The International Student Experience Report 2006

The UNITE International Student Report is a spin-off from the original UNITE Student Experience Report that Ipsos has been running for six years. This industry leading study offers an interesting perspective into the hearts and minds of international students, and offers an insight into how both home and international students see their university experience.

• International students value their experience at UK universities and more than one half believe that it will help them to find a job — this is one of their principle motivations for coming to study in the UK. International students believe that Universities are delivering their expectations for career enhancement as they will succeed in getting the qualifications that they need.
• Overall the international students are very positive about their experience at UK universities and positive about their own life and career prospects. For example, 96% agreed that "going to university is a worthwhile experience" and 89% that "the money I am spending on my education is a good investment in my future". They value the opportunities to enrich their studies by meeting and learning from people of other cultures.
• Some international students report that their English is poor (10% non EU students classify their English as "basic") and, among these students, almost one third agree that due to language they sometimes find lectures and tutorials difficult to understand.
• The academic reputation of the university is the key reason for choice of university and this is even more important from outside of the EU and postgraduates who also chose on the basis of research reputation.
• International students agree that they are more likely to mix with people from other cultures than their own, and are also more likely to agree that they have more in common with other international students rather than those from the UK. A higher proportion disagreed than agreed that they found it "hard" to get to know UK students.
• International students do not have the debt problems facing UK students, and are more likely to have received help from their families whom they do not have to repay.
• Universities already take a significant role in helping international students to settle into life in the UK, in finding good accommodation, improving their language skills and finding part time work. The research shows that there is still room for further improvement.
• Although there are areas where home and international students demonstrate different concerns and experiences (e.g. over homesickness, finance, and the value of international perspectives), there are also many areas where their view and experiences are similar, and this is itself an important finding, though perhaps one that should not surprise us.
• The UNITE International Student Experience Report reflects many of the key conclusions drawn from the UKCOSA survey "Broadening our Horizons", namely the high satisfaction that international students expressed, the need for universities to resource their support services and the need to encourage greater mixing between international and UK students.

Technical details

Ipsos conducted 1,025 face-to-face interviews with full-time undergraduate and post-graduate students between 24 October and 25 November 2005. There was an additional booster sample of 357 face- to-face interviews with EU and non-EU students during this time at twenty universities across the UK, and took approximately thirty minutes.