UK higher education has long been a beacon for attracting international students, offering world-class academic programmes, cultural diversity, and professional opportunities. However, the landscape has grown increasingly complex with changes to UKVI requirements, government policy shifts and significant financial pressures.   

Further external factors such as increased global competition and alternative learning models are also beginning to reshape the sector. For UK higher education, understanding and responding to these changes is vital to ensure continued success for international students.  

David Cole, Kortext Board Advisor for Data & Analytics, explores how actionable, data-driven strategies utilising engagement analytics can support international student success, while ensuring UKVI compliance in the evolving HE landscape. 

The evolving landscape around international students in UK higher education 

International students are integral to the UK’s higher education ecosystem. The UK parliament estimates the total economic benefit of international students to be £41.9billion, and the economic contribution of international students is critical for the financial sustainability of universities.  

However, beyond economics, international students are ambassadors for the UK’s global standing. They enhance the cultural and intellectual fabric of universities, enrich classroom discussions, and bring global perspectives that benefit domestic students and faculty alike. Their positive experiences can have a large impact on areas like research, and their future contributions to the UK workforce. Their importance, therefore, transcends the immediate confines of academia.  

In recent years, the UK has experienced a series of policy and environmental shifts that have affected international student recruitment and retention. These include:  

• Removal of the right for international students to bring family members, contributing to a downturn in international student recruitment.

• Proposals to curtail post-study work opportunities have created uncertainty for international students regarding their future career prospects and for universities concerned about attracting and retaining these students. However, research from HEPI, Kaplan and the NUS has since highlighted the economic benefits of the Graduate Route visa, with the Migration Advisory Council also publishing a positive review of the Graduate Route.

• A perceived “hostile environment” fueled by rhetoric and policy under prior administrations has negatively impacted the UK’s appeal, with the new government’s ‘open for business’ message falling short.

• Competition from institutions in countries like Canada and Australia, which have actively marketed more welcoming environments, is rising.

• The advent of digital learning technology and hybrid learning models, has raised many questions over the delivery of education to international students, and what this means for regulating students subject to UKVI via simple attendance/in-person monitoring.  

Together these factors have resulted in a decline in international student recruitment and the number of study visas issued, and impacted financial sustainability, a trend that underscores the need for robust international student success and retention strategies, all whilst remaining compliant. And the key to driving this isn’t just about having the right systems and data to support these initiatives, it’s about how universities can act on these insights:  

Ultimately with the decline in international recruitment, the need to retain students becomes more pressing. Most systems and technology approaches to international students focus on compliance and reporting and so will help you get a clear picture of the extent to which you do, or do not have a problem, so I do not think it is about data. People are hung up on data, it is about actionable insights. – David Cole 

Keeping up with compliance: driving action with data  

Compliance with UKVI requirements is crucial for UK universities, with non-compliance potentially leading to severe consequences like the loss of sponsorship licenses, which would be heavily detrimental to institutions dependent on international recruitment.   

The post-COVID growth of online and hybrid learning models, and the rise of AI, have enabled students to pursue high-quality education without relocating. This has necessitated reviews and adaptations to UKVI requirements, particularly around monitoring international students’ participation with their learning.   

The current approaches focusing solely on attendance and data collection and reporting may prove insufficient in the long-term. Universities will need to ensure appropriate mechanisms are in place to effectively measure student participation and move towards actionable insights that not only maintain compliance but also support international student success and retention. This is where engagement analytics come into play.   

Unlike attendance-based systems that can only provide retrospective compliance checks, StREAM by Kortext offers a robust forward-looking approach to support these initiatives. By delivering meaningful insights around student engagement in near real-time to the university teams who need it most, an institution can intervene earlier and address issues, whatever they may be, in a timely way before they escalate – and at scale!  

The focus here, then, shifts towards transforming data into action that can enhance student experiences leading to positive outcomes for both students and universities, particularly in terms of progression and retention, whilst still keeping them effortlessly on the right side of UKVI compliance: 

Stakeholders with a pastoral and governance responsibility can use the filters and potentially other critical functionality such as triggers and alerts and groups to set business rules and flag any student (or group of) that are becoming outliers in the context of engagement behaviour that would normally lead to withdrawal, therefore substantially enhancing the universities opportunity to retain and progress more international students.  – David Cole 

Fostering success with student engagement analytics 

Kortext’s leading student engagement analytics platform, StREAM, is perfectly positioned to support universities in overcoming many of the challenges noted above and adapting to a more proactive, data-driven approach. StREAM’s unique codification of engagement has been proven to identify students at-risk with 85-95% accuracy, 6-8 weeks before a potential withdrawal.   

When potential risks are flagged university staff can be notified (via automated alerts and triggers), allowing for timely interventions, and more personalised and proactive student support. Getting upstream of a crisis in this way helps students succeed at university by ensuring they have the right support at the right time.  

StREAM’s capability to overlay characteristics data, such as UKVI status, onto the student’s engagement score also empowers the appropriate teams to mount timely, focused and accurate outreach campaigns. For instance, an international office may use the UKVI filter to monitor and contact students at risk of non-compliance, whilst an academic tutor may check in with tutees based on their engagement with their learning.   

However, because StREAM allows the university to deploy one strategy for all students, whilst at the same time being able to have a deep dive focus on specific cohorts, such as students subject to UKVI, it negates any suggestion of differentiated treatment of international cohorts and bias. Providing faculty and staff with the right tools and training ensures that engagement analytics translate into meaningful actions that benefit students and the institution.    

Future-ready compliance 

As the sector moves towards more sophisticated metrics for student engagement, platforms like StREAM position universities to meet evolving regulatory expectations. Unlike traditional attendance tracking that doesn’t appropriately fit contemporary and adapting teaching models, StREAM provides a much more comprehensive view of student participation, helping universities anticipate potential risks no matter the method of teaching.   

As universities embrace holistic approaches to student success, analytics will play a central role in shaping strategies that align academic, pastoral, and compliance objectives.   

I could also see a future, where, once the OfS’ concerns over post-pandemic attendance numbers come to a close, the Home Office may well look at engagement as a much more reliable, and robust way to determine whether an international student is truly engaged on their course. Engagement insights are here for just this.  

-David Cole 

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