Students living overseas now account for 16 per cent of all
students registered at English universities and colleges,
research from the Office for Students (OfS) finds, with China,
Malaysia and Sri Lanka together accounting for more than a third
of all such transnational students.
The OfS’s latest Insight brief examines the scale of
transnational education (TNE) in English higher education,
focusing on how and where this learning is delivered and how the
OfS’s risk-based regulatory approach ensures that students
receive a high quality education wherever they study. In 2021-22,
146 English universities and colleges taught 455,000 students
outside the UK. Just over two-thirds (69 per cent) of TNE
students in 2021-22 were undergraduates, and the rest (31 per
cent) were postgraduates.
Students overseas were taught in the following ways:
- 27 per cent were taught by overseas partner organisations
- 25 per cent were taught by distance, flexible or distributed
learning
- 6 per cent studied at English universities’ overseas branch
campuses
- 42 per cent were covered by other arrangements, including
collaborative provision.
The 2021-22 figures show that over half (52 per cent) of TNE
students in 2021-22 lived in Asia. Of these, 71,210 were based in
China, representing around 16 per cent of TNE students and 2.5
per cent of students at OfS-registered universities and colleges.
Malaysia and Sri Lanka had the second highest proportion of
students, each with 10 per cent of English universities’ total
TNE population.
The OfS recently met with seven English universities to learn
more about how they delivered TNE and how they ensure high
quality education is delivered in practice. Universities spoke of
the challenges they faced, which include subcontracting by
overseas partner institutions making it more difficult to oversee
all aspects of teaching, and issues relating to consumer rights
for students living overseas.
Jean Arnold, OfS Director of Quality, said:
‘The significant number of students studying at English
universities and colleges while living overseas is testament to
the prestige of the UK sector on the world stage. It is important
that transnational education provides a high quality education to
students across the globe and helps improve equality of
opportunity and sustainability in communities. This activity is
also a substantial export activity; in 2020, transnational
activities and education exports generated £25.6 billion for the
UK economy.
‘As transnational education continues to grow, an increasing
number of universities and colleges are seeing it as a component
of their plans to diversify and grow their income. Our regulatory
remit is not limited to students located in England. It is
important that students studying outside the UK are confident
that their course is of the same high quality as would be the
case if they were studying in England.
‘We are working with sector representative bodies and
international regulators to improve understanding of how we
regulate transnational education. This helps improve our
understanding of TNE activity and its regional and global
contexts. It also informs our approach to monitoring and
intervention for the particular challenges that may arise for
courses delivered overseas.
‘Transnational education is a vital and thriving part of our
higher education sector. By underlining that it is robustly
regulated to ensure quality we intend to maintain and enhance the
reputation of English higher education at home and across the
world.’
ENDS
Notes
- The Office for Students is the independent regulator for
higher education in England. Our aim is to ensure that every
student, whatever their background, has a fulfilling experience
of higher education that enriches their lives and careers.
- The 10 countries with the greatest number of TNE students
are: China (72,210 students); Malaysia (47,460 students); Sri
Lanka (45,990 students); Singapore (28,175 students); Egypt
(23,840 students); Greece (22,455 students); Hong Kong (20,785
students); United Arab Emirates (18,315 students); Saudi Arabia
(16,715 students); and Oman (14,545 students).
- Alternative TNE arrangements may include: course-to-course
credit transfer, a joint degree awarded jointly by two
universities in partnership, a dual degree where two universities
each award a qualification to a student, a franchising or
subcontractual arrangement, or progression agreements where an
overseas partner institution’s course guarantees entry onto one
of the registered provider’s courses.
- The Insight brief and
data dashboard (attached) may have last-minute presentational
changes before publication and is under the same embargo as the
press release. The link will go live at 00.01 on Tuesday 23 May
2023.
