Statement
Today I am announcing the launch of the UK’s refreshed International Education Strategy.
Together the Department for Education, the Department for Business and Trade, and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, are setting out a vision and roadmap to economic prosperity and resilience, through promoting the UK’s world-leading education system globally.
Unlike the previous strategy released in 2019, this approach removes targets on international student numbers in the UK and, while continuing to welcome international students, shifts the focus towards growing education exports overseas by backing UK providers to expand internationally, build partnerships abroad and deliver UK education in new markets.
By strengthening our international partnerships and leadership we can help bring stability and cooperation in an uncertain and changing world. War has returned to Europe, and old certainties have been shaken. The world’s population will exceed 8.5 billion people by 2030 and urgent challenges such as climate change are reshaping the skills people need to thrive. Education equips people to succeed, societies to prosper, and nations to build the participation needed for global stability and growth. It has never been needed more than today.
The new International Education Strategy sets out three ambitions to harness the world-leading quality of UK education:
- To increase the UK’s international standing through education and make the UK the global partner of choice at every stage of learning.
- To sustainably recruit high-quality international higher education students from a diverse range of countries.
- To collectively grow education exports to £40 billion per year by 2030.
These ambitions leverage the strengths of the UK’s education system and the trust with which UK education institutions are viewed by global partners.
I’m grateful to representatives of the UK education sector for their help during the development of this strategy. They are creating a promotional brochure to set out the UK's offer to the world. We are also grateful to our International Education Champion Sir Steve Smith. We will be convening a new Education Sector Action Group, chaired by ministers, with representatives of the sector who will help us steer delivery and maximise the impact of the strategy.
The International Education Strategy will be available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-uks-international-education-strategy-2026
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This statement has also been made in the House of Lords