October 2008
Collaboration is the key to success
Higher education institutions in Wales recently voted for further future collaboration in international recruitment with the decision to continue funding the Wales International Consortium (WIC) beyond 2009. The decision was supported by the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (Hefcw), which will continue to match the universities’ contribution as the Consortium’s largest single funder.
Since the universities formed the Consortium in 2003 the inward flow of international students to Wales has increased significantly. In 2007/08, over 8,000 international students chose Wales as their study destination, an increase of 38% over 5 years. This year, 2008/09, with the launch of International College Wales Swansea and Wales International Study Centre at UW Newport, initial indications are that there are as many as 10,000 international students studying for foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at one of Wales’ twelve higher education institutions. Wales now host students from over 200 countries outside the UK, with the largest recent non-EU increases from China, India, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, US, Brunei, Oman and Kenya.
The Wales International Consortium is unique in the UK as the only country wide consortium of higher education institutions working together as an entity promoting both the merits of its higher education provision and its location. WIC is one of a number of collaborative initiatives by Welsh higher education institutions, including Wales Higher Education Brussels which promotes the interests of the Welsh Higher Education sector in Europe.
The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales has further supported collaborative working in Wales by backing projects such as the merger of the University of Wales College of Medicine and Cardiff University in 2004. Since its creation in 2002 the Hefcw Reconfiguration & Collaboration Fund has also supported the creation of major centres of excellence such as the Wales Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, the Wales Institute of Mathematical and Computational Science, the Skillset Screen Academy and the Research and Enterprise Partnership.
The University of Wales is also a member of the Wales International Consortium, providing services to the higher education sector in Wales, in validation, the Gregynog study and conference centre and the University of Wales Press, and running the highly-respected research centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies.
The Consortium also works closely with organisations outside the higher education sector, including the British Council Wales which is a member and supports the Consortium’s links with the British Council’s worldwide network of offices. British Council Wales has just established a new education team who will be working to further develop international links for Welsh education.
The work of the Consortium is also supported by the Welsh Assembly Government with whom the Consortium works closely on initiatives such as the International Relations Programme (IRP) and international links. This year the Assembly has funded a number of higher education-related projects such as Cityscapers Cardiff, which will establish new commercial, cultural, and educational connections between Wales and outstanding young architects, planners, designers and artists in Australia; and the Wales-India Low Carbon Technologies Programme which involves research on low carbon technologies and sustainable and new and renewable energy sources in India. The UK and in particular Wales is involved in cutting edge research into this field.