The International Postgraduate: Challenges to British Higher Education

Nicolas Watts

British Council

This report is intended as a strategy document, highlighting key trends and challenges in the recruitment and training of international postgraduates, and underlining the need to treat international postgraduates as a separate constituency from international undergraduates.

International postgraduate students are highly valued by British higher education institutions. They make a vital direct contribution to the life of research teams and to income generation. When they return home, they can be important economic and scientific contacts for the UK, and are increasingly likely to continue playing a role in collaborative research from their home base. Yet their role in institutions, as a group distinct from international undergraduate students, is frequently too little understood and given insufficient consideration in long-term development strategies. 
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