Category: Policy

  • South Asia’s biggest international education stories

    South Asia’s biggest international education stories

    1. India set to become the world’s largest higher education system by 2047

    Delegates at The PIE Live India 2025 heard how India’s projected eightfold growth into a $30 trillion economy presents vast opportunities for higher education, with Niti Aayog’s Shashank Shah asking attendees, “If not India, then where?”. Speakers also highlighted that India is on track to become the world’s largest higher education system by 2035, with over 90 million students — positioning transnational education as a key growth driver.

    2. Outbound Indian university enrolments fall after three-year rise

    For the first time in three years, Indian students pursuing higher education saw a drop of around 5.7%, with over 1.25 million studying at international universities and tertiary institutions, compared to 1.33 million in 2024. This comes amid a range of policy changes in major destinations and the rise of cheaper, nearer options for students.

    The decline is also reflected in growing financial uncertainty around studying abroad in India, with remittances for overseas education falling to their lowest level in eight years when comparing April – August 2025 figures.

    3. More Australian and UK universities set sights on campuses in India

    In July 2025, four universities from the UK and Australia — La Trobe University, Victoria University, Western Sydney University, and the University of Bristol — received Letters of Intent (LoIs) to establish branch campuses in India, just a month after the University Grants Commission (UGC) issued LOIs to five other universities from the UK, US, Australia, and Italy. Currently, nine UK and seven Australian universities have either opened campuses or are in the process of doing so, with not only GIFT City but other economic hubs such as Noida, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Gurugram, and Chennai also hosting campuses.

    Despite this growth, The PIE has explored the rising debate around the “rush” to enter India’s higher education space at a time when international universities are cutting back on jobs and research, particularly in the UK, where four in ten English universities are believed to be in financial deficit, according to the Office for Students (OfS).

    4. Southampton opens India operations, attracts applications from Middle East and South Asia

    The University of Southampton, the UK’s first branch campus in India, told The PIE at The PIE Live India 2025 in January that the process of establishing its Delhi campus had been “fast, frenetic [and] exciting” from start to finish.

    The India campus, which began operations in August 2025, has since gained strong traction, receiving over 800 applications, with around 200 students joining the first cohort, and applications also coming from the UAE, Nepal, and Myanmar.

    5. Sri Lanka set to welcome first ever UK university campus

    The South Asian island nation, which is the second-largest host of UK TNE students, saw its first-ever UK university branch campus this year, with the University of West London launching a dedicated facility in the capital, Colombo, for local students.

    Meanwhile, Charles Sturt University is set to become the third Australian university to establish a campus in Sri Lanka. The country’s skills gaps and its Vision 2048 development agenda are driving Sri Lanka to pursue such opportunities, as it continues to face limited capacity across its 20 public universities, despite around 160,000 students seeking tertiary education each year.

    6. Trump and Modi pledge stronger India–US higher education ties

    While US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi appear at odds on trade, with Trump doubling tariffs on India to as much as 50%, both leaders are advocating closer ties in higher education. Their focus includes scientific research, dual degrees, joint centres of excellence, and offshore campuses, with Illinois Tech becoming the first US institution to receive approval for a campus in India.

    7. Cities within cities to host international university campuses

    Major Indian cities are planning dedicated education hubs on the outskirts of newly developing urban areas. While “Third Mumbai”, a purpose-built education city, is set to host five international universities near the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport, the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) is developing the Knowledge City in Tiruvallur.

    The Tamil Nadu Knowledge City aims to create a first-of-its-kind education and research hub in southern India, attracting both international and domestic universities, along with academic institutions and research organisations.

    8. Bangladeshi government opens doors to international campuses and dual programs

    Bangladesh’s University Grants Commission (UGC) has announced its plans to develop “clear and stringent” guidelines for formulating a policy around international university branches in the country. While there has been interest from countries like the UK and Malaysia, the policy’s review and national interest assessments are currently underway.

    The establishment of branch campuses would be seen as key, as Bangladeshi students have faced increasing visa denials and allegations of misusing study visa status to enter the labour market, with universities in the UK and countries like Denmark imposing restrictions on them.

    9. F‑1 visa declines hit India and China hardest

    Though India has retained its position as the US’s largest sending country, accounting for 31% of all international students according to 2024/25 data, it — along with China — has borne the brunt of declining US study visa issuances. The number of Indian students receiving US study visas fell by over 41% in the year to May 2025, amid a range of policies targeting international students, including heightened social media vetting, proposed visa time limits, and increased deportations and SEVIS status terminations over political views and other minor misdemeanours.

    These developments have made international students, particularly Indians, more cautious about studying in what is widely considered the world’s top study destination.

    10. India to unveil new scheme for Indian-origin researchers overseas

    India’s Ministry of Education, the Department of Science and Technology (DST), and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) are working to “bring back” Indian-origin researchers and scientists with strong academic credentials, targeting 12–14 priority STEM areas deemed strategically important for national capacity building.

    11. UGC launches dedicated portal for study-abroad returnees in India

    In April 2025, the UGC launched a standardised framework for recognising international degrees in India. Indian students who have studied abroad and wish to return for further education or employment can now apply for an equivalence certificate through the higher education body’s portal by paying the prescribed fee.

