The scale of UK higher education transnational education 2020–21

Last updated on Tuesday 20 Dec 2022 at 10:28pm

This report, now in its sixth edition, provides a snapshot analysis of where, at what level, and through what type of provision TNE students studied during the 2020−21 academic year. The report also includes detailed insights by region and country highlights from the British Council to contextualise the data.

Key findings include:

In 2020–21, UK TNE was reported in 228 countries and territories, with 510,835 students studying via UK TNE – a 12.7% increase from the previous year. UK TNE numbers have grown across all regions at an overall higher growth rate than ever before.

Asia continued to be the top host region for UK TNE students in 2020–21, with 252,845 students, it hosted 49.5% of the total. Asia was followed by the European Union (15.8%), the Middle East (13.8%), Africa (11.1%), North America (5.3%), non-EU Europe (3.4%), Australasia (0.6%), and South America (0.6%).
China was the top host country for UK TNE (61,495 students; 12.0% of the total), followed by Malaysia (48,460; 9.5%), Sri Lanka (37,175; 7.3%), Singapore (27,875; 5.5%) and Egypt (23,805; 4.7%).
Student numbers in the EU increased by 24,825 (+44.7%) between 2016–17 and 2020–21.