Melbourne enjoys a good rank this year as one of the best student cities of the world. Australia is popular and is on the brink to overtake the UK as the second biggest destination in the world for international students. These are the details of the research from University College, London.
Researchers for Global Higher Education say the UK is pushed at the third place. The top two presently are the United States and Australia. Australia aims to rapidly expand its student numbers globally.
The British Council is of the opinion that the UK must look again at the policies in the matter of overseas students. An analysis reveals that overseas students had added £20bn to the economy of UK. Additionally, Universities in the UK have issued a warning that the immigration rules after Brexit have to be welcoming for students.
Catching up
The UCL made a study of the latest movements of international students and the author Professor Simon Marginson feels that Australia has moved ahead of the UK. Moreover, Canada is also drawing level in taking a growing share of the lucrative foreign students market.
Three years back the UK had recruited approximately 130,000 more foreign students than Australia. Furthermore during the successive years Australia has increased by 12% to 14% in attracting overseas students. It is on the verge of overtaking the UK, which was growing at a slow pace. The Official figures for students for 2018 by UNESCO will come out after the end of 2018. Researchers feel that Australia has moved ahead of the UK in this category and this fact may have happened already.
Best cities for student
Students place the higher education of UK at a high level internationally, but the government has restricted the growth of numbers of global students for five years. It has in fact limited new student numbers and post-study work visas. The competitor nations have strong policies to promote their international education.
Australia is marketing as an English-speaking country and has the presence of high-performing universities. Furthermore there is an attractive climate and refined culture for foreign students. The Best Student City rankings for this year placed Melbourne and Sydney among the top 10. London was at the top ranked. Australia has attracted students from China also. The research also warns that the future intake in UK of international students will heavily depend on appealing for European students.
Post-Brexit plans
The government has a post-Brexit plan to keep the door open for visa-free travel for students of European Union coming to UK universities. The UK Universities have campaigned for keeping foreign students out of net migration figures. Moreover, international students are a great source of long-term influence and soft power for the country. The UK was presently competing with other countries which have a welcoming visa policy and comprehensive strategies for international education. It is important to reinforce international channels for the UK and compete well to attract additional number of students.