    12. B2B international education platform Crizac debuts on Indian stock market

    Kolkata-headquartered Crizac, which plans to expand beyond student recruitment into areas such as student loans, housing, and other services, and is targeting new geographies and growth markets within India, raised £74 million in its Initial Public Offering (IPO).

    The company listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), becoming one of the few education platforms to enter the IPO space. Major edtech players like PhysicsWallah followed later, aiming for a USD$3.6 billion valuation through a USD$393 million IPO.

    13. Cost drives Pakistan’s TNE growth as student mobility barriers rise

    International universities and education providers are pivoting to TNE in Pakistan due to the country’s price-sensitive environment which is creating challenges for students going abroad for education. While Pakistan faces weak investment in research and development, its strategic growth vision is driving rising demand for international qualifications among students, delegates heard at The PIE Live Europe 2025.

    This shift is particularly significant as several institutions, especially from the UK, have halted recruitment in certain cities and increased deposit requirements from 50% to the full tuition fee.

    14. International universities tap into Nepal’s mobile student population

    With a student mobility ratio of 19% — ten times that of its giant neighbours, India and China — Nepal has attracted visits from over 16 universities under the Nepal Rising initiative. The country is already planning 30 or more franchise TNE campuses, with 30,000 students approved by the Ministry of Education.

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  • stories that shaped the sector

    stories that shaped the sector

    It was August 2000 when Chloé Gorlei found herself at Nijmegen train station in the Netherlands, standing in the hot summer air and waiting for a minibus that would carry her to the international office at the University of Radboud.

    “There, I would sign the necessary paperwork and collect my bedroom pack; two towels, some bedding, and a single, unremarkable tea towel that somehow made the whole adventure feel suddenly real.”

    Gorlei, now head of international partnerships and student recruitment at Escape Studios, was the the first in her family to go to university, and had recently completed a two-year diploma in business and marketing and the University of Montpellier II in France.

    She describes her level of English at the time as “basic”, she didn’t know anyone in the country and was without a mobile phone. Despite these challenges, this was the start of a new chapter for her.

    “Not only did I meet people from all over the world, and learnt about new cultures, accents and habits, but I also lived in an unfamiliar place that would become home for ten months. Although culturally close to my country, I had to learn new codes, and even a new language.”

    “The university itself was very different to what I had known so far: going through economics books in English was a challenge! I was also not used to only having a few hours of lectures a week. Where I came from, we had lectures all day, five days a week,” she recalled.

    “This is Erasmus to me: experiences that shaped my future and friendships for life. It’s not all rosy, there are challenges, but it gives everyone, regardless of background or financial situation, a glimpse of what it means to be an international student. It opens your eyes to a world you might never have discovered otherwise,” said Gorlei.

    Photo: Chloé Gorlei

    In 2023, Gorlei reunited with some of her fellow Erasmus students in the Netherlands, describing it as “a wonderful chance to relive those moments, cycle the same lanes, and party in the same bars”.

    “It fills me with joy and hope that UK students will finally have this chance again, and that European students will discover the UK, an opportunity they might otherwise never have.”

    For Maria de la Pisa, deputy director international and head of international partnerships and relations at the University of Bristol, the UK’s reassociation to Erasmus+ is the early Christmas present she was hoping for.

    “I am incredibly excited to hear that the UK is going to rejoin the Erasmus+ program from 2027. This is wonderful news for the UK higher education sector and for all the thousands of UK and EU students who will be able to benefit from this transformative opportunity.”

    De la Pisa is proud to call herself an Erasmus scholar, having spent a year at the Univerity of Leicester, studying in a second language and quickly adapting to a very different academic approach compared to what she was used to in Spain.

    “I embraced British culture wholeheartedly,” she said.

    “That year was full of making international friends, travelling to as many corners of the UK as my budget allowed, and embracing the unexpected. I discovered fascinating traditions and celebrations which I had never even heard of before. It was a year of growth, adventure, and unforgettable experiences.”

    And it was that during this year that de la Pisa met her husband, who later went on to participate in an Erasmus exchange in Spain. The couple celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary in 2025.

    The pair returned to the University of Leicester, 27 years later, to show their children where they first met – at an international student party in the Students’ Union (Percy Gee Building).

    Photo: Maria de la Pisa

    As de la Pisa’s son prepares to enter university next year, she said she is “delighted” that this opportunity will also be available to him and many other UK students.

    “Professionally, this incredible opportunity sparked an interest in working in international education and I have spent over two decades in the higher education sector motivated by a commitment to extend the same transformative opportunities I had to others.

    “For the sector, this is a huge win. It will strengthen collaboration with European partners, not only through student mobility but also through research, education, and cultural exchange. I hope this renewal also inspires a wider interest in language learning and the arts, areas that enrich society and reinforce global connections,” said de la Pisa.

    “Here’s to the next generation discovering the world, building friendships across borders, and shaping their futures. A big thank you to Universities UK International and all those who have tirelessly advocated for this change.”

