UK's share of global HE market has held up over the past decade (UNESCO figures suggest it was 12.8% in 1999 and 12.6& in 2007). A recent International Unit newsletter (opens in new window) discusses how far this is an indicator of perceived quality, and concludes that there is an undeniable link between recrcuitment and the perception of quality and standards.
 
Of course, universities do not purely rely on market indicators for quality assurance in an international arena. 
 
We also ask international students why they came to the UK. A study of a large sample of international postgraduate research students (opens in new window) reports that the UK was the first-choice destination for 83% of students, and that the top three factors influencing their decision were, in order: ‘research’ ‘quality’, ‘reputation’, and 'teaching quality'.

We also look to see what other countries make of our quality assurance systems. Firstly, we note that other countries, such as Australia and Japan, have recently visited UUK to ask about our systems and to learn from them. In particular, the visitors were impressed by our external examining arrangements and our academic infrastructure (opens in new window).

Secondly, we work closely with European counterparts. The UK (England, Wales, and Northern Ireland) is, together with Scotland, one of nine out of the 46 Bologna Process participating countries that has managed to successfully verify its qualifications framework against the Framework for Qualifications of the European Higher Education Area. This is the qualifications framework set up through the Bologna Process (opens in new window). The criteria and procedures for verification require each country to demonstrate the robustness of their quality assurance systems as well as the links between their national framework and that of the European Higher Education Area (opens in new window) (EHEA). The QAA has also recently been verified (opens in new window) against the European Standards and Guidelines for quality assurance in higher education, and judged by an independent international team to comply with these standards.