Universities UK responds to the Sunday Times article about international student recruitment

International students are a key part of the success story that is UK higher education. The Sunday Times story fails to distinguish between entry requirements for International Foundation Years and full degrees. International Foundation Years are designed to prepare students to apply for full degree programmes. They do not guarantee entry to them. They are designed for students who come from different education systems where, in many cases, students might have completed 12 rather than 13 years of education.

We entirely agree that the entry requirements for international and domestic students to full degree programmes should be equivalent. It is essential that the integrity of entry routes be protected. However, it must also be understood that entry routes for international students will reflect the diverse countries and education backgrounds that these students come from, and that some will need bridging courses to enable them to progress to UK degrees.

We stand ready to work with government to uphold trust and confidence in the UK higher education system. Where weaknesses are exposed, for instance in relation to the use of agents, we will work with government to address them. Indeed, Universities UK together with BUILA and the British Council recently published an Agent Quality Framework as a step towards this.