According to the scale of UK higher education transnational education data from Universities UK International and the British Council, 510,835 students from 228 nations and territories studied via UK TNE in the 2020/21 academic year.

Researchers noted that the 12.7% increase from the previous year showed that UK TNE numbers had expanded at an ” overall higher growth rate than ever before” across all regions.

The 162 UK higher education providers reporting TNE pupils was likewise ‘the highest figure to date’, up from 156 the previous year.

“Transnational education enables cultural exchange and diversity for students and staff and contributes significantly to the UK’s economy, so it is great to see the strong demand for UK TNE across the world. This reflects not only the quality and strength of the UK’s offer but also the hard work and dedication of colleagues who adapted TNE partnerships and models during the Covid-19 pandemic,” said the head of TNE at UUKi, Joana Westphal.

The research also found that the Covid-19 pandemic ‘does not seem to have had a significant impact on the split of types of UK TNE provision’ but that Asia remains the leading host region, with 252,845 pupils accounting for 49.5% of overall driving numbers.