Phu’s view is something backed up by most international students in NCUK’s first student insights report, Transforming Student Futures, developed in partnership with IDP Education.

In a year where we’ve seen some less-than-positive news coverage in the UK for pathways, NCUK were keen to understand from students directly, what their perceptions were about their study journeys to date.

That could be a student on a pathway programme with an NCUK study centre – an international school, college or university across 40 countries – or an NCUK pathway student who has now progressed to study with one of 60 NCUK university partners across the top study destinations.

Quality and employability

The report finds 60% of respondents say the top reason for choosing to study overseas is to benefit from high-ranked institutions and overall education quality, and 58% cited the opportunities for career development, including increased employability and related monetary benefits as contributing factors.

Maintaining quality is clearly key for top study destinations moving forward – the government-imposed changes in Australia and Canada are driven by a desire to focus on quality, and changes outlined in the MAC review here in the UK pointed to the same.

The perception of pathways can often be that they are a second chance for students who did not achieve the required grades first time round. This is not always true. Take a country like Nigeria – students who study the WAEC have not completed 12 years of education (same with students studying Thanaweya) and therefore a pathway bridges that gap for them.

However, it’s important to note here, students are choosing NCUK pathway programmes specifically to support their ambitions to study with a top ranked university – NCUK partners with nine of the QS World Top 100 and 19 of the QS World Top 200, across multiple study destinations.

Students also have high confidence that NCUK pathway programmes will not just prepare them for success at university, but beyond, in terms of gaining graduate employment and enabling them to transform their futures – 89% of NCUK students achieve a 2:1 or higher at university and 80% are in graduate employment within six months of graduation. The report reiterates that nearly nine out of 10 NCUK students (89%) express confidence in the NCUK pathway and its ability to enhance their career prospects.

These are findings backed up by IDP’s sixth iteration of its Emerging Futures research series, in which its consistently seen that quality of education and good employment opportunities (particularly post-graduation) are the top two primary factors determining international students’ first-choice destination. Emerging Futures 6 asked 6,000+ prospective and current students their opinions on a range of matters and issues that would have an impact on student choice both at destination level and subject level.

So what’s driving student behaviour?

Students lead the decision on destination and programme but are supported by family, teachers, and counsellors. We know that the discussions these groups are having now around international study are currently challenged by some of the economic environments in the countries these students are coming from.

When students were asked as part of Emerging Futures 6 why they changed their mind about their preferred destination, the top answer was “cost of living in the destination country” and the fourth answer was “cost of tuition”. Similarly, the most influential aspect for those polled when choosing an institution was the “cost of tuition”. Globally, 64% of those who took part said the recent increases to cost of living had made them reassess studying overseas – a number which rose to 71% for those considering the UK.

Within this context, students are looking for cheaper options or ways to gain UK degrees offshore, with a growing trend of students, many for these financial reasons, who are looking to start their studies at home, spending less time in their destination market. NCUK’s in-country pathway programmes further appeal for this reason and are aligned with these changing student preferences.

The cost of diversification in challenging financial times

In a separate report NCUK published in the Spring, The Power and Impact of Pathways, co-authored between NCUK and Nous Group, and in partnership with The IC Global, NCUK’s CEO, Stuart Smith, reflects on how ‘”pathway programmes play a critical role by providing choice and opportunity to international students, supporting diversification’”. Over recent years, pathway programmes have become a key recruitment channel and a fundamental ingredient for universities’ diversification strategies.

NCUK progressed students of 120 nationalities through to university partners last year, so its model offers strong benefits to universities as well as students. The cost of acquisition in new and emerging markets is challenging for universities – and becoming a real barrier to universities achieving their diversification goals. Organisations like NCUK are already on the ground across the world, making this investment so their partners don’t have to do so.

Partnering with pathway providers allows universities to reach students in multiple regions whilst limiting the risk of operating in a new market, benefiting from the pathway provider’s in-country knowledge and expertise. Furthermore, with NCUK’s in-country model, this also opens up opportunities for universities to deliver innovative transnational education (TNE) initiatives in all their variants.

You can read a copy of, Transforming Student Futures, on NCUK’s website.

 
About the authors: Andy Howells, chief marketing officer, NCUK University Pathways

Andy is the chief marketing officer for NCUK, a leading global pathway provider. He has worked in higher education for over 15 years in senior marketing and student recruitment roles at Royal Holloway, University of London, the University of Southampton and most recently, Universities UK International (UUKi).

Andy has won several awards, including Best Issues and Crisis Campaign at the PR Week Global awards in 2022 for UUKi’s We Are Together campaign, and ‘Marketing Campaign of the Year’ at the PIEoneer Awards in 2023 for UUKi’s Twin for Hope campaign. In 2023, Andy led the relaunch of the UK higher education sector’s, #WeAreInternational campaign.

Andy is a father of two young children and his claim to fame is delivering his second child himself, in his car, in a supermarket car park during the first weeks of Covid lockdowns.

Rachel MacSween, director of partnerships and stakeholder engagement, IDP UK

Rachel is the director of partnerships and stakeholder engagement at IDP in the UK. Her role is to work with university partners on their student recruitment ambitions, as well as leading on government and sector stakeholder management, B2B marketing and global communications.

Prior to her joining IDP in early 2022, Rachel held roles as director of international at the University of York in the UK, head of recruitment at University of Strathclyde in Glasgow and roles with Navitas for seven years in both Edinburgh and Melbourne.

Rachel is passionate about ensuring successful outcomes for her clients, sharing IDP’s unique data sets to help improve the policy environment in the UK and working with a wider group of colleagues in the sector to constantly improve the applicant experience.