    For Anne Marie Graham, chief executive of UKCISA, it is no exaggeration to say that Erasmus changed her life – both personally and professionally. Speaking to The PIE, she reflected on the transformative impact of the program and expressed her delight that young people in the UK will once again have access to the same life-shaping opportunities through Erasmus.

    “I didn’t know it at the time but I would have been a Widening Participation student. I was lucky enough to be funded for two Erasmus semesters – one in Granada, Spain and another in Clermont-Ferrand, France,” she told The PIE. She recalled her time in Granada with particular fondness, remembering it as it was before it became the global tourist destination it is today.

    “It was free to enter the Alhambra and I just used to go up on a Sunday afternoon with my book to sit and recover after a fun Saturday night out!”

    Photo: Anne Marie Graham

    “It was daunting at first, but loved being able to study alongside Spanish and French students, and create links with locals through university projects,” said Graham.

    “I was lucky to be able to immerse myself in many ways in Spain, and it was life-changing. It gave me self-confidence, language skills, intercultural competence and of course friends for life with students from other Uk universities, Spain, Italy, Sweden and the US. I’m very happy that these opportunities are returning to UK students.”

    The PIE‘s own Jacqui Jenkins also took a moment to reflect on her experience as an Erasmus student at weißensee academy of art berlin (then widely known as the East Berlin Art College).

    “Erasmus was genuinely life-changing for me – and, in many ways, probably the reason I’m still addicted to working in this wonderfully chaotic international education sector,” said Jenkins.

    I left the UK in 1997 as a Brit. I came back thinking much more like a global citizen

    Jacqui Jenkins, The PIE

    “Being dropped into a classroom with students from entirely different backgrounds changes how you see the world. Many of my peers had grown up in the former East Germany or the wider USSR and had experienced a very different schooling system and social reality. Those conversations – and that context – forced me to see everything through a different lens.

    “I left the UK in 1997 as a Brit. I came back thinking much more like a global citizen.”

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  • DHS final rule to overhaul H-1B visa in favour of higher earners

    DHS final rule to overhaul H-1B visa in favour of higher earners

    The final rule, released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday is due to take effect on February 27, in time for the annual H-1B spring lottery. 

    It is currently under review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and is set to be officially published on December 29.

    Alongside favouring “higher-skilled” and “higher-paid” workers, DHS said the change would “disincentivise abuse of the H-1B program to fill relatively lower-paid, lower-skilled positions, which is a significant problem under the present H-1B program”. 

    It is part of wider government efforts to ensure H-1B visas are issued to high earners, which saw the administration hiking the H-1B visa fee to $100,000 – a move it later clarified would not apply to F-1 students changing status within the US. 

    The drastic hike, which is up to 20 times more than what employers previously paid, has drawn three legal challenges, including one from the US Chamber of Commerce. 

    Today’s rule will come as little surprise to the sector after it was proposed in the Federal Register on September 24, with critics arguing that the change would constrain the US tech sector which they say would be moved to ramp up offshoring facilities and jobs.  

    53% of current international students say they would not have enrolled in the US if H-1B access was determined by wage levels

    NAFSA

    “There simply are not enough American computer science graduates to support the decades-long record of US innovation and economic growth. That is the wonder of the US tech sector,” Intead CEO Ben Waxman previously told The PIE. 

    “Why would the US government want to constrain that engine?” he asked.  

    What’s more, the change is likely to contribute to the declining appeal of the US among prospective international students who increasingly cite work experience and job opportunities as primary factors shaping study decisions.  

    In a recent NAFSA survey of current US international students, over half of respondents (53%) said they would not have enrolled in the first place if access to H-1B was determined by wage levels.  

    A similar proportion (54%) indicated they would never have enrolled in the US if it wasn’t for Optional Practical Training (OPT), which experts anticipate is also under threat. 

    The H-1B visa, popular with the likes of Amazon, Microsoft and Apple, enables US employers to temporarily employ international workers in “specialty occupations” across a wide range of industries such as healthcare, computer science and financial analysis.  

    Currently, there is an annual cap of 85,000 new H-1B visas, and when this cap is exceeded, applicants are placed into a random lottery which determines who is awarded a visa.  

    Under the new weighted system, higher earners will be entered into the selection pool more times than lower earners, ranging from one to four times.  

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  • $100,000 H-1B visa fee draws third court challenge

    $100,000 H-1B visa fee draws third court challenge

    The coalition of states, led by California’s attorney general Rob Bonta, has argued Trump’s September proclamation bypasses required rulemaking procedures and exceeds the authority of the President’s executive branch.  

    They said the fee violates federal law which allows immigration authorities to collect only necessary fees to cover the cost of administering visa processes.  

    “The Trump administration thinks it can raise costs on a whim, but the law says otherwise,” declared Bonta on December 12. 

    “We are going to court to defend California’s residents and their access to the world-class universities, schools, and hospitals that make Californians proud to call this state home,” he said.  

    The plaintiffs argued the $100,000 fee required for certain H-1B petitions would put “unnecessary” and “illegal” financial burdens on public employers and providers of vital services, exacerbating labour shortages in key sectors.  

    The lawsuit filed last week in a federal court in Boston is the third to challenge Trump’s September 19 proclamation raising the cost of an H-1B visa petition to $100,000 – over 20 times the current cost which ranges between $2,000 and $5,000.  

