By its very nature higher education is international
and British higher education institutions, particularly the universities
have a long and honourable record of admitting students from overseas.
Today higher education is more international than ever before, a
fact that is reflected not only in the changes in curricula world-wide
and the increased number of students studying abroad, but also in
the mobility of academic staff and the collaboration in scientific
research that exists across national frontiers.
Although most people do not normally associate
education with business - except where business itself is a focus
of study - education is now a major business world-wide and the
UK is one of the leading provider countries, along with the USA,
France, Germany, Australia and Canada. In the UK alone there were
198,400 international students on higher education courses in 1996-1997.
One of the key developments in this market for
international education has been the increased competition in overseas
marketing and recruitment. In this the UK is no exception. During
the last 15 years British higher education institutions have engaged
in much more pro-active recruitment overseas, much of it carried
out under the umbrella of the Education Counselling Service (ECS).
This article explains how the ECS came about, what its mission is,
the range and level of the services that it offers to its members
and the code of practice that it expects member institutions to
abide by.
The birth of ECS
ECS was established in 1984 in response to a decline
in the number of international students coming to Britain. It came
into being as a result of a partnership between British higher education
and the British Council. In its foundation year, over 70 universities
and polytechnics became members of ECS, the main aim of which was
to promote British higher education in important overseas markets.
The partnership is not one that has come about
simply because of a desire to share costs. Prior to 1984 the British
Council was already operating in almost 100 countries, promoting
cultural relations and academic interchange with the UK. Through
its network of offices, each with its own extensive list of local
contacts, the Council was already in the business of answering educational
enquiries. It therefore provided the ideal organisation through
which British higher education could be more actively promoted overseas.
It was therefore an obvious choice of partner for British higher
education in 1984 when the latter decided to step up its recruitment
activity.
Following the lead of higher education, the further
education sector joined forces with the British Council in 1987
to establish the Education Promotion Service (ESP) for the promotion
of British further education overseas.
Merger
Higher and further education are complementary
to each other and the flow of students from one sector to the other
inevitably means that there are areas of common interest. It is
not surprising, therefore, that in the interests of the membership
of both organisations, merger occurred in 1991. The newly merged
organisation retained the name Education Counselling Service and
membership of it was then open to all universities in the UK, maintained
colleges of higher and further education, and all independent colleges
accredited by the British Accreditation Council for Independent
Further and Higher Education (BACIFHE). Eligibility for membership
was subsequently extended to include sixth form colleges and private
schools, but only for the promotion of their sixth forms. And from
October 1996 membership was opened to ELT institutions under a new
pilot programme in the three key ELT markets of Japan, Korea and
Thailand.
In late 1996 ECS had a total of 266 members, 140
institutions in higher education, 56 maintained colleges of further
education, 32 private colleges and schools, 35 ELT institutions
and 3 associate members including UCAS. By September 1997 membership
had increased to 283 institutions, the largest increase occurring
the further education sector.
The ECS Mission
In 1992 the enlarged ECS adopted a formal mission
statement. In order to convey ECS commitment to international education
of the highest quality the mission statement is reproduced in full.
ECS was created in the belief that all institutions
offering education at post- secondary level are enriched by an international
culture.
Operating through a partnership between the British
Council and accredited British educational institutions, the aims
of ECS are as follows:
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1) to assist its members in the development
of their overseas activities, including the promotion of opportunities
for education and training, and the recruitment of international
students.
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2) to enhance the high reputation overseas
of British post-secondary education, by:
2.1) monitoring and, where appropriate, insuring
compliance with the ECS Code of Practice on the student recruitment;
2.2) working in co-operation with the quality
auditing bodies, to ensure the needs of international students
are taken into account when assessing courses and other services,
whether delivered in Britain or overseas.
In pursuit of these aims, ECS will involve its
members in agreeing its detailed objectives and development plans,
its monitoring role and other aspects of the Service.
The range of ECS Services
In fulfilling its mission ECS provides a whole
range of services to its members. In order to provide these services
ECS has full time staff operating from British Council Offices in
each of the countries in which ECS operates. The number of staff
varies from one country to another, the largest numbers being deployed
in Malaysia and Hong Kong, the smallest in Cyprus. The work of the
overseas offices is backed up and managed by a small team of staff
at the British Council’s head quarters in Manchester.
The services that ECS offers subscribing institutions
are as follows:
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1) The ECS staff in the UK and overseas countries
undertake generic promotion of British post-secondary education,
targeting potential students and funding agencies, ensuring
that a high profile is maintained in these key markets for British
education in the face of increasing international competition.
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2) Counselling is given to individuals by ECS
staff overseas to ensure that the best possible match is made
between students’ requirements and the range of courses
available in the UK.
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3) Overseas exhibitions and missions are arranged
for subscribers and charged to participants at cost.
