Pathways to Global Education — Britain must overcome its challenges to lead the world

By Ian Crichton, CEO of Study Group

There are few sectors in which Britain can credibly claim global leadership, but international education is one of them. A British degree is still widely recognised as a hallmark of quality — in the latest QS global rankings, three UK universities rank in the world’s top ten, and there are many more than that in the top 100. That success is no accident, it stems from our openness to global talent, researchers, academics and students alike.

For decades, British universities have welcomed international students in their thousands. Many arrive with an education that already mirrors our system — international school leavers with A-levels, IB diplomas or British qualifications taken overseas. But others who are equally ambitious and capable, need more support. Language skills might be good but not yet fluent or lacking in academic vocabulary, our academic system may be unfamiliar — for example there are no fractions in middle east mathematics — or indeed the confidence to thrive in a tutorial room may need to develop. In a world of increasing pressures, mental health challenges and for a student far from home, these all amplify.

For British students, there are well-established routes to support access into higher education including HE counsellors, school visits and advice from peers who’ve walked the same path. International students have different needs and that is where international foundation and pathway programmes come in — dedicated courses that act as a bridge between education systems, combining academic preparation with language and personal support. Delivered by specialists in close partnership with universities, they help students navigate unfamiliar systems, unlock their potential and ultimately prepare them to thrive.

Benefits to Britain

The transformation we see in these students is nothing short of extraordinary. They arrive with ambition and, through hard work and expert support, they leave with good degrees, lifelong connections and a deep bond with Britain. There is a lot of talk of ‘soft power’ but there is little as lasting as the loyalty of global graduates who saw this country not just as a study destination but a second home, and its people as some of their closest friends. Global graduates create global networks which are so essential in the 21st Century.

And the benefits to the UK are immense. According to the Department for Education, UK international education exports were worth £29.3 billion last year, with higher education responsible for over three-quarters of that. Beyond the economic contribution, international students enrich the academic and social fabric of our institutions in ways nothing else could. They bring diverse perspectives and support a cross-subsidy model that underpins STEM and other high-cost disciplines.

But even more than that, they foster the cultural agility that British students need to succeed in a global economy helping all who share a classroom to experience some of the advantages of a global education. As someone who has spent his career in international business, I can say without hesitation this ability to work in diverse teams and understand different perspectives is a critical advantage. Britain’s universities are uniquely placed to develop that skill in all their students — domestic and international alike. In 2025, we see more and more tensions between countries, Israel and the Arab world, India and Pakistan, Ukraine and Russia. In our classrooms students from these countries can build mutual respect, and students from other countries can better understand them. Exposure to international students is particularly important to UK domestic students, helping them form fact based opinions and broadening perspectives in a way only first-hand experience can.

The best international pathway courses not only equip international students to cope, they ensure that as these students go into university with a higher learning trajectory.  This ensures that students can take the opportunity to really mix together and thrive.

As Britain seeks to compete in an ever evolving world the networks created, the handling skills developed, the understanding of how to work together around the planet will all be critical to our country remaining relevant.

The big challenge — Education not Immigration

But we must also be honest. The very qualities that make the UK such an attractive place to study — its openness, safety, diversity and economic opportunity — also make it appealing to those who may not be primarily seeking an education but who simply want to live and work here. That puts a serious responsibility on education providers to uphold the integrity of the system.

I’ve seen this challenge at first hand. In 2022, as I took up my new post as CEO, we at Study Group faced a difficult situation. A sudden spike in asylum applications from students arriving from Bangladesh led us to pause operations in-country for a year. Whilst this successfully stopped the spike it hurt good agents and students, not to mention our commercials, so was not a measure we took lightly. But it was the right thing to do. We then worked closely with UK Visas and Immigration, terminated agreements with non-compliant agents, introduced new safeguards including in-person interviews and resumed operations only when we were confident we could protect the system. Our legitimate students who genuinely came to study continued to succeed. And they did so in the numbers that matter to the UK.

More recently, along with a number of universities we received an action plan from UKVI, dating back to an audit performed in January of 2024, highlighting a small number of areas they wanted us to address. I am proud of our response — we took their input seriously and as a result not only addressed their concerns but tightened our own processes further from the work we undertook. What comes out of these exercises is just how experienced Study Group’s people are, just how much they care about international students and just how much we want to do the right thing, quite often in spite of historical systems and information challenges. 

This kind of vigilance isn’t just necessary, it’s vital. Despite our country’s proud record on welcoming refugee scholars like Einstein, former Home Secretary Jack Straw was also right when he warned recently of the danger of abuse in the system. He called those who offered student visas as a route to asylum a ‘racket’, and one that needed to be shut down. If global education is to retain public trust and political support, we do need to be clear that student visas must be used by students, not as a route to immigration. I’ve recently returned from Pakistan where it is clear that more needs to be done to ensure that we support those with best potential whilst managing the inherent risk of recruiting in the region.

That’s why Study Group was an early signatory to the British Council and UK Council for International Student Affairs Agent Quality Framework. We’ve invested heavily in training and compliance, working with agents across the world and being very clear with students that we are committed only to education. We take a zero-tolerance approach to abuse in recruitment and we keep our focus where it belongs — on education and supporting those willing to work hard in their studies to gain the degree that is the true passport to a better future.

Britain leading the world — a prize worth having

This is a critical time of year for would-be students trying to make the right choice about the future, for agents who support them, for universities who have so much to offer and for Study Group who enable International access to higher education. When a student is properly supported from day one to graduation, the impact of global education is profound. I think of the aspiring doctors, engineers, lawyers and scientists who worked so hard with their teachers to bridge an educational divide to succeed and who contribute to Britain’s economy and global reputation. Most of our students eventually return home, bringing with them insight that is society changing. Whether you look at the improvement of women’s rights in the Middle East, the emergence of middle class China or even the drafting of the constitution for Indian Independence, you can draw a line back to a quality, British education.

We’ve supported tens of thousands of such students, and I am proud of every one of them as they walk across a graduation stage to accept the degree they have earned. But the world is changing. Global competition for talent is intensifying. International students have choices and Study Group ourselves are now increasingly active in the teaching solutions in Ireland, North America, the Far East and Middle East. If the UK wants to remain a global leader in education, we must rise to the challenge of ensuring we stay at the forefront internationally with integrity, ambition and a shared commitment to getting it right. Our International Study Centres, housed on campus in some of the country's best universities model these behaviours and the quality of students in them speak louder than any words, of why what we do is so important.

We should ensure that the doors we open lead not just to degrees, but to futures shaped by learning, achievement and international understanding. As we sign future trade deals, we should be confident in ensuring global education is up front in our offer to the world. We have everything to gain and even more to lose if we don’t. In a world that is today obsessed with how to make the most out of Artificial Intelligence, it is hard to see a more important investment than ensuring human thought is joined up around the world, underpinned by the best critical thinking development and education that money can buy.