Thursday 15 January 2015

 

The Higher Education Statistics Agency [HESA] released today the figures for:

Higher Education student enrolments and qualifications obtained at Higher Education Institutions in the United Kingdom for the academic year 2013/14 

Gordon Slaven, the British Council’s Director of Higher Education, commented:

“It is very pleasing that the overall figures for non-EU students coming to the UK has increased by three per cent. But this headline figure does disguise one worrying trend: the decrease of students coming from India by 12 per cent and Pakistan by seven per cent, while demographic trends suggest these should be sources of growth for the UK. While the UK sector can be pleased that the overall numbers have increased, our competitor countries such as the USA and Australia, have shown much more significant increases. This highlights the need for the UK to take a much more proactive and united approach to attracting highly talented students from around the world to reduce the risk of losing our share of the international student market.

“There is now increasing international student mobility and choice for prospective students. International students to the USA increased by eight per cent in 13/14 to unprecedented heights; the comparable year for Australia saw their international student numbers stabilise, and new enrolments increase by 7.5 per cent (and in fact latest data suggest that 2014 figures will show around eight per cent growth in total international HE student numbers); Canada reported an 11 per cent growth in student visas in 2014; and China is expected to be hosting 500,000 international students by 2016.” Mr Slaven said.

Notes to Editor

For more information please contact Tim Sowula, British Council Senior Press Officer, on 0207 389 4871 or tim.sowula@britishcouncil.org

About the British Council

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and build trust between them worldwide.

We work in more than 100 countries and our 8,000 staff – including 2,000 teachers – work with thousands of professionals and policy makers and millions of young people every year by teaching English, sharing the arts and delivering education and society programmes.

We are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter. A core publicly-funded grant provides less than 20 per cent of our turnover which last year was £864 million. The rest of our revenues are earned from services which customers around the world pay for, through education and development contracts and from partnerships with public and private organisations. All our work is in pursuit of our charitable purpose and supports prosperity and security for the UK and globally.

For more information, please visit: www.britishcouncil.org. You can also keep in touch with the British Council through http://twitter.com/britishcouncil 
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