No time or money for overseas activity, say colleges

College leaders have warned they are too stretched to deliver on the government’s £40 billion international education ambition.

FE colleges risk being unable to sustain international activity due to funding pressures, red tape and staff shortages, according to research from the Association of Colleges.

The AoC’s annual international survey covering 2024-25 found 69 per cent of the 80 responding colleges carried out some form of international work, up from 51 per cent the previous year.

But over half of colleges cited lack of funding as the single biggest obstacle to international activity, followed by accommodation availability and staff capacity issues.

The proportion of colleges actively employing dedicated international staff tumbled from 80 per cent to 64 per cent in just one year.

International activity includes overseas visits, attracting foreign students, running summer and winter schools, and operating campuses overseas.

The findings come months after the government published a new international education strategy, which aims to grow UK education exports to £40 billion a year by 2030.

The strategy removed targets on international student numbers in the UK and aimed to ditch recruitment barriers to students coming and leaving the UK and obstacles to market expansion.

But the AoC warned that policy restrictions are stopping colleges from investing in their international growth.

FE’s share of education exports accounts for £0.32 billion of the £32.29 billion in total UK exports.

Soaring cost of funding trips

The report also found oversubscriptions to the Turing international placement programme, which is soon to be replaced by Erasmus.

FE colleges have consistently sent more disadvantaged students on trips through the Turing scheme than schools or universities.

But the report said high demand had placed a strain on accommodating disadvantaged students and those with additional needs.

“For many colleges, it is becoming increasingly challenging to cover costs of flights and accommodation with the funding allocated,” the AoC said.

The report also noted a year-on-year decline in engagement with the British Council, the Department for Business and Trade and student recruitment agencies that colleges rely on for in-country support.

Funding challenges were further aggravated by the 2022 reclassification of colleges into the public sector which meant they could no longer privately borrow money.

The college membership body also said disparities still exist between students on level 4 and 5 technical and vocational qualifications, who are not offered the same teaching hours and student work permissions as those on degree-level courses.

The report warned Brexit had made recruiting staff from abroad “more expensive and complicated”. Colleges made just 93 hires across the entire sector using the skilled worker visa route.

“Further complications could arise from the government’s proposed ‘earned settlement’ scheme …which significantly risks recruitment of skilled support staff within colleges,” the report said.

Nina Chorzelewski, policy manager at the Association of Colleges, said: “We know that colleges continue to feel exposed in a volatile market where risks may outweigh the benefits that come with international work.

“This work is important because there is a risk that this increasingly complex and challenging environment will discourage participation in international activities, which will not only hinder achievement of the export target set out in the International Education Strategy but will limit the wider benefits that global engagement brings.

“As we live in an increasingly globally connected but politically turbulent world, creating and maintaining opportunities for international engagement has never been more important. International engagement fosters cross-cultural understanding, enhances employability skills and enriches learning through opening up diverse perspectives.”

The government was approached for comment.