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

Internationalisation at home 
Internationalisation abroad 

Attracting international students – both 
for full programmes and short 
exchanges 

Internationalising curricular and 
teaching materials 

Providing foreign language 
programmes 

Providing specific country and regional 
programmes 

Recruitment and exchanges of 
international academic and research 
staff 

Growing joint teaching programmes – 
including for split/joint degrees or other 
accreditation arrangements 

Growing international cooperation in 
research 

Encouraging international activities on 
campus 

Hosting international events and 
conferences 

Promoting 
international 
work 
opportunities for students – including 
not for profit 

Internationalisation 
of 
institutional 
governance and management 

Encouraging domestic students to study 
internationally 

Supporting work experience placements 
internationally 

Growing international research links 

Encouraging staff to work internationally: 
both for teaching and research 

Consultancy for international projects 

TNE - delivery of courses and 
programmes internationally: 

Partnership 
arrangements 

Accreditation of partnership programmes

Joint/split degree offerings. 

Establishment of offshore campuses 

Specialist research centres abroad 

International development agenda – 
capacity building or technical assistance 
projects 

International volunteering and not for 
profit activities 
Table 1
: Summary of key internationalisation activities for higher education institutions 
(adapted by the authors from Fielden, 2007) 
However, amongst these activities, the international mobility of students and the 
competitive activity to recruit them probably remains the most visible, researched and 
reviewed aspect of international HE. While many universities around the world have 
sought to grow internationalisation strategies, UK universities have been particularly 
successful. The global reputation of UK universities is the envy of most other countries, 
achieved for a variety of reasons including their continuing drive to internationalise. One 
key and growing area within international higher education is Transnational Education 
(TNE). It is thought that TNE will inevitably expand over the next few decades (British 
Council, 2013a), driven by both supply-side considerations (more new programmes on 
offer, more varied modes of delivery) and student demand. The total number of students 
enrolled on UK TNE programmes delivered internationally was estimated to be 571,000 in 
2011/12, 13% higher than in the previous year (HESA, 2012). 
4 

---

The Wider Benefits of International Higher Education in the UK 
Improvements in on-line degree courses, in terms of content, availability and means of 
delivery, could also impact greatly on the international higher education market, and in 
ways that are still difficult to predict. For example, the current tremendous surge in the 
development of massive open online courses (MOOCs) was hardly foreseen a few years 
ago, even though their impact in terms of completed HE qualifications currently remains 
modest and they may in the end act as a ‘taster’ for more traditional learning models.