Britain gains edge for Chinese students

Chinese students are increasingly looking to the United Kingdom as their favored study destination despite the disruptions caused by the pandemic over the past two and a half years, and education experts believe the country can cement the trend.

By the end of June, 31,400 students from China had submitted applications to enter higher education in the UK this autumn, a surge of 29 percent from 2020, according to data from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service.

Applications from China soared 59 percent between 2019 and 2022, while demand from the European Union, which until 2020 was the biggest source market for non-UK students, plunged 54 percent to 23,160 over the past three years, according to the admissions service.

Roger Sinnett, a Sino-UK education expert, said: "The UK has always been a safe place for study, with its rich multicultural environment providing good preparation for an international future. Openly available league tables of every UK university and, importantly, departments provide a valuable source of reliable information－a resource unavailable in the US."

Out of safety concerns, Sinnett said, the United States is losing ground as the most-coveted country for Chinese students.

"America, for so long the favorite destination for Chinese students, has become an increasingly dangerous place with more than 350 million guns in the hands of its citizens and gun-related homicides at an all-time high," Sinnett said.

"It is not considered a safe place for a young adult to study."

The number of student visas the US issued to Chinese fell by more than 50 percent in the first half of this year compared with pre-COVID-19 levels, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal, with only 31,055 F-1 student visas issued to Chinese nationals, down from 64,261 for the same period in 2019. Susan Fang, founder of educational consultancy OxBridge, said the initial increase in demand from Chinese students in British universities was not because they were in high demand; rather, it was the result of the US becoming less popular and Australia's closed borders.

"Two-and-a-half years down the line, as more Chinese students got a taste of the timesaving one-year master and three-year bachelor degrees, the UK has finally become irreplaceable in some Chinese students' minds," she said.

Brexit impact

With demand from EU students dropping significantly following Brexit, Fang said UK universities have been fortunate in a way because the increase in Chinese students made up for the losses from the falling demand from European students.

"The rise and fall in student numbers of different nationalities give UK universities a dynamic mix and keep them on their toes. It's a good way to maintain competitiveness," she said.

The large number of Chinese students in UK universities has also created controversy. Some observers argue it is a great thing that so many Chinese want to study in Britain, but it could potentially put UK universities at risk of shifting geopolitics, due to the country's dependence on the income from Chinese students.

Julian Fisher, a senior partner at Venture Education, a consultancy in Beijing, dismisses such concerns. "The UK's openness to international students has created an extremely effective marketing and recruitment ecosystem that means the UK is a global leader in attracting foreign students," he said.

"So I don't see the huge number of Chinese students as a risk; I see it as a learning opportunity, hopefully."

William Vanbergen, founder of BE Education in Shanghai, an international education services provider in China, said he thinks building bridges with China and creating a better understanding between the two countries can only be a good thing.

China and the UK have many positive things about them that students from both countries can learn from, Vanbergen said.

"The friendships formed by students studying and living together over several years help to increase mutual understanding across cultures," he said.

"Those friendships will last a lifetime and form the basis of trade and business relationships in the future. They may also help to reduce political and cultural misunderstandings, hopefully creating a more peaceful and prosperous future."

Sinnett added: "China achieved much across the centuries by absorbing various cultures and integrating them into Chinese society. In a similar way, one of the strengths of the UK university system is that they are well aware of external influences and pressures, from whichever direction they come."

Nicolas Chu, founder of Sinorbis, a company that helps UK higher-learning institutions with their digital marketing in China, said: "Our modeling from earlier this year showed a 70 percent increase in undergraduate Chinese student numbers by 2030, in part due to the UK's increasing popularity as a study destination."