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4) Market surveys of existing or potential
markets are commissioned which provide a guide for subscribers
wishing to expand their marketing activity. Circulation of these
surveys is restricted to subscriber institutions.
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5) Individual visit programmes can be arranged
for subscribers visiting countries where there are ECS offices.
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6) Further advice and market information can
be provided in response to requests from subscribers.
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7) The newsletter ECS Marketing News is issued
to subscribers every six weeks.
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8) ECS organises an annual collection of subscribers’
promotional material and its distribution to offices in the
countries where ECS currently operates.
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9) A statistical survey of international students
in the UK is compiled annually and distributed to subscribers.
Global comparisons with USA, Australia and Canada also undertaken.
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10) Updating and training is provided on an
annual basis to selected key staff from ECS offices overseas
and British Council offices in the other key markets.
The level of activity
The Annual Report for 1996/97 documents the level
of activity in the 14 countries in which ECS was fully operational.
The full range and volume of activity undertake by ECS abroad during
1996-1997 is indicated below:
Levels of Activity undertaken by ECS abroad, 1996-1997
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In house presentations - 540
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Promotional visits by ECS Staff - 726
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Educational enquiries - 245,051
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Counselling Interviews - 47,434
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Applications referred - 9,144
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Market information queries handled from subscribers
- 1026
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Provision of counselling/presentational facilities
for subscribers - 478
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Market briefings given to subscriber representatives
1058
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Subscriber visit programmes arranged/marketing
assistance given - 487
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Contributions to additions of ECS Marketing
News - 86
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Exhibitions/missions organised by ECS - 45
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Participation in external exhibitions - 67
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Study tours to the UK 8
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Source: Education Counselling Service, Review of
the year October 1996 to September 1997
Thus, the 14 overseas offices of the ECS handled
almost a quarter of a million educational enquiries, counselled
over 47,000 students about study in the UK and eventually referred
over 9,000 of these to member institutions in the UK. As the table
indicates, the range of activities undertaken is much wider than
counselling students and in total represents an extremely large
volume of work, most of which would not have been undertaken had
ECS not existed. It seems reasonable to assume, therefore, that
because of the existence of ECS information on British higher and
further education reached a much wider public than would otherwise
had been the case, and that as a result of this the flow of applications
to the British institutions increased. Overseas missions and exhibitions
are particularly useful in this respect because they enable potential
applicants, parents and teachers to come face to face with academics
and administrators from many institutions.
Code of Practice
ECS has a Code of Practice that it expects all
member institutions to follow in all of their dealings with international
students. The first addition of the code relied heavily on two earlier
publications, one of which was drawn up by the Association of University
International Liaison Officers (AUILO). Thus from the onset the
ECS Code reflected best practice that already existed within the
University sector.
The Code, which was revised in 1995, deals with
such matters as institutional policy towards international students,
academic policy issues, marketing, information provision, admissions
and support services. The latest edition also includes a new section
entitled ‘Working with International Partners’, in recognition
of the fact that UK institutions are sometimes providers overseas
as well as in Britain. The main points in the Code may be summarised
as follows:
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All institutions should have a comprehensive
and clearly defined policy on international students, and on
collaborative links with international partners;
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This policy should inform and permeate all
other activities within the institution; in particular, it should
be taken into account in the academic and financial planning
processes;
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The policy should take account of all information
requirements for international students, from the point in time
that they accept the offer of a place up until the time of their
departure from the institution;
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A senior member of staff should be charged
with the overall responsibility for the policy and for ensuring
that the policy laid down is actually implemented in a coherent
fashion; this person should report directly to someone within
the senior management team of the institution;
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Staff engaged in international recruitment
should be knowledgeable about their institution’s policy;
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The admissions requirements for international
students should not undermine the institutions academic standards,
nor threaten the success rate of international students;
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Appropriate training and staff development
should be provided for all staff in regular contact with international
students;
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Institutional policies and provisions should
be sensitive to different customs, practices and expectations
of students from other cultures;
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International partners should have policies
that are compatible with the home institution, although responsibility
for validated and franchised courses rests with the awarding
(home) institution; arrangements for the quality control of
collaborative international links should be no less vigorous
than for arrangements operating internally in the UK.
Clearly, responsible institutions will already
be implementing the policies and practices described above. However,
whether this was true several years ago when the Code was first
introduced is not so obvious. The importance of the Code - as is
probably true of all codes - is that when it was introduced it "shocked"
institutions into thinking more systematically about international
students and, in doing so, brought those that lagged behind much
closer to the "best" or "acceptable" practice.
If there are occasional lapses, with departures from "acceptable
practice", the very existence of the Code is likely to ensure
that such departures are more quickly remedied. And where this does
not happen through self-regulation, the Code recommends that complaints
be made to the Board of Directors of ECS, with the ultimate sanction
being suspension of membership.
