Surge in enrolment on UK university courses by students in conflict zones, report finds

A recent report has revealed a significant increase in the volume of students in conflict-affected regions participating in courses run by UK universities.

The newly-published report by the British Council aimed to explore UK involvement in international Higher Education Partnerships (HEPs), analysing what our educational institutions could do to further these relationships.

The report suggested that HEPs allowed UK institutions “to support the social, political, and economic reconstruction and development in conflict-affected regions”, elicit “research collaboration”, and provide mutually beneficial “cultural exchange between both staff and students”.

The countries with the most higher education institutions engaged in HEPs were Ukraine, Nigeria, and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, with Nigeria’s total number of students engaged (6,115) the highest on the list

The conflict-affected and socially-fragile regions which saw some of the most growth in students studying UK courses between 2018/19 and 2022/23 were Iraq, with a 117% increase, Yemen, with a 178% increase, and South Sudan, with a 213% increase.

The countries with the most higher education institutions engaged in HEPs were Ukraine, Nigeria, and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, with Nigeria’s total number of students engaged (6,115) the highest on the list.

The UK university which educates the most students from conflict-affected regions is the Open University (2,665), with its fully online course options giving it an advantage in engaging in HEPs, followed by Liverpool John Moore’s University (1,790).

The University of Salford was found to have the most diverse international involvement, with students partaking from all regions explored in the report, from Afghanistan to Haiti, and from Mali to Myanmar.

Whilst the British Council has highlighted the benefits HEPs can provide, it has also recognised their consequences, particularly the issue of brain drain, in which students from conflict-affected and socially fragile regions permanently leave their countries after receiving their education.

85% of [students engaged in HEPs] don’t go back and basically those countries are no better off

Adam Habib, former Vice-Chancellor, University of Witwatersrand

Adam Habib, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, said during a 2020 visit to the UK that: “85% of [students engaged in HEPs] don’t go back and basically those countries are no better off.” He also argued that “offering scholarships to talented students from the developing world” was having “perverse consequences”.

Additionally, the utilisation of HEPs has been found to have other repercussions, with Universities UK, an organisation for policy advocation and research on behalf of the UK’s higher-education institutions, suggesting that these issues usually stem from a lack of “equitable” partnerships between the “Global North” and “Global South”.

The organisation suggested that the non-economic benefits involved in HEPs need to be regarded as more important than the financial gains, arguing that this would encourage the long-term sustainability and mutual benefit of these programmes.