The number of students from conflict-affected regions participating with UK institutions through transnational education has seen a significant rise, growing by 38% between 2018 to 2023, a new report has found.
The British Council’s Higher Education Partnerships in Conflict-Affected Regions study reported growth in 19 out of 21 conflict-affected regions in this period.
The largest volume of students engaging in TNE (one country offering its qualifications in another) in this period were from Nigeria (6,115), which recorded a 69% increase, and Lebanon (2,695), which rose by 33%.
The largest percentage increase in this period was in South Sudan (213%) and Yemen (178%). While the numbers of students from South Sudan (250) and Yemen (125) are still relatively low, the growth points to a significant effort by UK HEIs to engage in TNE.
The study found that there were approximately 132 international partnership arrangements in areas classed as conflict affected regions, between September and November 2024.
The largest providing UK institutions of TNE in conflict-affected regions in terms of total numbers were the Open University (2,665 students), Liverpool John Moore’s University (1,790), the University of Suffolk (1,780), the University of Salford (1,070), and the University of London (830).
In addition to transnational education, the study also focused on collaborative research partnerships, and student and staff mobility partnerships. 87 of these were in Ukraine. This is due to the success of the UK-Ukraine Twinning Scheme launched in summer 2022.
After Ukraine, the most popular countries for international partnership arrangements were Nigeria (10), Myanmar (6), Occupied Palestinian Territories (6), Iraq (5) and Lebanon (5).
The report highlights the growing remit of UK HEIs in conflict-affected region, with the increase in TNE students demonstrating the importance of international partnerships.
Online and distance learning was the most popular form of TNE amongst students in conflict-affected regions (42.2% of total TNE). This is attributed to accessibility issues. Distance learning is often the most affordable and most physically accessible, due to gender-based violence issues, geographical issues, and wartime destruction of infrastructure.
The report highlights that universities are often one of the main targets during conflict, motivated by either the targeting of critical community infrastructure and services, or as an attack on ideas and freedom of thought. In conflict-affected regions, higher education provides young people with vital continuity in their educational development, supporting peacebuilding and reconstruction efforts and enabling them to make strategic choices about their futures.
The report also found that in recent years, higher education partnerships have been reconceptualised as a tool for international development, with the capacity to improve the human capital of a country and foster sustainable economic growth.
Such partnerships, claim researchers, are vital for advancing equality, diversity, and inclusion values, as well as contributing to a culture of peacebuilding and reconciliation.
TNE can take various forms, notes the report, such as branch campuses, joint degrees, franchise programmes and distance learning. In 2022–23, 166 UK universities delivered some form of TNE to 571,185 students in over 230 countries and territories worldwide, with the net economic benefits of TNE in the UK estimated at £37.4 billion.
Maddalaine Ansell, Director Education at the British Council said: “Transnational education, one country offering its qualifications in another, could be the answer to sustainable and equitable international student mobility.
“There is a huge and increasing demand across the world for tertiary education. Students and their families want to fulfil their potential, education providers want to internationalise and raise standards, and governments need access to higher-level skills to grow their economies and play their part in achieving Sustainable Development Goals.
“There is a high regard for British higher education the world over but in a competitive international HE sector we must meet the demand and needs of students and adapt to the evolving global education landscape. Therefore, new models in transnational education are required to provide greater accessibility and flexibility to learners of varying ages and backgrounds, while offering opportunities for institutions to expand their global reach.”