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

5.2.3 Changes in perception over time 
It might be expected that perceptions of a positive UK HE experience might gradually 
diminish over time, with an initial ‘high’ on graduation and then decrease with time perhaps 
with a ‘half-life’ type of curve. However, if anything there was some evidence that the 
reverse was the case, as some perceptions of benefit had emerged or grown stronger with 
time since graduation, although this could not be tested robustly in this study in any 
longitudinal sense. Although nearly three quarters of the interviewees had taken part in the 
i-GO survey since graduation (BIS, 2012), and their survey responses were available, due 
to the differing styles of the two research studies there were no directly comparable 
quantitative questions. 
However, the issue of whether alumni would recommend UK HE study to others is a 
possible proxy for overall satisfaction. Of the alumni interviewed who had also taken part in 
the i-GO survey, 76% had at that earlier time indicated that they would recommend others 
to apply to the UK. In 2013, over 90% indicated that they had actually influenced other 
people to do so, at least to some extent, which (although not strictly comparable) suggests 
greater positivity with time.
When looked at on an individual case basis, this overall shift was at least partly due to 
changes in attitude by some alumni, a few of whom had been somewhat negative in the 
short term but now expressed positive views. We attempted to probe such apparent 
changes of view during the interviews where possible. 
In one or two cases it transpired that the graduate had misunderstood the question 
previously, but in the majority of cases they admitted that the passage of time and their 
evolving circumstances led them to shift their view. Certain shortcomings in a specific 
aspect of their study experience, such as a disappointing grade or even a problem with a 
landlord, could have led to a more negative (or less positive) perception soon after 
graduation. However, over time, their evolving lives offered them opportunities to derive 
new and deeper impacts of their UK HE study and experience, of which they had not been 
aware soon after graduation. Equally, for some, it could simply be that with maturity and 
time for reflection on the overall experience, they were now more aware of the benefits. 
These individual shifts in attitude, where we could recognise them, were almost always 
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positive (other than those few who changed certain attitudes as a result of perceptions 
about recent visa restrictions). 
Within the i-GO results (BIS 2012), it could also be seen that for several different questions 
relating to overall reflections on value or benefit, the results obtained 2½ years after a 
cohort had graduated were slightly higher than those obtained six months after graduation. 
Although those differences were small, in most cases they seemed to reflect somewhat 
greater positivity with time since graduation. However, one exception to this seemed to be 
the value of their specific qualification in terms of career progression, where the opposite 
trend was observed. This could relate to the increasing need in many labour markets for 
greater differentiation than offered purely by an academic qualification. However, the i-GO 
study seems to lend some support to our clear observation that many alumni’s perceptions 
of the impact of UK HE study grow stronger with time rather than diminish. 
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The Wider Benefits of International Higher Education in the UK