international students.

Education services company IDP said the UK needed to articulate “a broader set of reasons” for overseas students to choose Britain. “It is also essential to protect current policies that are important to students, such as the graduate visa route,” said Simon Emmett, chief executive of the company’s recruitment arm IDP Connect.

IDP’s survey of about 10,000 prospective and current students, conducted online in July and August, has tracked a rise in the UK’s popularity. The country was identified as first-choice destination by 22 per cent of respondents, up from 18 per cent in the previous survey in February and March.

Campus views: Don’t forget that international students need careers support too

But Australia was named top choice by 25 per cent of students, up two percentage points on its March result. It now shares top billing with Canada, which slipped from 27 per cent to 25 per cent.

IDP attributed Australia’s improved showing to positive perceptions about graduate work opportunities and post-study work rights. “Policy changes, dynamic shifts within institutions and global economic conditions all have the power to affect a destination’s standing,” Mr Emmett said. “The impact of perceptions of post-graduation opportunities, or lack of opportunities, continues to impact student choice.”

Students’ faith in work opportunities Down Under contrasts with the judgement of the Grattan Institute thinktank. In an October report, it warned that Australia’s “generous” post-study work regime “gives false hope to thousands of graduates who will never gain permanent residency, adds to population pressures, and threatens Australia’s reputation as a destination for tertiary study”.

This has not blunted foreigners’ appetite for the country, which appears to have completely shaken off its Covid hangover. There were more than 710,000 international students in Australia over the first six months of this year, up from 685,000 in the equivalent period of 2019 and about 470,000 in 2022.

Growth this year has been particularly pronounced from Colombia, the Philippines, India and Nepal.

IDP said Australia had also improved its ratings for student welfare, safety and the quality of its education. The UK’s popularity was based on a “narrower mix of factors”, with the country highly regarded for education quality but ranked last of the major anglophone study destinations for graduate employment, and second last for post-study work visas.

Rachel MacSween, IDP Connect’s director of partnerships, said UK universities had seen “huge” enrolment booms during the pandemic as other countries struggled with stringent travel restrictions. “We knew the bounce back from the other major study destinations would be strong.

“Institutions in the UK and the wider sector need to rethink what destination marketing could look like, to get the UK back to being top choice for students.”

john.ross@timeshighereducation.com