Students have more choice than ever before – both from within their own countries as well as overseas study. For those students paying full fees, education is a ‘luxury purchase’ and, as such, they have demanding expectations. We must ensure that we understand and are able to respond to these expectations. Improving quality is an on-going process and we need to ensure that all aspects of the UK’s student experience deliver – from the application and visa processes; pre-departure and induction; through to the quality of experience whilst studying and living in the UK.

PMI2 represents a major opportunity to increase the focus on the importance of the international student experience. The UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) co-ordinates the student experience project and manages a wide range of associated activities. Through consultation with the Student Experience Advisory Group and others in the sector, it identifies areas for development, works with institutions, consultants and sector agencies in order to complete projects and disseminates the results and outcomes of all PMI2 student experience projects.

Some of these projects are created in-house and others are developed in consultation with experts to produce websites, publications and resources and run events. These projects include a range of publications aimed at supporting staff working with international students, websites aimed directly at students, training and policy events, grants to other bodies, such as HOST and NUS, to run their own projects, as well as funds for individual institutions and staff working in them to develop their own innovative projects to improve the experience of international students in the UK.

Details of all the student experience projects, including reports, order forms for publications and dates of future events, can be found at www.ukcisa.org.uk/pmi. For more information, please contact Celia Partridge, PMI Projects Development Manager, UKCISA.