    The H-1B visa enables US employers to temporarily hire international workers in “specialty occupations” from healthcare to computer science and financial analysis. California’s tech industry is particularly reliant on the visa stream.  

    A month after the initial proclamation, the administration clarified the controversial fee would not apply to international students and other visa holders changing status in the country – an update that commentators say will cause US companies to lean heavily into hiring US trained international students.  

    The White House previously said the fee would combat the “large-scale abuse” of the program which was replacing American workers and undermining the country’s economic and national security.

    The Trump Administration thinks it can raise costs on a whim, but the law says otherwise

    Rob Bonta, California Attorney General

    The states bringing the lawsuit are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

    Their legal action follows the US Chamber of Commerce bringing a case against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and an earlier case, Global Nurse Force v. Trump, challenging the policy on similar grounds to the most recent suit.  

    Plaintiffs in the Chamber of Commerce lawsuit are seeking a preliminary injunction that would temporarily ban the fee being imposed while the legality of the proclamation is litigated. A district court hearing is due to be held today (December 19) on the injunction.  

    In addition to the fee hike, businesses and prospective employers are keeping a close eye on government plans to overhaul the H-1B system in favour of higher wage earners. 

    A change of this sort is likely to have wide-reaching implications for global talent flows to the US, with over half of postgraduate students indicating in a recent survey that they wouldn’t have enrolled at US institutions if access to H-1B was determined by wage levels.  

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  • The hottest HE policy topics of 2025

    The hottest HE policy topics of 2025

    It’s always fun at this time of year to hop on Google Analytics and see which topics and articles on Wonkhe have been the most read.

    At Wonkhe we don’t generally pursue “clicks” for their own sake. The nature of HE is that there are lots of people who have specialist and specific concerns they want to write about and that others enjoy hearing about – and if you have even a passing knowledge of our site you’ll be aware that as a team we have our own share of hobby horses, and niche interests. Thank you for putting up with us.

    But there are also moments in the policy cycle that seem to bring the sector together at the Wonkhe watercooler, typically major fiscal events like the Budget, or major government policies such as this year’s post-16 education and skills white paper. In those obvious Big Moments it’s clear that Wonkhe’s policy summaries are widely clicked on and shared. These are meant to be an accessible overview that help non-specialists understand the policy agenda in fairly broad strokes, so hopefully that means they are working.

    Beyond the Big Moments you get to the other issues and debates of the year, topics that have needed interpretation and analysis, and sense-making, sometimes with a bit of soap boxing thrown in.

    So here, in no particular order, are the top five topics of the year based entirely on my reading of Wonkhe’s web traffic. Do write in if you have a more robust evidence base – or if proper data is your thing change the channel to DK’s year in numbers on the other side.

    Artificial intelligence

    This conversation just keeps going, and for good reason – as the technology evolves, as students, academics and HE professionals test different use cases and roll out new policies, training and support, the meaning of artificial intelligence in the HE context is also shifting. It started with academic misconduct, but now it’s moving towards learning design, graduate skills innovation and efficiency – and all of those things need unpacking and critical appraisal. If that’s something you’re interested in, do join us at The Secret Life of Students in March 2026.

    Free speech

    Namely, the fine the Office for Students issued to the University of Sussex, which sent enormous reverberations around the sector and turned what was already a fairly fraught issue as higher education institutions grappled with executing their legal and regulatory responsibilities, into a seriously high-stakes challenges for heads of administration, governors and students’ unions. In 2025 the free speech legislation came into force, alongside modest government amendments to try to make the whole thing workable.

    But as the fervid debate over free speech subsides in favour of implementing the regulations the question remains hanging in the air: if 2026 passes without a major regulatory intervention on free speech will it be because regulation has enabled a resurgence of healthy debate on campus, or because higher education institutions are now so terrified of being the next against the wall they are shying away from any possible controversial issue in perpetuity?

    Franchising

    Last year saw interventions from the National Audit Office and Public Accounts Committee raising concerns about the culture around franchised higher education provision – and this year ended with confirmation of government “crack down” plans. Meanwhile Universities UK and GuildHE strengthened the sector’s code of conduct on admissions and its guidance on the use of domestic agents. Over on The Post-18 Project we made some suggestions about how to regulate franchised provision, learning the lessons from FE.

    So are we looking at steps in the right direction or bringing a knife to a gun fight? While there remain bad actors in the system we can’t be confident that it’s not the latter. It’s possible that in 2026 the government will get round to strengthening OfS’ duties to protect public money, as the post-16 education and skills white paper promised, but the whole agenda depends on “when legislative time allows.” In the meantime, the whole issue is being framed as a “governance problem” – increasingly a get-out-of-jail-free card for ministers wishing higher education institutions would act more against the incentives the current system has handed them.

    Mergers

    There’s a healthy market for futurologists prepared to speculate about the future size and shape of the HE sector, and lots of work around the margins to work out how to make the process of structural change, where institutions have decided it’s a good strategic choice, less burdensome.

