Scaling up: data deep dive reveals the drivers behind continued TNE growth

The 2023–24 academic year proved to be another record breaker as the number of students studying around the world with UK institutions via transnational education (TNE) continued to grow. For those interested in a deeper dive into the data behind this growth, we are delighted to present our interactive 10th anniversary Scale of TNE report with expanded analysis, including world region highlights and spotlights on Scotland and Wales.  

The expanded report uses the same dataset as, and is intended to complement and build upon, the shorter summary report (The scale of UK higher education transnational education 2023-24) that we published at our 2025 UUKi Transnational Education Conference. 

As our full data analysis shows, UK HE TNE providers are operating on a global scale, expanding educational provision across various models and study levels. In 2023–24, 653,570 UK TNE students studied with over 170 UK providers, located across 220+ countries (HESA AOR). Across all UK providers, there were 491,765 in-person TNE students compared with 161,805 distance TNE students. Distance learning however was more geographically widespread: - in 2023–24, 231 countries and territories hosted distance TNE, compared to 176 in-person.  

The global reach of UK TNE delivery attests to the strong demand for UK educational provision worldwide, while raising questions on how TNE may need to develop to support learners as technologies evolve. Behind the data exists thousands of strategic partnerships involving overseas universities and colleges, foreign governments, service providers, and industry partners, who cooperate to develop TNE that meets national and local needs, while generating reciprocal benefits for entire communities. 

Most UK TNE remains at undergraduate level, however provision has grown across all study levels. In 10 years, from 2014–15 to 2023–24, the growth of UK HE TNE students has been +66.0% for undergraduate students, +80.6% for postgraduate taught (PGT) students, and +48.6% for postgraduate research (PGR) students (all excluding Oxford Brookes – see a note on data). Strong growth in UK TNE at postgraduate level continues to generate multifaceted benefits, including opportunities to foster global research partnerships, grow academic-industry partnerships, and develop avenues for work placements and post-study employment. 

While Asia continued to host around half of the market share of UK HE TNE students in 2023–24, at 51.1%, interesting trends emerge when we look sub-regionally. Over the past five years there has been particularly strong growth in UK TNE across South Asia, in countries including Sri Lanka (+104.2%), Pakistan (+103.0%), India (+78.1%), and Nepal (+107.5%). The Middle East has also seen strong growth in this period, with Saudi Arabia (+142.2%), the UAE (+88.1%), and Kuwait (+53.4%) leading the way.  

Elsewhere, multiple countries across sub-Saharan Africa have seen double digit percentage growth from a baseline of only a few thousand students, including Kenya (+77.8%), Nigeria (+51.0%) and Uganda (+74.5%). TNE providers in Scotland have had considerable five-year growth in China (+116.8), while TNE providers in Wales have had strong growth in Singapore (+50.3) and Sri Lanka (+243.5%). 

There are immense and growing opportunities for UK TNE providers to enhance and expand quality educational provision across countries, to meet community needs, strengthen international ties, support peacebuilding and increase reciprocal benefits. Careful planning and resourcing, particularly for the set-up phase of partnerships, will continue be vital to mitigating challenges and enabling UK TNE to flourish. 

In the UK sector, we are privileged to be able to work with and analyse one of the world’s most comprehensive TNE data records, the Aggregate Offshore Record (AOR) managed by the Higher Education Statistics Agency. Universities, regulators, and sector bodies all make use of the data to drive strategic development, monitor and enhance quality.  

UUKi continues to support UK universities through highlighting trends in the AOR data. The future expanded TNE AOR record represents an even greater opportunity for providers, partners and governments to identify opportunities that will maximise benefits to the communities we serve. We hope you enjoy reading UUKi’s 2023–24 AOR analysis. 

Read the full report