The latest HESA release showing enrolments in UK institutions for 2017/18 show a welcome increase in international enrolments. Digging under the surface suggests that the trends of the past five years are getting reinforced. The big brands are doing well and there are a couple of well organised outliers.
Table 6 of the HESA data allows us to look at total enrolments by individual institution which gives a good sense of who is able to replace students leaving the university with new enrolments as competition increases. Looking at the total enrolments also gives a better sense of what might be happening to tuition revenue. The table shows that total international enrolments have gone up by 3.8% from 307,540 to 319,340 – that’s 11,800 students.
Ten institutions absorbed 7,320 additional students with the Russell Group universities taking eight of the ten places. In terms of ‘branding’ the 24 Russell Group universities added 10,230 students overall. De Montfort continues its remarkable performance in international recruitment and that’s great credit to the focus and discipline of the management team.
The performance of the University of the Arts is also very strong. Looking at the Annual Report the university is showing a 19.8% increase in international fee income for the year in question – from £86m to £103m. It’s a strong and differentiated higher education brand in one of the world’s most culturally vibrant cities and looks to be leveraging those benefits
Table 1 – Top Ten Universities for Increases In Total International Enrolments (Non-EU) 2017/18
This lop-sided distribution of growth inevitably means that some universities did less well. Those showing the largest losses may all have strategic reasons for reducing international numbers but that seems the least likely explanation. The universities Sheffield Hallam, Hull, Sunderland and Greenwich were all identified as being in long-term decline in international enrolments in my blog Winning And Losing In Global Recruitment back in April 2018.
Table 2 – Top Ten Universities for Decreases In Total International Enrolments (Non-EU) 2017/18
While international enrolments reflect global competitiveness they should be seen in the context of wider recruitment issues in the sector. Lower ranked universities are already being squeezed by the bigger and better placed universities when it comes to recruiting home-students. It’s a painful double-whammy for some institutions as they face into the Augar Review and the Government’s thinking on post-school education.