    Given the scale of the proposal and its unusual nature it’s not surprising that the announcement that the Universities of Kent and Greenwich plan to merge to form a new multi-university group saw a huge degree of interest, especially as it’s offered a solution to the problem of loss of institutional identity in merger – the two institutions will remain distinct as trading entities while combining as a legal entity with single systems and policies.

    Higher education finances

    No, mergers and finances aren’t the same thing. Shame on you for suggesting it. Though it’s not insignificant to the broader prospect of structural change that the government has declined to say what it would do if a higher education institution became insolvent, preferring instead to rely on OfS to try and make sure that doesn’t happen.

    It will come as a surprise to nobody that higher education finance remains a much-engaged-with topic, as the sector tries to make sense of its circumstances and the implications for its future. In particular this year the financial challenges at the University of Dundee, while distinctive to that institution, have thrown into sharp relief the real risks facing the sector and the impact on higher education communities when an institution finds itself in impossible financial circumstances.

    What has changed at the end of this year is some clarity from the Westminster government about the funding settlement, but with a consultation on the Strategic Priorities Grant expected in 2026 plus elections in Wales and Scotland, plus ongoing efforts to manage risks to financial sustainability and/or transform operating models the finances conversation isn’t going anywhere any time soon. But in 2026 let’s change it up so that it’s less about how awful it all is and more about learning how others have managed significant financial changes – and maybe even come out the other side stronger and with a greater clarity of purpose. That’s my Christmas wish, anyway.

    Take a breather

    If you’ve listened to the podcast this week you’ll have heard DK’s annual Christmas song offering – and I think it’s not all that surprising that his main message this year seems to be less about the HE policy landscape and more about escaping from having to think about it for a week or two.

    Not the worst advice by any means – and so to help you switch off we’ll be dialling back our firehose of policy content and commentary to the merest trickle (plus whatever Jim can’t help himself from writing about while he’s supposed to be on holiday).

    Have a peaceful Christmas season and a jolly New Year, and we’ll be here in 2026 for another go on the HE policy merry-go-round. Happy festive season everyone and Wonk bless us, one and all.

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  • 2025 higher education in twelve charts

    2025 higher education in twelve charts

    Not every big higher education story has an accompanying chart – but many of them do have an accompanying data release that allows us to dig into problems and hopefully help us identify solutions.

    I’m lucky enough to have the chance to visualise some of these things for you all, and these are twelve (well, thirteen…) things that I have found interesting, informative, and useful over the past twelve months.

    As always, if there are data-related questions please do get in touch – quite a few of the ideas for these charts came from my email inbox!

    Money matters

    This doesn’t even feel like a 2025 thing – it feels like an eternal complaint, but over the last couple of years things have intensified. We’ve (by “we” I mean all four devolved administrations) systematically and deliberately underfunded higher education for years, and acting surprised when universities have to stop doing valuable things – or doing them less well – is the inevitable result.

    Financial issues have also led to the late publication of audited financial statements, as institutions have had to rework budgets to pass the “going concern” test. In December 2025 we finally got a near-complete set of financial data for 2023-24 (obviously not including the University of Dundee or Dartington Hall) and even a cursory look at the key financial indicators suggests that things are gradually (and then suddenly) getting worse. Striking for me is the growing number of very well known providers running a large deficit as a proportion of total income. You can do this for a few years (judiciously liquidising assets and drawing on reserves) but you cannot do it for much longer.

    [Full screen]

    Saying goodbye

    One of the ways in which these financial woes have manifested themselves is in difficult and painful provider-level decisions to stop employing many of our friends, colleagues, and inspirations across every area of university activity. Staff costs are, and remain, the biggest proportional cost in nearly every university and college – and years of austerity mean that every other cost has been cut to the bone).

    Your campus unions have been working hard to blunt the impact of these cuts and negotiate alternative approaches that can keep the whole show on the road. If you have a good branch it is a fantastic thing, and even if the machinations of national union politics have turned you off please do continue to support the people performing this often thankless and often essential work. Everyone knows that nearly all universities are struggling – and it is only through working together (unions and managers) that we get through this while still being a university.

    Here’s the change in academic staff numbers (we still don’t have a mandatory data collection in England for all of the other amazing staff that make universities work!), by cost centre, at your university (or anywhere else you want to look) between 2022-23 and 2023-24. Next year’s data – given the scope and scale of cuts announced – will look even worse.

    [Full screen]

    The end of “high tariff providers”

    Changes in recruitment strategies mean that all kinds of universities are making often surprising low tariff UCAS offers, with providers who traditionally cater for applicants with less evidence of academic prowess (or being middle-class) both struggling and wondering if the increasingly busy posh kids place up the road is actually set up to provide the support students need.

    As is often the case with recruitment data we can’t really look at the issue directly – there’s some kind of an omerta about discussing this – but by looking at where providers are growing recruitment while getting less applications we can see some instances where a prime diagnosis may be a lowering of entry requirements.

    [Full screen]

    To be clear, the elite end of the sector becoming less elite is not a bad thing in and of itself – but we need to be clear that providers more used to stellar A levels are able to provide the support that less advantaged students need, and we need also be a little more open about what the future is for the other providers who have historically done this work very well.

