Higher Education Commission Staying Ahead Report September 2018
While the UK has for many decades ranked in clear second place next to the USA for the popularity of international HE provision, other countries are putting policies into practice that are attracting a much larger share of mobile students. This inquiry seeks to support the Government’s ambition by identifying how HE could be grown to deliver the 2020 target. In order to build a resilient economy and to develop our soft power and diplomacy the Government needs urgently to develop joined-up policies to actively promote the HE sector.
The time feels right politically and in terms of the mood of the nation to remove students from migration numbers and simplify the visa process. We want the Government to achieve its ambition of boosting the value of international higher education to £30billion by 2020, but this will not be easy given the continued ambiguity around the welcome given to international students and migration targets. This report therefore seeks to assess the best routes to achieve growth including what the Government needs to do to support the HE sector.