Countries targeted
When ECS was first established it operated only
in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, three of the key markets for
UK overseas students. At the time Malaysia was boycotting British
goods and services by pursuing a "buy British last" policy
and as a consequence of this the number of Malaysian students in
the UK had declined. It is not surprising therefore that one of
the first UK higher education missions overseas that was organised
by ECS was to Malaysia in April 1985. This was a high profile mission
that attracted much media attention even before it arrived in Kuala
Lumpur. It also followed on very close to another, even more important,
mission that was lead by the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.
Her aim was to improve relations between the two countries and woo
the Malaysians back into buying British goods and services. In this
she succeeded, and through its timing the ECS mission was able to
exploit the easing of tension between the two countries to the advantage
of British higher education.
Since those early days ECS has expanded its sphere
of operations and now has a presence in 14 countries. In addition
to the original three countries ECS now operates in Brunei, Cyprus,
Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Pakistan, Turkey, India, Thailand, China
and Brazil. Regular missions and/or exhibitions are organised in
each country and these are usually backed up by detailed market
surveys and briefings. Almost all of these events are for promotion
purposes as opposed to direct recruitment. The exceptions to this
are the late summer missions to Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore,
which are timed to occur just after A level results are released
so as to allow late applicants and those who have not yet found
a place an opportunity to do so.
The promotions missions vary enormously in both
size and focus. Some are small scale and specialist in nature, with
no more than 10 or 12 institutions participating. Others take the
form of large scale education exhibitions, with all subscribing
members participating. The exhibitions that are held in Malaysia
and Hong Kong are examples of the latter, and the official estimates
of the number of visitors attending these events is usually in excess
of 50 000.
How successful?
Of course, indicators of activity are not measures
of success. While there can be little doubt that through the activities
of ECS many students abroad have benefited from counselling and
guidance, and will have been able to make more informed decisions
about where to study, the extent to which ECS has actually increased
the flow of applicants to British institutions, and ultimately lead
to more of them coming here, is less certain. The reason for this
uncertainty is quite simply that it is not known how many students
would have applied and ended up studying in the UK had ECS not been
set up. This is a problem that is familiar to all social scientists
who are interested in evaluating the impact of a newly established
institutions or policy.
Nevertheless it seems fairly safe to assume that
for higher education at least, ECS has contributed to the increase
in international students coming to the UK since 1983/84, notwithstanding
the increased competition in many of these markets from the USA,
Australia and New Zealand. Although the promotion of higher education
under ECS still requires a considerable additional input of resources
from member institutions through their participation in missions,
exhibitions, etc., and the total resources committed to promotion
and recruitment is probably far higher as a result of ECS. In the
absence of ECS the large scale exhibitions would probably not take
place. Some of the missions would, but they would probably be fewer
in number and smaller in scale because if ECS did not exist all
arrangements or such missions would have to be undertaken by the
institutions, acting either individually or in consortia. Thus the
very existence of ECS has probably given a stimulus to the marketing
and promotion of British higher education because they have made
it easier for British institutions to engage in both.
Management and Policy
Along with other UK based staff, the Head of ECS
is located in Manchester and the Manchester Office is in frequent
contact with the other ECS units abroad. As is true of the head
of any organisation, the Head of ECS is responsible for the day
to day management of the Service. ECS policy is determined by a
Board of Directors which is chaired by a Vice-Chancellor, the other
members being representative of the varies constituents among the
membership, i.e. the universities, colleges of higher and further
education, private colleges and the British Council itself.
Once a year, in December, an Annual General Meeting
is held to which all subscribing institutions are invited. In addition
to receiving the Chairman’s review of the year, there are country
reports from each of the ECS offices overseas. Thus, through attendance
at the Annual General Meeting, and through their representatives
on the Board of Directors, there is an opportunity for member institutions
to make an input into policy making.
The fact that over the past twelve years, very
few institutions have allowed their membership to lapse suggests
that to date members have generally been satisfied with the service
that they have received.
The Way Forward
The international environment in higher and further
education, as in business and commerce, generally, becomes increasingly
competitive. The need for ECS is therefore unlikely to diminish.
Over the past few years it has become more business like in its
operations, with a rolling business plan and more responsive management
structures. It will need to continue to explore new markets and
this will require additional resources. In the past such resources
have been generated, in part at least, by a broadening of the ECS
membership base. The scope for continuing increases in membership
must be lower than what it was a few years ago, but whether membership
is approaching its limit is uncertain. If it is then ECS will only
be able to expand into new areas of the world if it ceases - or
slims down - operations in some of its existing countries, or if
it is able to finance such expansion by further increases in membership
fees.
The Author: Professor J.J. Hughes, Professor
of Industrial Economics, University of Kent at Canterbury U.K. Chairman
of the Educational Courses in Britain Editorial Steering Committee.
This article first appeared in Educational Courses in Britain
