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

6.2 Positive impacts and attitudes 
What seems to stand out most strikingly from this research is the overwhelmingly positive 
views held by the vast majority of international alumni who participated. We are confident 
that this is not merely an artefact of a positively-biased sample, as other studies show 
similar positive perceptions on the basis of reflections on student experience (BIS, 2012). 
On a personal note, one of the interview research team commented that as a result of 
conducting the interviews she “felt more proud to be British” than she had done before. 
Our study has identified UK alumni who have embarked on a wide variety of career 
trajectories and, five or more years after graduation from UK HE, have mostly made good 
career progress in their chosen field and are highly satisfied with the contribution that 
studying in HE in the UK has made to this. Five years post-graduation is still relatively 
early in career for many, other than those who attended UK HE as mature students after 
an established prior career. As a result, for most, their HE experience may have delivered 
some tangible benefit in launching their career, or enhancing their rate of progression, but 
much impact is yet to come. As they progress into more senior roles, many will see other 
longer-term benefits emerge, particularly from their wider experiences during study in the 
UK rather than the qualification itself, such as increased confidence, international outlook 
and intercultural empathy. There is evidence that alumni’s attitudes become even more 
positive with time since graduation, and the impacts they derive may well continue to 
increase with time as their circumstances evolve. 
As many alumni progress to more senior positions in their careers and more influential 
roles in society, wider benefits to their home country and to the UK will develop from the 
largely potential impact we identify at this stage and become more tangible impact. In their 
home countries, or others in which they may choose to live and work, this will grow with 
time as they have greater personal influence and multiplying effects on capacity building 
and societal development, including education. 
For the UK, a variety of economic impacts will grow as the alumni enter more senior and 
influential business roles, beyond the specific early examples identified already from a few 
graduates. It is possible that tangible benefits are seen more quickly from those working in 
family businesses, who may from an early age be in relatively more senior positions than 
their peers in other employment. The alumni as a whole comprise a myriad of positively-
minded ambassadors, potential business collaborators and consumers who are 
predisposed to trust ‘brand UK’ and its elements – citizens, organisations and the UK itself. 
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The Wider Benefits of International Higher Education in the UK 
This presents enormous long-term potential, particularly when the recent scale of 
international alumni of the UK is considered (2.5 million new ambassadors over 10 years). 
It should of course be remembered that most international students in the UK are self-
funded and thus are from more wealthy sections of society in their home countries. In 
addition, to have gained entry to a UK HE programme they will already have been 
relatively high educational achievers. Perhaps it is not surprising that they are already 
embarked on successful career trajectories, but what is important is that they chose the 
UK, have great experiences to report of the country and for the longer-term will maintain a 
relationship with us that will likely manifest in many beneficial ways.
It is known that some well-disposed international alumni make financial donations, and 
donations in kind, to their alma mater (Miller, 2013). The value of this direct benefit has not 
been attempted in this study as it is likely that the career stage of many of the alumni is 
earlier than that at which many will be in a position to donate.