Educational exchange has been a fundamental feature of states’ soft power programmes long before the late Professor Joseph Nye coined the term ‘soft power’ in the 1990s. The UK’s Commonwealth Scholarships were first introduced in 1959, while the British Council has offered scholarships under various schemes since its foundation ninety years ago and today manages the Chevening Scholarship programme on behalf of the FCDO. The Rhodes Scholarship programme that famously brought the future President Clinton to the UK is even older.
These programmes share a common purpose: they exist to build amity and solidarity between the sponsor state and the peoples of the world through the medium of international study. The thesis is simple by spending time living, working, and studying in a foreign country, the scholarship student learns to like, understand, respect, trust, perhaps even love their temporary home from home.
They form connections, networks, professional and personal, that serve both the scholar, the host state, and the sending country. That social capital, as much as any great discoveries that might arise through the scholarly endeavours of the student or researcher, is what the sponsoring state gains through the scholarship programme.
Scholarships, of course, account for a fraction of the numbers of international students matriculating every year. Yet whether a Chevening Scholar or a student simply looking for the best possible start to their veterinary career, the soft power aspects of international study are the same.
Following the COVID slump, global student flows are once again buoyant, though there have been significant shifts in where students are travelling from - and to.
Beyond economics: the social capital of international study
Often the soft power benefits of international students are measured in direct economic impacts – both locally to the universities themselves and host communities, and nationally. But the social capital that international study generates is more important overall.
For example, our Global Perceptions 2025 study has found that those who claim to have studied in the UK are four times more likely to say they intend to do business or trade with the UK in future than those who have not.
They are also far more inclined to give credence to the messaging and policies of the UK government, with those claiming to have studied in the UK giving a rating for trust in government fourteen percentage points higher than those without that crucial lived experience of life in the UK. That matters when you consider that fifty-nine serving world leaders have studied at a UK institution. Study equates with influence.
A shifting landscape
These benefits make the UK’s continued appeal as a study destination all the more important. Yet the landscape is shifting. Young people continue to hold both the US and UK in high regard, with each remaining respectively first and second for attractiveness as a place to study. However, both have seen a significant decline in their attractiveness ratings over time, while other destinations have maintained or grown their appeal.
This is clear in the ratings for the attractiveness of Asian states as a place to study: both China and Japan have seen their ratings rise five points compared to 2023. The Republic of Korea has also shown a sharp rise, up nine points overall since 2016. Meanwhile, the ratings of the USA and UK have declined seven and eight points respectively since 2016.
This is symptomatic of a broader levelling of the playing field, and not just in the education space. One of the most significant findings emerging from Global Perceptions 2025 is that across multiple metrics, the ‘rest’ are catching up on the West. We are in a multipolar era that offers ever-increasing choices.
An evolving sector
In the education space, several sector-specific developments are contributing to the erosion of the UK’s attractiveness as a destination. Rising academic quality in China and other Asian countries, coupled with the widespread adoption of English as the medium of teaching around the world, and a growing emphasis on quality of life beyond the classroom, are reshaping the landscape - as evidenced by the declining rankings of many UK universities in the global league tables this year.
If the UK higher education sector is to compete successfully in an increasingly dynamic and expanding global market, universities must focus on maintaining and improving the quality of the student experience – both in the classroom and beyond.
Two other critical factors must also be acknowledged. The first, visas and post-study opportunities for graduates. Frequent rule changes risk discouraging prospective students by creating uncertainty around their ability to complete their studies.
The second factor is the changing nature of international study itself, with exponential growth in transnational education (TNE), an area where the UK is, for now, a world leader. TNE encompasses a range of different study options including remote study, as pioneered by the Open University (OU), online study, and satellite campuses like the University of Nottingham’s campuses in Ningbo and Semenyih.
It also includes foreign students studying for UK professional qualifications like the CEng, ACA, or QTS through accredited programmes at institutions either at home or in a third country. For example, Strathmore University in Kenya attracts students from Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda, and offers ACA courses with examinations held at the British Council’s office in Nairobi.
The act of studying is more important than the mode
Given the traditional emphasis on the importance of physical study in a foreign country for the generation of the social capital that underpins soft power, the data from Global Perceptions on the impact of TNE on attitudes is especially interesting:
Having undertaken tertiary education of any kind – even if there was no international dimension involved – is associated with a significantly higher appreciation for the UK. Those who have studied at home with no UK connection on average rate the UK fourteen percentage points higher for overall attractiveness than those who left school and never went on to further academic study.
Studying at a UK university in person is consistently associated with higher levels of favourability and has the greatest impact on levels of trust in the people, institutions, and government of the UK. Those who have studied at a UK institution are also the most likely to say they intend to undertake (further) study in the UK and to be interested in doing business or trade with the UK.
When it comes to TNE, the data suggests that those who have studied online for a UK qualification, perhaps with the OU or with one of the members of the University of London federation like SOAS, are almost equally positive about the UK as those who have physically studied in the UK.
For example, the rating for trust in government for those who have studied in the UK is 67%, versus 64% for those who have studied online. That compares to a score of 44% for someone who did not go to university at all, and 59% for someone who studied at a home institution with no connection to the UK. The respective figures for intentions to do business or trade are 24%, 23%, 16%, and 9%.
The figures for those who have studied at a home institution for a UK qualification are fractionally lower than for those who have studied online, typically within one percentage point, suggesting that the difference between the two in terms of their soft power benefits is marginal.
These results highlight the potential contribution of international study to the UK’s prosperity.
Conclusion
International education is a vital driver of the UK’s soft power. To continue reaping the economic and geopolitical benefits it brings, HM Government must support the sector through sustained funding and coherent, forward-looking policy – or risk ceding further ground to global competitors.