About our transnational education work

Strategic aim 

Support the development of sustainable, scalable transnational education. 

Introduction

Our TNE work is designed to give universities the best chance of success when developing and delivering programmes overseas. We work closely with partners on research and insight to provide university leaders with the evidence to make strategic decisions, and to shape programmes to help develop TNE opportunities in more places for UK universities. 

TNE is highly important to UK universities, reaching 1.4 times more learners overseas than there are international students enrolled on higher education programmes in the UK.

Highlights of our work: 

• Monitoring and identifying barriers to transnational education (TNE, ie., UK degrees completed outside the UK) operations in priority markets and work towards removing them. 
• Analysing data and spotting trends in UK higher education TNE, such as the numbers of students studying for a UK degree in each region around the world and the type of transnational education provision being delivered.
• Producing an annual publication – The Scale of UK Higher Education Transnational Education – which tracks TNE trends over time.

UK higher education TNE is:

• Far reaching: 666,815 students were studying offshore for UK degrees in 2018–19 (HESA Aggregate Offshore Record/UUKi Scale of UK HE TNE) in in 226 countries and territories. More international students are enrolled in UK-delivered TNE programmes than are studying in the UK.
• Diverse, flexible and strong: TNE is delivered in almost all academic fields, at every level, with the possibility of studying part-time and full-time, through distance/online learning, studying in-country through a partner or through a physical campus.
• Strategically important: higher education TNE was valued at £640 million per annum to the UK in 2017, according to the latest figures from the Department for Education.
• Leading in international partnerships: Increasingly, universities are developing new TNE with other universities, colleges or even overseas governments. The UK is a partner of choice for TNE because of its strengths including quality assurance, curriculum development and assessment. 

Our work:

• provides a hub for dialogue around TNE policy development and stimulate debate
• enables UK universities to maximise their TNE performance, developing the higher education sector's capacity to utilise resources and data
• provides a collective voice for UK universities on TNE-related policy developments
• furthers research, knowledge and data on TNE
• promotes all forms of TNE and raises awareness of its benefits

You can sign up to our TNE e-Group, if you'd like to receive updates about our TNE work, and be the first to know when our reports and events go live.

You can also email us at [email protected] with any TNE related enquiries.