Setting the UK up for Long Term Success in International Education, An Interview with Jo Johnson

Despite recent political changes, the UK remains well-positioned to build on the record-breaking year for international education we saw in 2021. To chat about what the future holds for international students in the UK, we sat down with the Chairman of ApplyBoard’s Advisory Board, Jo Johnson.

Jo’s extensive experience in international education, EdTech, and politics helps shape his unique view of the UK market. We chatted about post-graduate work opportunities, the impact of international enrollment on domestic students, the positive disruption that EdTech brings to the table, and more.

Jo Johnson attended Cabinet as Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation. A Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, he is also the non-executive chairman of Access Creative College, the largest independent provider of skills and further education for the creative industries.

Prior to his time in Cabinet, Jo spent 13 years at the Financial Times, where he was Associate Editor and won a number of awards for his journalism.

AI: What factors do you think will set competing destination markets apart during the next few years?

Jo Johnson: I think the most important thing for students is going to be the return on investment and value for money. It’s true for domestic students and it’s true for international students. Education is a serious investment of students’ time and resources and there’s got to be a return on that.

That return comes in many different forms. It comes in the form of post-study earnings trajectories, the friendship networks students manage to create for themselves, and how they develop intellectually and as rounded members of society. It’s in terms of student outcomes and the value add for which they are responsible, where providers of higher education are ideally going to be differentiating themselves. The more universities can demonstrate that the international students they’re hosting are developing academically, socially, and economically, the more they’re going to thrive in a highly competitive market.

AI: What can the UK learn from other countries when it comes to constructing a post-graduation work program that’s built for long-term success?

Jo Johnson: The Graduate Route in the UK has the potential to be a big driver of international education growth and so far it looks to have been a success, particularly for students from South Asia.

There is still a job to do in terms of educating employers about the Graduate Route and assuring them that it is simple to use. I’m still hoping to see evidence that employers in the UK understand the Graduate Route and are taking advantage of it so international students who want to work have employers who are willing to support them through what
should be a relatively straightforward process.

I think it’s really important that we communicate to employers that the Graduate Route exists and educate them that it’s simple to take advantage of. Hopefully, that should lead to job opportunities being offered to those international students who want to enter the local economy.

ApplyBoard’s UK Advisory Board is composed of distinguished education leaders and changemakers that help guide and support ApplyBoard’s expansion within the United Kingdom.

AI: Is having the physical space to accommodate every international student going to be an issue for the UK moving forward?

Jo Johnson: Availability of high-quality and affordable accommodation has been a major issue in the last couple of years and will be a major part of a university’s competitive offer in the UK in the future. The expansion of the sector due to a combination of one-off factors and long-term factors has created a mismatch between demand and supply that will take time to sort out.

The laissez-faire approach to housing that has characterized many universities’ approach in the past will not work if students start to make housing availability a key factor in their decision-making process. Of course, the model of international education can adapt too and there will be a place for some form of online learning model. We saw during the pandemic that’s not necessarily going to be the first choice for many international students, but there will be a segment of international students that want to study remotely and online. That will be an important and growing part of the market.

Equally, there will be continued growth in transnational education, where institutions deliver degrees outside of their home markets on international campuses or in partnership with local institutions. This will help high-quality education from UK institutions to be brought closer to many international students while alleviating pressure in the UK.

All that said, there will remain a considerable number of international students who want to travel and immerse themselves in a new country and culture. It brings with them a whole bundle of benefits—access to high-quality education, access to a network of friends who will stay with them for their whole lives, turning into ties with investment, trade, and future opportunities. It’s a bundle, and for many students, travelling overseas—and finding accommodation in the town where they study—is the best way to access that whole bundle of goods.

AI: There’s a narrative that the rapid growth of international education in the UK could have a negative impact on domestic students. Do you think there is validity in these sorts of concerns? Do growing numbers of international students risk places for domestic students?

Jo Johnson: I think it’s important that people understand the extent to which international students create additional choices for domestic students by making courses viable that wouldn’t otherwise be offered. The domestic fee cap means it’s often loss-making for institutions to offer certain courses.

Without the additional revenue they get from international students, these courses wouldn’t be offered in the first place. International students are making possible the provision of so many courses that significantly widen the choice of domestic students.

AI: One item everyone in the industry can align on is student success. How do you think schools, government and partners like us can help to enable student success? What are some of the barriers to getting this done?

Jo Johnson: I think the most important thing that ApplyBoard does and can do is to ensure students are well-matched to the courses they’re taking. That’s the great strength of the filtering system that’s built into their technology.

ApplyBoard makes sure students meet all the requirements for a particular course and that they understand the nature of the programs they’re applying to. Within this system, students have the best possible chance of graduating, enjoying themselves, and ultimately finding a career that matches their interests and talents.

AI: Disruption has been a big driving force behind EdTech’s success as an industry. From the outside looking in, what’s something ApplyBoard is doing that is different from the rest of the industry players?

Jo Johnson: The way Applyboard removes so many of the friction points of an international student’s journey puts them in a special category. ApplyBoard simplifies the student journey, accelerates the chances of students securing acceptance in many countries, and significantly enhances their chances of securing a visa. Qualitatively, ApplyBoard is operating in a different space as a result of the value it is adding as an intermediary in the student journey.

AI: How can we nurture international students to improve their experience in the UK following graduation?

Jo Johnson: I think there’s a big incentive for universities to work even more closely with local and regional employers and drivers of the local economy to ensure they’re going to stay relevant. Of course, universities provide much more than on-the-job training; they’re not there to take the place of colleges or vocational schools, which both have their own place. But, a close discussion of where employers are feeling acute skills shortages will inform universities a little bit about the likely direction of future demand that they’ll be facing.

Universities need to prepare for the jobs of today as well as the jobs that will be in high demand in the future. So, maintaining a really strong set of relationships with UK employers of all kinds is going to be really important.

AI: You’ve been in a unique position over the past few years having experience in education and government. One of the most difficult things when it comes to creating lasting change through policy is inconsistency when leadership changes occur. How can UK higher ed institutions plan for the future when policies are constantly shifting?

Jo Johnson: There’s actually been a fair amount of policy consistency over the last few changes of leadership in the UK. We’ve seen a consistent focus on ensuring students receive value for money from their courses, ensuring students don’t drop out, and ensuring institutions have plans in place to address dropout rates.

So governments have rightly focused on non-continuation and the rate at which students are progressing into highly skilled roles as barometers for whether the sector is really taking outcomes as seriously as the government wants them to. I think that logic will continue regardless of who’s in office because they want to ensure that there’s a decent return for the taxpayer from that investment the taxpayer is making in subsidies to the student loan book.

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