The management of outward student mobility programmes in the UK

Earlier this year, we circulated a survey to UK universities to understand more about how they manage their outward student mobility programmes. We focused on four main areas: strategy, programmes, resource and Covid-19 recovery. This report shares the findings of the survey, and tracks these against the findings of a survey of the same nature conducted in 2018 to show how student mobility management has changed over time. 

Key findings

• 68% of respondents include outward mobility in their institution’s strategic plan and 29% have a dedicated outward student mobility strategy.
• Short term mobility (1-4 weeks) has been the biggest growth area in terms of provision over the last three academic years at 69% of universities  
• 78% of universities estimate that mobilities from their institutions have recovered to at least 50% of pre-pandemic levels in the 2021-22 academic year, with 14% stating that mobility has entirely recovered.  
• 63% of institutions introduced or expanded virtual mobility in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Of those who did, 63% plan to maintain these opportunities, 21% don’t plan to maintain them, and 16% don’t know.