Jen Sloan, SUMS Consultant
I bet you’ve been like me in recent days – your various news feeds and timelines full of posts about the new UK International Education Strategy (IES). The announcement has already triggered a flurry of sector reaction: breakdowns, briefings and bold interpretations about what it all means for UK higher education. Those analyses have their place, so I won’t rehash them here. Instead, I want to step back and ask a different question: how much should this strategy really shape the way institutions think about their international ambitions? My argument is that, in the end, it might not matter as much as we think.
It might matter a bit
Ok, so I’m not actually going to pretend that the geo-political, macro environment doesn’t have any bearing on the international activities – and fortunes – of our institutions. I may have spent a good portion of my morning attempting to tell my 4-year-old she didn’t really need to go to nursery wearing a crown, but even I’m not that daft. We all know what the changes to post-study work and the right to bring dependents has done to the numbers of international students studying in the UK since 2023, and the trajectory isn’t pretty. The new IES 2026 makes clear that this government is focused on reducing the number of onshore international students, and instead shifting to taking the UK out to the world in the form of TNE, partnerships and embedded in-country engagement. We can all expect, then, that traditional recruitment to the UK probably just got a little bit harder, and TNE might have got a little bit easier.
But I still don’t think it matters as much as we might think
As SUMS’ practice lead for student recruitment, marketing, and partnerships, I help universities across the UK and of all shapes, sizes and flavours get to grips with what these activities could and should look like in their very specific contexts. No two are the same, and the findings and recommendations I deliver certainly never are. But there are some guiding principles that I believe stand any institution in good stead when it comes to realising international potential. None of them have anything at all to do with white papers or policy documents; instead, they give you a solid base from which to ride out the environmental and political storms that continually buffet our sector.
1. Know who you are and what you’re for
Institutions that maximise their international potential (whatever that may be) are those that have a clearly and confidently stated view of what they’re all about. They don’t try to imitate others; they’re grounded in their own identity and comfortable with it. They don’t try to be all things to all people in all markets, rather they know what they offer and to whom, and have a laser focus on that. That’s the starting place for authentic conversations with prospective students and partners, for meaningful relationships, and for sustainable success.
2. Have a plan
If you’re able to articulate that sense of purpose, there’s an extent to which the strategy will start to write itself, because here’s where you lay out what that actually looks like in practice. In which markets do you have something to offer? Are they coming to you or are you going to them? Where do your research links benefit your recruitment, and vice versa? What’s your appetite for risk? What are the governance, systems, people and other enabling factors that you’re going to need to realise your ambition? And think about who needs to be involved in creating that strategy together, if everyone is to share in the ownership and responsibility.
3. Remember the plan
By this I don’t mean become the “this is fine” cartoon dog in a burning room meme – if things change and you need to adapt the strategy or the tactics, then you should absolutely be ready to do that. But don’t be swayed too easily. If you have that self-confidence and that clear and simple strategy that your university community is behind, trust that you’re probably on the right path for you, even if that path doesn’t seem to look like other people’s. Keep the faith.
Look beyond the political weather
So yes, of course we need to understand the direction of travel for UK higher education as an export and consider what this IES might mean for us all in practice. (Reader: she went to nursery wearing the crown.) But the truth is that this strategy will come and go, just as its predecessors did, and just as its successors inevitably will somewhere down the line. The real task for institutions is to develop a self-confident, long-sighted international strategy – one that isn’t blown off course every time the political winds change.
Because in the end, it isn’t government strategies that determine your international success. It’s yours.
Get in touch
We want to hear your thoughts! Whether you’re a SUMS member or not, we welcome a conversation at consulting@sums.ac.uk. Get in touch today to discuss your university’s international success.
