UK universities must take bold action to support Chinese students or risk losing them to other countries, a new report from the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) has warned.
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00:00Chinese students are vital to UK universities, with over 154,000 contributing $2.87 billion in fees annually.
00:10However, a Higher Education Policy Institute report highlights the need for better support,
00:15from adapting to UK apps to securing post-graduation jobs.
00:20We mainly saw that in five key areas.
00:23One is language integration. The other is social integration, so clustering with other students.
00:30The other area is digital integration.
00:34Another is accommodation, so not being integrated through housing.
00:38And lastly, employment integration.
00:40And universities should listen to these concerns.
00:43In 2022, the number of Chinese applicants to study in the UK dropped for the first time in a decade, a decline of 4%.
00:51Chinese students are looking to other destinations, one of which is Hong Kong, the other might be Singapore.
00:58Australia has really improved numbers over the past year or two.
01:03So they are looking to different, more diverse destinations from just your typical English-speaking countries, the US, UK, Canada.
01:11But some universities are already making special efforts to improve their social integration.
01:16In the last few years, the number of Chinese students at the University of Leeds has almost doubled, reaching well over 5,000.
01:23Yali An Liu is in her final year studying cultural media studies.
01:28She says she came to Leeds to experience a different environment,
01:32and has benefited from being paired up with another student in the university's special buddy system.
01:38My buddy is like a French, and she's like, I think the first friends I have here, we went to like a coffee shop together,
01:49went to explore some like campus site together, so I think that's really helpful because I won't dare to do it alone.
01:56Other schemes run by Leeds include offering English language classes,
02:00and a weekly global cafe where they can spend time with other nationalities.
02:05Everybody could do more, I think absolutely that's important,
02:09because otherwise it's very difficult to be able to attract international students because there's international competition.
02:17And it appears the report's findings are gaining attention.
02:21I've had three universities get in touch and ask for advice,
02:24and to see what I think about the direction that they're moving in strategically.
02:28There aren't yet solutions, but there is the recognition at least that these problems exist.
02:35This report is not just a reminder to UK universities that they need to do more to understand
02:41and support the unique needs of international students,
02:44but really a warning not to take Chinese undergrads for granted.
02:48After all, they could always go somewhere else.