Bis research paper number 128 The wider benefits of international higher education in the uk

4.2.7.2 Implications 
Alumni’s perceptions of the UK, as a nation and society, were articulated in much the 
same way as the personal or soft skills of an individual (as opposed to their technical 
knowledge, which at country level might equate to a particularly advanced technological 
infrastructure, for example). They are also many of the qualities that people tend to seek 
when entering business and personal relationships. Together they seem to underpin a 
general impression that the UK and its people can generally be trusted, as well as having 
an international outlook and being potentially ‘open for business.’ It would be hard to 
generate a more positive set of qualities (brand values) for a nation seeking to do business 
on the world stage. 
Held by alumni, these positive characterisations of the UK are now spread across the 
globe and in almost every employment field and industrial sector. With that global spread 
and the sheer number of alumni, these very positive perceptions of what we might call 
‘brand UK’ comprise a very positive potential legacy from the UK’s position as a leading 
provider of international HE.
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The Wider Benefits of International Higher Education in the UK 
International students are open to inspiration during their stay for study, and these alumni 
had clearly been impressed and inspired by some of the particular qualities they perceived 
in UK society. In addition to reinforcing a positive image of the UK, there is also the 
potential that the alumni will themselves endorse and embody these values and begin to 
embed them in their home countries, as part of their development and capacity building 
(benefit type D.2), which may align their countries further with the UK for mutual benefit. 
This would of course be particularly true of those working within education, where their UK 
positive experiences will be relayed not only to colleagues but also to the students.