Following the recent Westminster Higher Education Forum (WHEF), ‘Next steps for international students in the UK’, Advance HE’s Professor Mark O’Hara and Dr Anne Rowan reflect on key themes and highlights concerning international students in general, and disabled international students in particular.
It was a privilege to be invited to contribute to the Westminster Higher Education Forum policy conference, ‘Next steps for international students in the UK’.
It was a real fillip to see so many staff and students committed to ensuring a high-quality student experience for our international student population. Making sure we provide a first-class educational and cultural experience is vital if we wish to maintain the UK’s current position near the top of would-be international students’ sought-after destinations.
International students have the potential to make an extraordinary contribution to the life of their institutions; the horizons and perspectives of their UK-based peers; and indeed the prosperity of the country. UUKi’s International Facts and Figures 2023 highlights that international students made up 23.8% of the total UK student population in 2021-22 (15.1% and 45.4% undergraduate and postgraduate UK student population respectively), and the gross economic contribution of the 2021–22 cohort of international students to the UK was £41.9 billion.
