by Cheryl Yu, Dave Amor
The recent ‘China Peak’ on The Time sparks several questions within the sector. Has Chinese student mobility to the UK plateaued? Do Chinese universities still need to forge partnerships with the West? Do we even need a China Strategy for our university? Is this the reality or media crying for attention or government geopolitical influence, or all of them?
The 2023 UCAS number (30 June 2023) indicated a decrease in Chinese UG application, coupled with drop of UG enrolment in 2021/22 despite increased applicants. However, for PG study, there is no data available yet to clearly comprehend the landscape where we have enjoyed a steadily increasing record. The Chinese international education market has seen real enthusiasm and bounced back quickly since China lifted the pandemic travel restrictions. However, if we unravel the current development with certain data presented through UCAS, factoring in the large number of Chinese students who postponed their study abroad decision for the last 2 years; subsequently, in real terms, assessing the and probability and possibility of student numbers for Sep 2023, we could possibly experience a real decline. Of course, this decline in student firm acceptance is a million-dollar question with multifaceted influencing variables and factors, political, socio-economic and educational factors globally and nationally.
From ‘study-in-the-UK’ to ‘study-at-the-top-ranked-universities-in-the-UK’
It becomes obvious to the sector that global ranking has significantly shifted the landscape, dynamics and rhetoric of international student recruitment. 20 years ago, some of the modern universities, facing challenges in recruiting home students, looked to the Far East to China. They succeeded in recruiting a large number of Chinese students through collaborative partnerships with universities, articulation, franchise and progression arrangements, and directly through working with recruitment agencies. We could say, at that time, the overall reputation of ‘study-in-the-UK' was a major pull factor in Chinese students choosing to study in the UK.
Today, ‘study-in-the-UK’ has been substituted as ‘study-at-the-top-ranked-universities-in-the-UK’. For the last few years, most Chinese students are heavily concentrated at Russell Group universities, where the global ranking of a university functions as the major decision-making factor for parents and students alike. Of course, this is directly influenced by the employer and local governmental policies, such as to apply for a ‘hukou’ (household registration, legal permanent residence) in Shanghai, graduates with QS 50 or QS 100 graduates would be given preferable policies compared to others. Typically, to work at most universities in China, one needs to have a PhD from a top 500 university, for either an administrative or teaching role. Philosophically, in many ways, we could argue that the power dynamics of employer and employee drives the decision-making process of students.
However, there are a number of non-Russel Group universities who are also able to recruit in China, including the University of the Arts London, Coventry University, and Loughborough University. Of course, we have to admit that they rank highly for their disciplines globally and nationally in the UK too. Here we have to give credit and recognition to some other modern universities that have established strong institutional and agency partnership relations over the years and are still able to recruit reasonably in China, such as De Montford University, University for the Creative Arts, to list just a few.
Do top universities recruit top students?
In fact, surprisingly often, master's courses at "top" universities have similar academic entry requirements to those at the other end of the tables. Admissions equivalencies can vary between institutions, but in more than a few cases, the top 20 institution courses ask for a 2:2 equivalent at degree level – the same academic requirement for similarly titled courses at universities in the bottom 20. If an international student cannot meet the English language requirement, nearly all UK universities run in-house pre-sessional courses with 90% passing rate or even higher. The grading system, assessment mechanisms and pressure to support students’ employability in China also translate into the high grades that Chinese students get at universities. Despite some Russel Group universities having their own list of recommended universities in China the list seems to function as reference only and stay true to the ‘recommendation’ list. Often, we hear agencies bragging that they successfully supported students from tier 3 universities to be admitted by UCL or KCL. We have even seen stories of Russel Group universities limiting places for home students to prioritise international students as a result of the financial incentives where international students, with Chinese students as the major composition, pay more than the double amount of tuition fees, usually higher than £23,000, whilst home students are capped at £9250 (for undergraduate study).
Unemployment in China Vs new industry trends
A recent report from the British Council suggests that the mass unemployment in China could be a result of a mismatch of educational provisions and demands of employers. Of course, the heavily and centrally regulated higher education system in China, driven by the control over the quality and direction of the national labourer, in particular, at the UG level, dictates a rather homogeneous general subject knowledge practice, lacking the encouragement of subject specialism. That means that all undergraduates share similar broad general subject knowledge, and they have to continue their study for a PG or PhD in order to be able to specialise in a particular subject.
The recent BC report concludes that there are a number of key industry trends in the next few years: high-skilled manufacturing (robotics, aircraft engines, electric vehicles and medical equipment, banking and financial services (traditional to digital solutions), construction and real estate (3D design, building information modelling and process management), digital and ICT (AI engineers and technicians), healthcare and life science. For instance, the demand for employees with AI skills outstrips supply by a ratio of 10:1. This is not a China phenomenon alone, but similar in Malaysia and even South Asia as a whole.
We all think that most Chinese students choose to return to China to seek employment in China. However, from students I have spoken to, 90% would be happy to take on any work experience in the UK which is greatly valued by employers in China. This also offers students further opportunities to improve their English but also exposure to different work practices which carry an important social and cultural capital back in employment in China.
This potentially offers new opportunities for universities in the UK with entrepreneurial thinking to create and design new programmes but also opportunities for placement for international students to really fill in the gap in the labour market, not simply in China but globally.
So going back to the question: Have Chinese students plateaued in the UK?
A 2023 report from New Oriental Vision Overseas Consulting Company reveals that while the US and UK remain top study destinations for Chinese students, Asian countries are increasingly popular and being considered alongside Australia, Canada, and Europe. Further, it appears that Asian countries are gaining a share from the US of the overall Chinese student market.
For the UG level, the US has taken up more than 40% of the market share compared to the 15% of UK universities. However, for PG, the UK remains the top destination due to various factors, top-ranking universities, short-period and less competitive enrolment compared to universities in China.
However, another Asian destination has gradually replaced some of the lower-ranked universities in the UK and even competing students with Russel Group universities, such as HK, Macao, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia. Recently, HK has also been looking to double its non-local undergraduate students from 3,000 to 6,000 in the 2024-25 academic year.
Here we also have to take into consideration the reality that a large number of students go to the UK or US because they cannot be admitted into their preferred universities in China due to limited place and competitive entry criteria. With the improved and increased quality provision of local universities and TNEs, espoused with rising global ranking, more Chinese students position studying in China as their first choice.
While many students turn to overseas education when they ‘fail’ domestically; there are also students who choose international education to pursue the global experience and perspective. Often, they are faced with the disappointment of ending up studying with mostly Chinese students in the UK. The slowed economy in China will obviously have a direct and immediate impact on Chinese students choosing to study in the UK,
I remain optimistic about the future of Chinese students choosing the UK in the next few years. However, as a sector, we also must ensure that we maintain our competitiveness by focusing on students experience and employability. As a sector, through assessing our fees, subject specialism, student engagement and employability, social responsibility, perhaps we also should find ways to collaborate with each other to create an ecology of world-class global education.
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