    Mind you, posh kids who do really well at A level are less likely to go to university if they apply. What’s that about?

    Subcontractual obligations

    The last few years have been busy with attempts to spot and root out “low quality courses” – who remembers the PROCEED metric? – but these attempts seem to have landed on sub-contractual provision… particularly when this happens at high volumes at unregistered independent providers. There’s been steps taken to compel registration, and to reinforce the responsibility that lead partners have over the quality of the provision carried out in their name.

    But to do all that took the release of previously unseen data on the size and shape of the subcontractual universe. It’s not perfect (in fact it is rather old data) but for the first time we have some understanding of who is (or was) working with who – and what the outcomes (B3) metrics look like.

    [Full screen] (and there’s also a version allowing you search by lead provider)

    Didn’t get the memo

    Alas, nobody told shadow minister for policy renewal (the current opposition’s Temu David Willetts) Neil O’Brien who spent the spring playing with SLC data to determine which institutions had graduates who were not paying back loans. He did not do very well – in that he didn’t bother controlling for any of the things (including, mystifyingly, subject area) that we know affect earnings and thus graduate repayment.

    Using LEO data and some assumptions (so in indicative terms only) I had a go at doing something similar – and it turns out that the biggest determining factor for low levels of repayment is the likelihood that someone attending a given provider has a disadvantaged background.

    [Full screen] (and here’s a look by subject area which makes the point that that is very obviously a determinant of earnings too, so perhaps the lads at whichever think tank is helping Neil will spot that different providers teach different subjects in different proportions.)

    Commuter line

    Who is teaching the students who – for financial, work, caring obligations, or other reasons – want to study locally? There’s various data driven ways to answer that question, but all of them require that you accept someone else’s definition of living “locally” and none of them let you do things the other way around (which providers recruit in a given locality).

    I had a go at this with one of my favourite HESA Student tables and a little bit of Tableau magic. It’s not entirely satisfying (I’m using the central point of each local authority area which… isn’t ideal) but it is fun.

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    Levy or not

    A new tax is just the thing for a cash-strapped sector, and one on the one area of income where universities can actually meet the associated costs and run a profit was the Christmas gift all of us wanted. The money will stay – broadly – in the sector (with some of it going to grants for less well off students doing government priority subjects) but the big surprise was a shift from a proportional model (where the providers that charge the highest fees pay a bigger levy) to a flat rate, disproportionately hitting those who can’t or won’t charge a premium.

    You can model the impact yourself here – and ponder the implications of a single sector tax that directly affects the ability to cross-subsidise public funded work.

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    It’s maybe my second favourite new data release. The favourite has to be the Standard Skills Classification from Skills England – because who doesn’t love a vocabulary that links together other vocabularies?

    Spinning around

    And who doesn’t love yet another new new data set? – this one is another belter. Universities often prove to be the launching pad for companies who are able to commercialise products, processes, or services developed from academic practice (research, teaching, capacity building). It’s still in experimental mode – we had two versions this year and this is a plot of the second one (which saved me the bother of manually linking it to Companies House data – thanks HESA friends!)

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    Premium content

    The idea of a graduate premium – that your newly minted degree holder will earn enough extra over their lifetime to cover the increasingly expensive loan repayments that are required from them – was everywhere this year, and those interested in getting an accurate rather than politically useful answer spent a lot of time hitting up on the limits of what available data can tell us. This is an area the Department for Education is actively working on – so expect some improvements in the future.

    For me, the most compelling answer came from a data source that DfE has pledged to abandon – the venerable Graduate Labour Market Statistics (GLMS). Under cover of historic problems with the underlying Labour Force Statistics (LFS) this will be axed in favour of improvements to a data source that can’t even handle the concept of part time work – LEO.

    I stumbled across a dataset showing hourly wages by highest qualification held within localities (NUTS3, UK deprecated international geographic identifier fans!), and the beleaguered Office for National Statistics were happy to fill in the gaps for me. In every area of the UK, graduates earn more for an hour’s work than people who haven’t attended higher education. And that has to count for something.

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    New information, supposed to fry your imagination

    There were (thankfully) no changes to the National Student Survey this year – so just another data point in a timeseries that demonstrates that people leaving an undergraduate qualification do so with satisfaction rates that would turn any other service industry green with envy.

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    No plans

    However, who gets to study is still very much a problematic question. If you read the wider education news you’ll know that the number of pupils with Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) has been steadily growing year on year – in 2024-25 it was above 600,000. But despite this growth, access to higher tariff (or prestigious I guess?) higher education providers for pupils with an EHCP is abysmal. In the 2023-24 recruitment cycle just 327 (that’s 1.5 per cent) of young people with an EHCP managed it – you could literally fit all of them in a lecture theatre.

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    Bonus: You’ll never believe this one weird chart

    Yes, it’s the providers where more students get an undergraduate maintenance loan than an undergraduate fee loan. There are a few edge cases where this can happen, for an individual student what I’m looking for (call it a Christmas quiz) is an explanation that explains why these providers and why these volumes.

