PA 242/10
More UK students should study in China, according to Britain’s new coalition government.
Speaking at The University of Nottingham Ningbo, China, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Jeremy Browne MP, said Britain wants more UK students to experience university in China, now the world’s second-largest economy.
Tertiary education is now a global phenomenon with an increasing number of students able to choose not only their university and course but also the country in which they want to study, noted Mr Browne during his visit.
Click here for full story
The Liberal Democrat MP, who is an alumnus of The University of Nottingham and a former president of its students’ union, said one reason he chose his alma mater was because he had wanted to experience living in a different part of Britain.
He said of today’s generation of students: “Now the choice is not simply which university should I go to, it is: which country should I study in?”
The internationalisation of education means students can now decide whether they should start their degree in their own country and complete it in another, “picking up along the way the vital cultural insights that studying in another country provides.”
The question students are increasingly asking, said Mr Browne, is: “Which institution, wherever it is in the world, will best meet my needs and priorities?”
Mr Browne said that when he was the age of current university students “if you wanted to go to The University of Nottingham you went to Nottingham. Nobody would have believed you could one day go to The University of Nottingham in China or Malaysia,” he said of the globalisation trend in education that has led to students earning British university degrees at UK tertiary institutions outside Britain.
“Around 200,000 students, just like you, are currently taking UK qualifications from more than 100 higher education institutions around the world,” Mr Browne said. Britain, he said, is “fortunate” to have more than 340,000 students from 239 countries currently pursuing education opportunities in Britain, which is second only to the USA as a destination.
“There is clearly an economic incentive here. International education provides the UK with a dynamic, high-skill and sustainable export industry… But it is much more than an export industry. It enriches our society in many ways,” said Mr Browne.
The MP cited as examples a deepening awareness and understanding of other cultures and building long-lasting relationships that provide potential for greater educational, cultural and scientific exchange and greater trade, investment and political influence.
In such a global environment, Mr Browne said that only those institutions prepared to develop strategic partnerships with universities in other countries would be able to make the most of the challenges and opportunities of internationalisation.
Professor Christine Ennew, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Internationalisation at The University of Nottingham, said: “We’re delighted that Mr Browne was able to visit us at The University of Nottingham Ningbo, China, and that he chose to highlight the importance of internationalisation in higher education.
“We believe that the experience of studying in another country, immersed in a different culture, is a key aspect of the learning experience and crucially important in giving our graduates the edge in an increasingly globalised world. Here at The University of Nottingham we aim to have 25 per cent of all of our students undertake some kind of international mobility as part of their degree — whether that means studying at our campuses in Asia or at one of our many partner institutions around the world.”
Mr Browne is the first Minister in the new British government to visit Ningbo, one of the main engines of economic development in China’s Zhejiang province and the wider region and close to Shanghai. This is Mr Browne’s second visit to China.
The University of Nottingham Ningbo, China’s campus architecture and landscaping is modelled on the UK’s, which makes it feel like “familiar territory” to the British politician.
Mr Browne said the emergence of the Ningbo campus is “testament to the Ningbo government’s far-sighted vision in developing foreign ties and international relationships, as well, of course, as my alma mater’s in responding to that vision”.
The opening of The University of Nottingham Ningbo, China’s campus in 2004, “as the very first Sino-foreign university in China with approval from the Chinese Ministry of Education, laid the ground for others to follow,” he said.
The University of Nottingham has also taken on a pioneering role in Malaysia. In the year 2000, Nottingham made history by becoming the first British university to open a fully operational overseas branch campus — at Semenyih, near Kuala Lumpur.
Ten years on, the University is proudly celebrating a decade of international educational provision and research excellence at The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus.
— Ends —
Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham, described by The Times as Britain's “only truly global university”, has award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. It is ranked in the UK's Top 10 and the World's Top 75 universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong (SJTU) and the QS World University Rankings.
The University is committed to providing a truly international education for its 39,000 students, producing world-leading research and benefiting the communities around its campuses in the UK and Asia.
More than 90 per cent of research at The University of Nottingham is of international quality, according to the most recent Research Assessment Exercise, with almost 60 per cent of all research defined as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’. Research Fortnight analysis of RAE 2008 ranked the University 7th in the UK by research power.
The University’s vision is to be recognised around the world for its signature contributions, especially in global food security, energy & sustainability, and health.
More news from the University at: www.nottingham.ac.uk/news
University facts and figures: www.nottingham.ac.uk/about/facts/factsandfigures.aspx