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Further Funding due to Sustained Growth for Wales
A further three years of funding has been awarded to an organisation representing all Higher Education Institutions in Wales, the Wales International Consortium (WIC). The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales and all twelve members of WIC made the decision that due to its success the consortium should be awarded funding through to 2009.
While many UK universities lose out in the global battle to recruit more international students, Wales is experiencing steady to dramatic increases across the sector. The Wales International Consortium represents the 12 higher education institutions in Wales and within the consortium smaller institutions are recording significant increases whilst the larger institutions are maintaining a steady growth. Some institutions such as Swansea Institute of Higher Education, North East Wales Institute of Higher Education, University of Glamorgan and University of Wales Institute, Cardiff are recording record numbers of international students. This is in direct contrast with the trend that is hitting the UK generally with international student recruitment levelling off. Professor Robert Pearce of University of Wales, Lampeter notes that, “Universities in some parts of the UK have been particularly heavily hit by a downturn in applications from China. However Welsh universities are seeing that their longer term partnerships with universities and provincial governments are helping to keep their share of the Chinese market steady.
A long-term strategic approach by the whole of the higher education sector in Wales can be seen as key to maintaining international student recruitment. The message that Wales offers high quality education in a friendly, welcoming and cost-effective environment is reaching more potential students.” Established in 2003 the Wales International Consortium is committed to promoting Wales as a highly attractive study destination. It is a unique collaboration between universities and higher education institutions, who are effectively competitors within the student market, working together to share experience and knowledge.
The collaboration is further strengthened by its close working relationship with organisations such as the Wales Tourist Board, Wales Trade International and Wales Development Agency, and the support offered by the Welsh Assembly Government in working together to represent Wales throughout the world.
In its first year the consortium helped Chinese education businesses to establish Undergraduate Foundation Programmes which have resulted in an additional 30 students arriving in Wales for the current academic year. One of these programmes at No 80 Middle School in Beijing was launched by the First Minister for Wales Rhodri Morgan AM in September 2004. The students from this inaugural year have embarked on undergraduate degrees for a period of 3 years, representing over £1m in tuition fees and investment in the Welsh economy through accommodation and living expenses.
In addition the Wales International Consortium and the Chinese Service Centre for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE) are set to launch a new UK-China Higher Education Association. The association will bring together 30 Chinese universities with 30 UK universities to collaborate on split site programmes, taught partly in China and partly in the UK. A further host of programmes aimed at the postgraduate market is also set to be launched as a result of a partnership that WIC has brokered between University of Wales, who have provided validation, and Golden Arrow Huamei, a Shanghai based education company. These pre-masters courses are set to run at Zhongshan (Sun Yet Sen) University in Guangdong, Tianjin Polytechnic University in Tianjin, Central South Forestry University, Hunan and Guangdong University of Business. As well as cementing their place in established markets such as China and India, WIC is exploring new and growing markets such as Japan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Kazhakstan and the Middle East. The Consortium has been asked to play a key role in finding new niche markets and initiatives within a market which is increasingly seen as vital to any economy.
Virginia West, Director of WIC said, “The success of recruiting international students goes far beyond the additional income during an international student’s stay in Wales. That in itself may have brought £92m to the economy of Wales in this last year but it’s only a fraction of the longer-term impact on the economy when students return to their own countries they become the politicians and business people who influence decisions. They then return, they forge links with industry in Wales, they invest in Welsh businesses, they support the export of products within their own countries and they recommend Wales to their staff, families and friends for study, investment, tourism and a whole host of reasons. “