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  • Canada launches CAD$1.7bn investment to recruit 1,000 global researchers

    Canada launches CAD$1.7bn investment to recruit 1,000 global researchers

    The Global Impact+ Research Talent Initiative will fund new research chairs, early-career posts, and infrastructure upgrades across universities to draw in leading academics from overseas and Canadian researchers currently working abroad. 

    “[The] investment is about securing Canada’s place at the forefront of discovery and innovation and leveraging our strength in science to support our future well-being and prosperity for generations to come,” said Canadian minister of industry Melanie Joly, announcing the program.  

    Through recruiting top talent, the program aims to “deliver direct economic, societal and health benefits for Canadians,” she stated.  

    The U15 group of Canada’s leading research-intensive universities welcomed the details of the investment, which was initially put forward in the government’s 2026-28 Immigration Levels Plan last month.  

    Robert Asselin, U15’s CEO, described the initiative as a “call to action” to make Canada a world-leading hub for research and innovation. 

    “This is a significant step which recognises that Canada’s security and economic success depend on supporting highly qualified talent with the ideas and expertise to deliver bold new discoveries,” he said.  

    Policymakers said the initiative was one of the largest recruitment programs of its kind in the world, with minister of health Majorie Michel emphasising the tangible benefits to Canada’s healthcare system.  

    “Better healthcare begins with better research. And in Canada, we believe in science. We value our scientists.” 

    “These investments will attract the best and brightest in the world, including Francophone researchers. This is the exact talent we need to drive better healthcare outcomes for Canadians and grow the Canadian economy,” Michel declared. 

    This is the exact talent we need to drive better healthcare outcomes for Canadians and grow the Canadian economy

    Majorie Michel, Canadian Minister of Health

    The investment will be split across four funding streams. The Canada Impact+ Research Chairs program has been allocated the bulk of the investment and is set to receive CAD$1bn over 12 years to help universities attract world-leading international researchers.  

    Meanwhile, the Canada Impact+ Emerging Leaders program will use CAD$120 million over 12 years to bring international early-career researchers to the country and expand the research talent pool with “fresh ideas and diverse perspectives”. 

    Two additional funds of CAD$400m and CAD$130m respectively, will be used to strengthen research infrastructure and provide training to support doctoral students and researchers relocating to Canada.  

    Recruitment will focus on fields such as artificial intelligence, health, clean technology, quantum science, environmental resilience, democratic resilience, manufacturing, defence, and cybersecurity. 

    Karim Bardeesy, parliamentary secretary to the minister of industry, said at the announcement: “We need to invite the best and brightest from around the world and those Canadians abroad to come and do that work here in Canada.” 

    The initiative comes as Canada plans to reduce new international study permits by more than 50% in 2026, driven by wider federal efforts to reduce Canada’s temporary resident population to less than 5% of the total by the end of 2027. 

    Delivering Canada’s 2025 budget in November, finance minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said the measures were designed to give the government greater control over the immigration system and bring immigration back to “sustainable levels”. 

    The government has said immigration measures will be targeted to specifically boost the scientific benefits for Canada, such as through increasing the country’s supply of doctors as part of a new International Talent Attraction Strategy and Action Plan. 

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  • Data: who’ll be worst affected by England’s international fee levy?

    Data: who’ll be worst affected by England’s international fee levy?

    Long-awaited details of the mooted levy on international students at English universities – due to take effect in 2028 – were released with Rachel Reeves’ Budget earlier this week to a largely negative reaction from international education stakeholders.

    Instead of the expected 6% tax on international student income suggested in the immigration white paper, the Treasury is instead consulting on a £925-per-international-student flat fee.

    However, under the proposals, each provider will receive an allowance covering their first 220 international students each year – meaning that many small or specialist institutions will be spared the tax.

    But larger institutions with higher numbers of international students will bear the brunt of the levy.

    HESA data from the 2023/24 academic year – the most recently available figures – gives an indication of which providers could be worst hit by the levy, although enrolment numbers may have changed since then and could shift dramatically before the policy finally comes into effect.

    London is the region set to be most impacted by the levy, with England’s capital welcoming the most international students. Meanwhile, the North East had the fewest.

    Here’s our round up of the top five institutions that risk losing out the most.

    University College London (UCL)

    Of the 614,000 international students at English institutions in the 2023/24 academic year, UCL was home to the largest amount, at 27,695.

    Under the proposals, if UCL had the same number of international students under the levy, it would be liable to pay over £25 million.

    The University of Manchester

    Coming in second is the University of Manchester, which had 19,475 international students in 2023/24. This would mean it would have to pay almost £18m under the levy proposals.

    The University of Hertfordshire

    In third place is the University of Hertfordshire, with 19,235 international students in 2023/24 – a levy amount of just over £17.5m.

    Kings College London

    Up next is Kings College London, with 15,850 international students, meaning it would be taxed a little under £14.5m

    The University of Leeds

    Another large metropolitan university set to be hit hard by the levy is the University of Leeds, with 15,605 international students. If enrolments numbers stay the same into 2028, it could face costs of over £14.2m.

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  • Integrity Bill passes as government vows crackdown on “quick-buck” operators

    Integrity Bill passes as government vows crackdown on “quick-buck” operators

    The Albanese government has passed legislation that it says will strengthen the integrity of the international education sector, despite sector concerns about some elements of the reforms set to impact higher and international education.

