Policy paper

Education Sector Advisory Group minutes 4 February 2020

Updated 31 May 2024

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

Time, date and venue: 11am to 1pm, 4 February 2020 at Ministerial Conference Room, House of Commons.

Chair: Rt Hon Mr Graham Stuart MP, Minister for Investment, Department for International Trade (DIT).

Secretary: Benjamin Hilton, DIT.

In attendance:

• The Rt Hon Graham Stuart MP – Minister for Investment, DIT, Chair
• Sir Ciarán Devane – Chief Executive, British Council
• Vivienne Stern – Director, Universities UK International (UUKi)
• Alex Proudfoot – Chief Executive, Independent HE (IHE)
• Colin Bell – Chief Executive, Council of British International Schools (COBIS)
• Neil Leitch – Chief Executive, Early Years Alliance
• Lesley Davies – Chair, UK Skills Partnership (UKSP)
• Caroline Wright – Director General, British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA)

Apologies from:

• The Rt Hon. Chris Skidmore MP – Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation, DfE – Co-Chair
• Jodie Gray – Interim Chief Executive, English UK

Secretariat:

• Geoff Gladding, Education Sector Team Lead, DIT; Benjamin Hilton, DIT

Attending Senior Officials:

• Sue Bishop, DIT
• Peter Drummond, DfE
• Miranda Dawkins, DIT

Welcome

Mr Stuart welcomed everyone to the meeting and passed on apologies from Mr Skidmore who was due to chair the meeting but was unfortunately unable to attend owing to illness. Mr Stuart noted that this meeting was timely following the UK’s departure from the EU on 31 January the previous week. Mr Stuart expressed his keen interest in the education sector and noted his successful visit to the Bett show in January.

Minutes and Actions from previous meeting

The minutes from the previous meeting are available on GOV.UK.

There were seven actions from the last meeting:

Action 1: The Group to write a letter to Mr Williamson identifying the key points and messages to consider at EWF. Action complete. The Group discussed EWF coordination at this meeting.

Action 2: The Group to send DfE suggestions around particular country priorities to inform future activity. Action complete. The Group discussed DfE country priorities at this meeting.

Action 3: The Group, particularly members in HE, to consider the best ways of promoting the new Graduate route. Action ongoing. The Group continues to consider ways of promoting the Graduate route.

Action 4: DfE to interact with UKSP and other Group members on improving education exports data. Action ongoing. DfE analysts met UKSP on 30 January and are keen to meet other Group members.

Action 5: DfE to produce a four-year plan for improving education exports data, to be presented to the Group to ensure appropriate sector engagement. Action ongoing. DfE have produced a plan and the group were updated on progress during the government update at the 4 February meeting.

Action 6: DIT to send a note to Group members giving more details on the issues raised at this meeting: work with the ADB; EWF and DIT’s regional breakfasts; the Vietnam MoU; DIT’s approach to TNE; Dubai Expo 2020; and updates to the Tradeshow Access Programme (TAP). Action complete. DIT provided a verbal update on these topics at this meeting.

Action 7: COBIS to supply data on short term visa application refusals. Action complete. COBIS have informed the group that the Home Office have this data.

International Education Strategy implementation update

Geoff Gladding (Education Sector Team Lead, DIT) and Jack Thomlinson (International Higher Education, DfE) reported on progress on implementing the International Education Strategy (IES) to date.

Jack reiterated to the Group that appointing a high-profile International Education Champion (IES action 1) is a priority and promised to keep the Group updated on any progress. Jack discussed IES actions 3 and 4, which focus on promoting a welcoming environment for international students. He explained that the most recent HESA data shows a significant increase in the number of international students in the UK, with UCAS data showing an increase in applications, in particular from India. Jack discussed IES collaboration across government (IES action 6), both through this Group, as well as the IES Implementation Group consisting of DfE, DIT and the Home Office, and the IES Cross-Government Steering Committee whose members also include the devolved administrations. Finally, Jack went over the education exports data for 2017, which were published in December 2019. These data show an increase in total education exports from £19.9 billion in 2016 to £21.4 billion in 2017. Jack explained that DfE analysts are keen to continue to engage with the members of the Group on education exports data, and outlined the proposed research that will take place looking at the value of TNE.

UKSP thanked DfE analysts for their recent meeting. UKSP think that there is a lack of data around in-country education provision in skills and are keen to work with providers to build the available data. UKSP also raised the issue that Ofqual data only captures regulated qualifications. The Group discussed the difficulty of defining the boundaries of the education sector, particularly when it comes to education consultancy.

Geoff updated the group on the progress that DIT and DfE have made with the Study UK campaign (IES action 2). DIT and DfE have been working with the British Council to increase their involvement in deciding the campaign’s priorities.

Action 1: DIT will update on the GREAT campaign more generally at the next meeting of the Group on 21 April 2020.

Geoff and Jack also explained the progress that has been made so far looking at new actions for this year’s annual review of the IES. DIT will be identifying new markets, explaining their work with multilateral development banks, and considering new focus on some additional education sub-sectors. DfE have been looking at improving the international student experience, from the application process, all the way through to graduate outcomes and employability. Both departments are considering the best ways of utilising system-to-system development opportunities with a view to developing close trading partners in the longer term. Finally, DfE have been reviewing their country priorities.

