Reflections on the Manchester Members' Forum from UKCISA’s new Web and Communications Manager, Jane Woodley.
“I came to the UK when I was 20 years old and now I am 26. I grew up in the UK.” Mustafa Bakirci, MSC Student, Manchester Metropolitan University.
On Wednesday 10 February 60 UKCISA members joined our Members’ Forum in Manchester to share their recent experiences with international students, from immigration obstacles and overcoming them to evaluating the impact of their work. We were joined by representatives from the Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS), British Universities International Liaison Association (BUILA), the Association of Managers of Student Services in HE (AMOSSHE), the British Council and the International Society, Manchester as well as three student panellists.
Having only joined UKCISA as Website and Communications Manager at the beginning of the year, the day was a fantastic opportunity to hear directly from members about what issues had been the most challenging over the past year as well as success stories and solutions to hurdles.
Delegates cited the top three obstacles as:
• Credibility interviews
• Time cap on study (5 years)
• Police registration
The full list of concerns from members is below:
But for me the day really demonstrated that this is not just a job for our members and those in the sector. Everyone is incredibly committed to the cause and doing their very best to help students succeed in their studies and have a fantastic experience in the UK.
We talked about institutions’ definitions of ‘international students’ with 31% telling us that for their institution it refers to non-EU students only. 57% said they mean all students from outside of the UK (both EU and non-EU) and 12% of members said they refer to all students. Coming to the ‘international sector’ relatively new I was interested that there are discrepancies and the term means different things to different institutions. One for us at UKCISA to keep in mind in our communications to you all!
We heard from four members that are running innovative research projects and creative pilot programmes with UKCISA grants about safety, sexual health, UK and international student integration and showcasing the talents of international students within local communities. It was exciting to get a taster of where they are with their projects and the areas they’re investigating to improve the international student experience – not just for their own institutions, but this research could help universities, schools and colleges nationwide. I’m looking forward to hearing more as they develop.
One of the highlights for me was hearing directly from students about their own experiences, from their impression of dealing with the Home Office to making friends during their time here. They spoke openly about their love for the UK, and Manchester in particular, while suggesting practical ideas institutions could trial to support their international students further. All three students were very engaging and had the room chuckling as they spoke about working out how to hail a bus and understand regional accents. Which, while amusing, highlighted useful insight into what should be included within welcome induction packs.
They also shared that they’d found the induction process overwhelming and that while they’ve made lots of friends at university/college, the majority have been international students rather than UK students. Student panellist Jason from The University of Manchester said it’s because “[international students] are like you. They want to be global.” This prompted much discussion about ways to integrate home students with those from abroad, including exploring orientation programmes currently on offer.
We ended the day by celebrating what the UK offers international students. I’m very pleased to share that 100% of our delegates strongly agreed (3%), agreed (46%) or somewhat agreed (51%) that international students in the UK have an excellent experience.
Like me, half of our attendees were experiencing their first ever UKCISA event and came from a mix of HE, FE and Student’s Unions. If you missed out on the Manchester Members’ Forum and would like to attend one in the future, our final one this year is in London on 15 March. Read our draft programme and find out how to book.
