Integration wanted in “complicated” UK int’l recruitment course of, says British Council

The report, which goals to offer “a pioneering overview” of the totally different channels via which worldwide college students enter UK undergraduate training, discovered that in 2021/22, virtually half (46%) of all candidates submitted particular person functions straight via UCAS’s on-line system.

Nevertheless, it famous that many of those college students had been probably suggested by brokers or faculty counsellors.

“Whereas conventional pathways into worldwide larger training stay standard, this examine demonstrates the rising significance of worldwide faculties and brokers in UK abroad recruitment,” stated Jacqui Jenkins, international programme lead, worldwide scholar mobility, British Council.

The second largest group of candidates is college students making use of through abroad faculties, in keeping with the report. Round 31% of candidates got here from abroad faculties, usually from English-medium worldwide faculties.

A gradual enhance within the proportion of such undergraduate candidates alerts the significance of partaking with worldwide faculties overseas, the report highlighted.

“Worldwide Ok-12 faculties are important for UK universities searching for to boost tutorial high quality, preparedness, and variety of their worldwide undergraduate recruitment. Partaking with worldwide faculties overseas (and domestically) will proceed to be paramount to be able to faucet into this pool of gifted college students,” Lucy Stonehill, CEO and founding father of BridgeU, advised The PIE.

“Nevertheless, it’s important to recognise that college students at worldwide faculties think about and consider larger training in numerous international locations, emphasising the necessity to promote the particular advantages and worth of learning within the UK.”

The report highlighted that though edtech companies have been developed to assist counsellors in worldwide faculties, additional assist is required to assist counsellors and their college students perceive the advantages of UK larger training.

In December 2022, British Council launched its Brokers and Counsellors Hub, offering coaching and greatest observe to brokers and counsellors in a bid to make sure the UK maintains and improves the standard of the worldwide scholar expertise.

Brokers and counsellors can use the hub to coach up on the advantages and values of the UK as a examine vacation spot, how they will greatest put together worldwide college students for learning and residing within the UK, in addition to the UK’s visa and immigration system and employment and post-study work choices for college students.

At the moment, there are roughly 12,000 particular person brokers and counsellors signed up, however Jenkins reiterated the goal is to achieve 20,000 by the top of the 2023.

The platform additionally permits worldwide college students and their dad and mom to go online and test if their agent has the correct stage of information through a public-facing searchable database of licensed brokers.

Such options are necessary, with the report highlighting that the variety of channels to UK HE can create confusion amongst college students who wish to perceive the right way to supply reliable info.

This examine demonstrates the rising significance of worldwide faculties and brokers

Some 12% of candidates utilized via brokers, whereas round 6% of non-UK domiciled candidates utilized via faculties or additional training faculties within the UK and an extra 4% had been learning at UK pathway packages, in keeping with UCAS knowledge.

Nevertheless, the report states that the variety of college students making use of via pathway packages is believed to be far larger on account of many college students transferring to universities outdoors of the UCAS system.

Supply: UCAS/British Council

The report described pathway suppliers as a “key stakeholder within the ecosystem, offering international attain, market intelligence and agility in product growth” however notes that authorities insurance policies and universities’ perceptions of them haven’t been significantly “beneficial”.

Stakeholders interviewed for the report expressed concern surrounding agent aggregators, particularly round the necessity to appropriately filter and qualify candidates.

“Aggregators at the moment are firmly part of the ecosystem and wield recognisable authority and affect within the scholar resolution making course of,” the report stated.

Nevertheless, it highlighted an absence of in-depth understanding as to the position, tasks and oversight of what it referred to as an “integral component” of scholar recruitment.