News | 10 February 2022
By Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Rachael Langford
End-of-cycle data shows that just under 2000 international students accepted an undergraduate offer at a Welsh university in 2021/22, a rise of 19% on the 2020/21 figures. At postgraduate degree level, the Welsh picture is impressive again: despite the downward pressure on the number of overseas students from Europe, in 2019-20, the last pre-pandemic academic year, Welsh Universities welcomed almost 10,000 overseas students to postgraduate degrees. The contribution made by international students Welsh society and economies is very significant: a recent report by the Higher Education Policy Institute notes that the net impact to Wales of international students is £27 million, a net impact per resident of £340, while in Cardiff Central parliamentary constituency, international students’ net value to the economy is £181 million, a net impact per resident of £2,050.
The high number of students choosing to continue their studies in Wales is evidence of the growing recognition of our nation as an outstanding international study destination. This has been achieved in part through Global Wales’ campaign promoting academic and educational partnerships and attracting high-calibre students and researchers to Wales. Global Wales is a unique partnership between Universities Wales, the British Council Wales, HEFCW, and the Welsh Government, responding to the needs of universities and organisations in Wales and in partner countries. Welsh HE institutions such as Cardiff Metropolitan University are benefitting from the partnership’s ‘Study in Wales’ campaign, its Global Wales scholarships, and the sector-leading international learning exchange programme Taith, which builds upon the strong platform of Erasmus+ and extends the model with additional opportunities for Further Education, vocational education and training, adult education, youth work and school settings as well as for universities.
At Cardiff Metropolitan University, we have experienced year-on-year growth in the number of international students travelling to study on campus, in spite of the challenges posed by the global pandemic. We are currently welcoming over 1,000 new starter overseas students onto postgraduate courses at our five Schools on the Llandaff and Cyncoed campuses. These new enrolling students come from thirty-three different countries across four continents and six world regions, and are joining an already diverse group of home and overseas students who began study in September. Our spring term will therefore see a remarkable range of languages, cultures and faiths coming together as one learning community to foster intercultural understanding and communication. That such a wide range of individuals is choosing to enhance their skills and knowledge at Cardiff Met testifies to the significant reputation of our degree portfolio abroad and the high quality of the student experience we offer.
University leaders recognise that the role universities play in preparing home and international students to become innovative practitioners and thinkers, contributing across all sectors of global economic activity, is even more important in the context of recovery from the global pandemic. We know how vital it is for students to develop the professional skills of intercultural competency and global understanding through learning with others from different backgrounds. At Cardiff Met, we ensure that students graduate with ‘EDGE’ competencies, and so Ethical, Digital, Global and Entrepreneurial education is woven through our curricular and extra-curricular activity. Cardiff Met’s overseas students are vital to the vibrancy of the student experience for all, and they both gain from, and contribute to our EDGE approach, extending the ability of the whole university community to be globally responsible and culturally informed.
The Cardiff Met EDGE is part of our focus on values-led global engagement. In addition, our transnational education activity supports over 10,000 students studying in 15 different countries to achieve their ambitions through our degree programmes offered in 18 overseas partner institutions, while five overseas Cardiff Met offices provide information on study, exchange and partnership opportunities here at Cardiff Met in Wales. We are also committed to building capacity in higher education institutions globally through partnership activity. Working in partnership with the Ecole Centrale de Nantes and the Universities of Bologna and Salamanca, Cardiff Met leads the EU-funded Being International project supporting top universities in Pakistan to develop internationalisation strategies. In addition, we are the first Welsh university to have become a University of Sanctuary through our commitment to effective support for asylum seeker and refugee learners and staff; and we are longstanding participants in the Council for At-Risk Academics (CARA) fellowship programme, helping to bring to safety academics at risk of harm because of their scholarly activity, so that they can continue to use their skills for the good of all.
There are therefore many academic, ethical, economic and social reasons why a modern, forward-looking, values-led university such as Cardiff Metropolitan University should be deeply internationally engaged through its education, research and civic activity. At this time of year, as we experience a host of new beginnings – the start of a new academic term, the start of the Western calendar year on 1 January and the Lunar New Year 2022 on 1 February, and the start in some countries of new public health approaches to the Covid-19 pandemic – we can reflect with gratefulness on the opportunities for change and learning that we all gain through the contribution of international students and staff to the higher education institutions of Wales.
This article was published as A University View column by The Western Mail on 10 February 2022.
