Report warns of Chinese student struggles in UK

CGTN Europe

UK universities must take bold action to support Chinese students or risk losing them to other countries, a new report from the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) has warned.

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00:00Chinese students are vital to UK universities, with over 154,000 contributing $2.87 billion in fees annually.

00:10However, a Higher Education Policy Institute report highlights the need for better support,

00:15from adapting to UK apps to securing post-graduation jobs.

00:20We mainly saw that in five key areas.

00:23One is language integration. The other is social integration, so clustering with other students.

00:30The other area is digital integration.

00:34Another is accommodation, so not being integrated through housing.

00:38And lastly, employment integration.

00:40And universities should listen to these concerns.

00:43In 2022, the number of Chinese applicants to study in the UK dropped for the first time in a decade, a decline of 4%.

00:51Chinese students are looking to other destinations, one of which is Hong Kong, the other might be Singapore.

00:58Australia has really improved numbers over the past year or two.

01:03So they are looking to different, more diverse destinations from just your typical English-speaking countries, the US, UK, Canada.

01:11But some universities are already making special efforts to improve their social integration.

01:16In the last few years, the number of Chinese students at the University of Leeds has almost doubled, reaching well over 5,000.

01:23Yali An Liu is in her final year studying cultural media studies.

01:28She says she came to Leeds to experience a different environment,

01:32and has benefited from being paired up with another student in the university's special buddy system.

01:38My buddy is like a French, and she's like, I think the first friends I have here, we went to like a coffee shop together,

01:49went to explore some like campus site together, so I think that's really helpful because I won't dare to do it alone.

01:56Other schemes run by Leeds include offering English language classes,

02:00and a weekly global cafe where they can spend time with other nationalities.

02:05Everybody could do more, I think absolutely that's important,

02:09because otherwise it's very difficult to be able to attract international students because there's international competition.

02:17And it appears the report's findings are gaining attention.

02:21I've had three universities get in touch and ask for advice,

02:24and to see what I think about the direction that they're moving in strategically.

02:28There aren't yet solutions, but there is the recognition at least that these problems exist.

02:35This report is not just a reminder to UK universities that they need to do more to understand

02:41and support the unique needs of international students,

02:44but really a warning not to take Chinese undergrads for granted.

02:48After all, they could always go somewhere else.

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