May 17, 2022

At International Admissions and Recruitment Seminar Call for Better Communication Arises

P Participants at a recent seminar held in the UK discussed the importance of better communication with EU and other international students. The seminar was attended by professors and heads of some of the UK's top universities. Some of the speakers present called for better publicity, while others suggested the need for collaboration.

As a result of Brexit and the pandemic, fewer EU students are choosing British universities. Many attendees, including those from Cambridge have urged the need for better collaboration with EU stakeholders, and students to get the numbers back on track. Read on to know what else transpired at the meeting.

…The UK is absolutely flying at the moment. I think we can take great pride in what we have to offer as institutions, including in Europe...

At the meeting, there were many speakers who took turns to speak on how British universities can improve their intake of EU students. One of the people was Nancy Cooke.

Nancy Cooke, Associate Director of International Development at the University of Salford argued that the graduate pathway wasn’t understood by EU students. She said,” Working internationally, we’ve always had a fantastic scholarship program for international students. I don’t think we’ve done a good job of communicating that out to European students.” She suggested that in order to better communicate with the EU, working with their local regions to build connections with the continent should be the first priority for stakeholders.

Nancy was not the only speaker to rally for changes. Former UK university minister Chris Skidmore has suggested the formation of a special committee to better relations with EU nations in the education sector. He suggested setting up an establishment of regional international education strategies with regional education champions.

A member of Coventry University, Justin Wood supported better communication with EU nations. He said, “The UK is absolutely flying at the moment. I think we can take great pride in what we have to offer as institutions, including in Europe.”

Some Universities in the UK had already got into collaborations with the EU. Greater Manchester and Metropole Ruhr, part of North Rhine -Westphalia was one such that signed a MOU in 2021. The move strengthened business, trade, cultural and educational links. Taking this as cue, seminar members urged more universities to follow suit and collaborate with EU Universities.

Some speakers at the seminar said that British universities should focus on the international market especially in Latin America, Canada, and Asia. As our European numbers do decline on the postgraduate side, for example, we’re starting to work more in Latin America, which is a region that we weren’t very active in until about 18 months ago,” a member present at the meeting said.

The seminar ended with a call to focus on increasing the percentage of state school students in the UK.

Posted in News and tagged News, Brexit, EU Students, British Universities, Cambridge
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