Action 2: DfE to share their paper on priority countries with the Group.

Mr Stuart then invited UUKi and BESA to explain their strategic thinking on future government and sector activity. They would like the sector to be able to feed in more effectively, both on future trade agreements and on government priority markets. In particular, they see increased opportunity for the government to help reduce barriers to trade across the world. They think there would be benefit in improved cross-sector communication, in particular in maximising opportunities at EWF and other UK-based events. They suggested that government influence and expertise could be used to help unlock large-scale funding sources such as multilateral development banks, and also made suggestions around TAP grants and the strategic use of scholarship schemes.

Action 3: Group members to put together a full paper on these proposals to be shared with officials and ministers before the 21 April meeting.

Looking forward in 2020 – UK government update on future activity

Geoff detailed upcoming UK government activity. DIT will be receiving a delegation from the Asian Development Bank, including delegates both from their headquarters in Manila as well as regional education leads from South East Asia. There are also upcoming schools and university missions to Saudi Arabia. DIT will keep the group posted on events in regions affected by coronavirus.

Action 4: DIT to share a grid of 2020 activity with the Group.

Free trade agreements and the education sector

Miranda Dawkins (Deputy Director, Cross-Cutting Policy, Trade Policy Group, DIT) updated the Group on DIT’s work on future free trade agreements. She explained that Trade Policy Group exists to develop policy on trade in goods, services, intellectual property, investment, digital trade and other broader regional considerations, to be used in trade agreement negotiations in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. There was a single detailed education response to consultations on free trade agreements 18 months ago, but we are now looking to start negotiations. As such, DIT would like to know what opportunities and threats the sector sees in these negotiations.

Both BESA and UUKi have done some research into free trade agreements that they would be happy to discuss with DIT. BESA believe that digital terms are often more favourable than terms on other education resource. There was some concern that the questions were not well understood during the consultation 18 months ago. UUKi have also been in contact with their counterpart organisation in Australia.

Action 5: DIT Education team to facilitate further meetings between Trade Policy Group and the Education sector.

Updates from members

Mr Stuart invited the members of the group to give short verbal updates, further to their written contributions.

The British Council discussed Study UK’s work to reconsider their country priorities. They explained the possible disruption to both IELTS and student recruitment that may result from restrictions on exams in China as a result of coronavirus. The British Council also discussed coronavirus’s effects in the UK.

BESA thanked Mr Stuart for attending Bett and praised the cross-government coordination around the show. They also discussed their worries on coronavirus affecting events in Malaysia, Vietnam and Dubai.

COBIS discussed their research around teacher supply, as well as the pilot of their accreditation programme for bilingual schools in China which are not currently eligible for BSO accreditation. COBIS also explained their ongoing work with the GREAT campaign.

The Early Years Alliance explained that the early years sector remains more interested in trade in training and software than in overseas delivery. They praised EYFS which is envied in other countries, although pointed out that its ongoing revision means that this can be difficult to leverage. They asked that DIT and DfE continue to work closely with the early years sector around international opportunities for the sector.

English UK provided a short supplementary written update on coronavirus. English UK are concerned about short and medium-term cancellations and postponements of junior groups from China, as well as that the summer will be impacted as the start of the Chinese school term is delayed. They are also worried by the secondary impact caused by students (particularly junior groups) from other countries not travelling to the UK due to health concerns. English UK’s experience is that the market takes some time to recover.

Independent HE showed the group their SME manifesto for higher education. They also raised the issue of delays registering with OfS which could financially impact smaller higher education institutions if they cannot provide Tier 4 visas. Finally, they discussed the issue that independent providers have been running out of CASs.

UKSP explained that following on from their meeting with the GREAT team, they are putting together the visuals for a skills-specific part of the GREAT campaign. They thanked the British Council for working together successfully in Kazakhstan, and that they will be signing a memorandum of understanding in Dubai.

UUKi shared their report on international graduate employability with the group. They explained that the sector has uncertainty around fees and loan access for EU students. In March, UUKi will launch a communications campaign across the EU explaining facts about EU exit. They are also looking for funding for a sponsorship scheme for EU students. Finally, UUKi discussed the potential effects of coronavirus, explaining that their current focus is on supporting universities with their public health response but there will be a potential financial impact.

EU Exit Update

Peter Drummond (Deputy Director, International and EU Exit, DfE) updated the group. He explained that the UK will continue to follow EU rules and regulations until December 2020, including participation in EU programmes. Negotiations with the EU will start as soon as the EU has agreed its own negotiation mandates. He encouraged the group to look at section 9 (Mobility) and section 15 (Level Playing Field and Sustainability) of the EU’s negotiation directives. He noted that the Political Declaration negotiated alongside the Withdrawal Agreement will serve as a guide for negotiations. Finally, Peter explained that the Department for Exiting the EU has now closed.

AOB

Date of next meeting: 21 April 2020, 11am to 1pm