Recruiting international students

23 May 2008

In response to the publication by the Higher Education Policy Institute of the report ‘The Bologna process and the UK’s international student market’, the Director General of the Russell Group, Dr Wendy Piatt, said:

“The Russell Group of Universities welcomes the publication of this report, which recognises the UK’s success in recruiting international students – second only to the US – and the UK’s delivery of a premium product.

“Russell Group universities are able to demonstrate excellence in both research and teaching, supporting the UK’s success in the international student market.  The result has been a measurable premium to students learning in a world-class enquiry-based environment – both in terms of student satisfaction and graduate earnings.

“We welcome the recognition in the report that postgraduate education is an increasingly important part of the international student market – 52 per cent of all international (non-EU) students pursuing postgraduate research programmes in the UK are at Russell Group universities. We fully recognise that sustaining our position in a highly competitive global environment will require continuous improvement and increased support for our world-class universities.”

Notes to Editors

1. 78% of staff in 5* departments in the 2001 RAE were in Russell Group universities.
2. 85% of students at Russell Group universities are satisfied with the quality of their university course compared to the sector average of 81%.
3. International student experience and satisfaction of teaching and learning at Russell Group universities can be seen from recent studies by the i-graduate’s International Student Barometer (ISB). IBS is the largest study of the international student experience, the latest results based on feedback from nearly 25,000 students at Russell Group universities. These results from Russell Group international students found that:

• International students had a higher rate of overall satisfaction at Russell Group universities than by the average overall benchmark.
• In selecting a university, 97% of students noted that teaching quality and 90% noted research quality as important determining factors in choosing a Russell Group university.
• 95% of students believe their lectures are experts in their subject area
• 89% were satisfied with the academic content of their course
• 87% noted their satisfaction with the ability to study with a range of multicultural peers
• 84% were satisfied with their ability to get personal support and time from academic staff when it was needed
• 82% of students noted that research at the university was an important learning element of their course
• Over three quarters of students were satisfied that their learning would help them secure a career

4. Figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) show that the average starting salaries from Russell Group Universities are roughly £3000 higher than the average starting salaries from across the sector.

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