BRITAIN OVERSEAS STUDENT COULD BE WORTH 12 BILLION POUNDS AS HIGHER EDUCATION FEES BY 2020 AND UNIVERSITIES HAVE BEEN URGED TO KEEP THE TEMPO FOR INCREASING STUDENTS DESPITE DOWN TO 173560 IN 2011-2012 13TH DECEMBER 2013 Overseas students could be worth £12bn a year in higher education fees by 2020, according to analysis of Google search data which shows international interest in British universities growing ten times faster than interest from within the UK. Searches for Britain’s top 50 universities increased by 10 per cent from overseas web users between 2010 and 2012, compared with a 1 per cent rise in domestic searches. Researchers said the data highlighted the need for universities to increase focus on new markets such as Brazil, Indonesia and the Philippines to exploit the growing interest in UK higher education. Imperial College, Cambridge and Oxford Universities were the most searched-for institutions, followed by London’s UCL and the Open University, which runs distance-learning courses. David Black, a director at Google UK, said universities could use the data to identify “pockets” of demand in unexpected geographical locations. Oman showed the strongest growth, with searches up 32 per cent between 2010 and 2012, according to the research by Google and OC&C, the consultancy. Searches from Indonesia rose 30 per cent, while those from China and Brazil climbed 27 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively. The report predicted the increased interest would lift fee income from international students by about 10 per cent to £7bn by 2020, with an additional £5bn projected through distance learning or branch campuses. The UK is currently second to the US in attracting international students, with 13 per cent of the market compared with 17 per cent for the US, according to OECD figures from 2011. The economic case for attracting foreign students is particulary strong given that students outside the EU pay higher fees and are not eligible for loans which are becoming an increasing burden on the public purse. Mark Jeynes, partner at OC&C, said some universities which scored poorly on the search index needed to pursue a more “entrepreneurial approach” with a clear internationalisation strategy. “Those institutions that haven’t considered internationalisation as a priority need to mobilise quickly to avoid being left behind,” he said. Mr Black said the opportunity was not limited to elite institutions. “What’s particularly interesting is that smaller universities outside the heritage brands can also drive student enrolments from international markets.” Scotland’s Heriot-Watt university – which has a campus in Dubai – came in tenth place in the search index above Exeter, Bristol and Warwick. The past decade has seen a broad growth in the number of international students from outside Europe studying at British higher education institutions. However, some university leaders complain that access to these new markets has been stymied by Home Office rules aimed at reducing net migration. Countries such as Canada and Australia are relaxing rules on overseas students just as Britain is tightening its borders. This is borne out by data from the sector body Universities UK showing that the number of non-EU international students entering the UK slightly reduced from 174,225 in 2010–11 to 173,560 in 2011–12. In particular, the number of students coming from India has reduced by around a quarter, while the Chinese contingent has increased by nearly a fifth.
Posted on: Mon, 16 Dec 2013 05:07:48 +0000
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