    The Education Legislation Amendment (Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2025 proposes amendments across several key acts within education, including the Education Services for Overseas Students Act (ESOS). 

    “With the passing of this legislation, we now have more tools to stop unscrupulous individuals in the international education system trying to make a quick buck,” said education minister Jason Clare.

    In a statement on the Bill’s passing, the federal government chose to highlight some of the changes it is set to bring about, including:

    • Enabling the banning of commissions to education agents for onshore student transfers
    • Requiring most prospective VET providers excluding TAFEs to first deliver courses to domestic students for two years before they can apply to teach overseas students as evidence of their commitment to quality education
    • Cancelling the registration of providers that fail to deliver a course to overseas students for 12 consecutive months to help deal with ‘phoenixing’
    • Giving ministers the power to limit or cancel a providers’ ability to deliver courses where it is in the public interest or there are systemic quality issues

    Education providers will also now require authorisation from TEQSA to deliver Australian degrees offshore. The government described these changes as “light-touch, set transitional arrangements and utilise information that providers already hold”.

    “Australia’s future success requires a focus on quality, integrity and a great student experience. That’s why we’re cracking down on exploitation, increasing transparency, and safeguarding the reputation of our sector,” said Julian Hill, assistant minister for international education.

    We’re cracking down on exploitation, increasing transparency, and safeguarding the reputation of our sector
    Julian Hill, assistant minister for international education

    According to Hill, the changes will “protect genuine students and support high-quality providers”.

    Ministers say the reforms are about “safeguarding” Australia’s reputation as a world leader in education but certain parts of the Bill garnered fierce criticism from the sector. A public call for submissions gathered concerns about changes to the definition of an education agent and whether ministerial intervention powers were appropriately balanced, among other changes.

    The Bill is set to tighten oversight of education agents by broadening the legal definition of who qualifies as an agent and introducing new transparency requirements around commissions and payments.

    Elsewhere, one of the most significant points of concern related to new ministerial powers over provider and course registrations. The Bill would allow the minister to make legislative instruments suspending the processing of applications for provider registration – or registration of new courses – for periods of up to 12 months.

    The new Bill closely mirrors last year’s version but drops the proposed hard cap on international student enrolments that contributed to the earlier Bill’s failure in parliament. Instead, the government is managing new enrolments through its National Planning Level and visa processing directive MD115, rather than legislated limits.

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  • England’s international fee levy under fire after details revealed

    England’s international fee levy under fire after details revealed

    Critics of the policy – now subject to consultation – say the levy will only heap more pressure onto an already creaking higher education network. At present, only England’s universities will be subject to the charge, as the Office for Students, which will manage the charge, only regulates English institutions.

    Official modelling predicts that the change, set to come in from August 2025, will cost universities an annual £330 million. However, under the proposals, each provider will receive an annual allowance to cover their first 220 international students – a move that’s made smaller and specialist institutions breathe a sigh of relief.

    But for larger universities with high numbers of international students, the picture isn’t so rosy.

    Gary Davies, pro vice-chancellor of London Metropolitan University, told The PIE News the levy would have a detrimental effect on his institution despite being brought in as a flat fee.

    “For us the levy means a cut in funding for the very students the levy proposes to support. It will impact what we can offer in relation to student hardship, careers advice, scholarships for underrepresented students,” he said.

    Diana Beech, director of the Finsbury Institute at City St George’s, said the details of the policy had been “buried in the Treasury’s Red Book” – largely dodging coverage by the mainstream media.

    “This begs the question: why undermine one of the UK’s strongest export sectors without even gaining political credit for it – whether that’s by framing the levy as a tough stance on immigration or as a much-needed boost for disadvantaged students,” she asked.

    “By going about this policy in such a hush-hush way, the levy will simply tax legitimate, highly skilled migration under the radar and heap further pressure on universities already in financial distress. Worse still, fixing it as a flat £925 fee per student risks hitting those institutions least able to absorb the cost, given the lack of price elasticity outside the elite end of the sector.”

    Why undermine one of the UK’s strongest export sectors without even gaining political credit for it?
    Diana Beech, City St George’s

    University Alliance CEO Vanessa Wilson warned the levy risked “denting [the] success story” of UK international education – even if the cash raised would go towards a goo cause like domestic maintenance grants.”

    Wilson said the move would hit universities hard, and pressed for a full assessment of the levy’s effects on higher education institutions before its proposed implementation in 2028.

    “Alongside this, the government must explore further ways to soften the blow for professional and technical universities, such as cutting costly regulation and reviewing their participation in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, which some universities are legally obliged to offer at increasingly expensive contribution rates,” she added. 

    Malcolm Press, president of Universities UK, pointed out that the UK’s international fees are already high. As a result of the proposed levy, he predicted, English universities would either have to reduce cross-subsidies that support teaching and research, or raise international fees further – which could drive down international student numbers and therefore force institutions to reduce domestic places.

    The irony of the levy – which will be used to fund maintenance grants for disadvantaged British students – actually reducing places for home students has been raised before. An analysis by the think tank Public First predicted the levy could shrink domestic places by 135,000.

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