“Historically, it’s been incredibly difficult to access international education opportunities,” says Wendy Alexander.
Wendy, the newest member of ApplyBoard’s United Kingdom Advisory Board, is now well positioned to help ApplyBoard work to solve our sector’s greatest challenges. We’re grateful to have her experience and expertise steering success in the UK.
Wendy has a formidable resume: vice-principal at the University of Dundee, Scottish Higher Education Trade envoy, advisor to Scotland’s premier growth equity firm, British Council trustee, and former leader of Scotland’s Labour Party.
The University of Dundee was named Scotland’s top university at The Herald Higher Education Awards 2023.
“I’m a doer rather than a sayer by instinct,” explains Wendy. But before her myriad professional experiences, she studied abroad.
Wendy didn’t have ApplyBoard to explore institutions and programs 50 years ago. Instead, she learned of a study abroad opportunity in Canada through her father, who himself learned of it through a cousin he sat beside at a wedding.
“Studying abroad changed the course of my life,” says Wendy.
Building a Brighter Future for UK Students
“Life is a team sport, and the higher you rise, it’s not so much about what you do individually,” Wendy Alexander explains. “It’s about who you inspire, and how you build consensus.”
At ApplyBoard, Wendy says this means ensuring alignment among her fellow UK Advisory Board members, as well as remaining motivated to further ApplyBoard’s strategic goals. Alongside Wendy, the board includes Nick Hillman, Mary Curnock Cook, Sir Steve Smith, and the Right Honourable Jo Johnson.
This collective offers guidance in solving the UK’s unique challenges. According to a 2023 survey from PA consulting, 90% of UK institution vice-chancellors believe the country’s university sector has never faced greater threats or uncertainties.
Their concerns include the decreasing value of capped tuition fees’ via inflation paired with increasing competition for international students. Further, prospective students must now navigate the UK’s May 2023 dependent policy update, which forbids international students from bringing dependents to the UK unless the student is taking postgraduate courses designated as research programmes (this mainly refers to PhDs).
For Wendy, ApplyBoard’s goal of building a more equitable education sector provides a platform for effectively addressing challenges. In particular, she admires ApplyBoard’s supply-and-demand matching, data-driven thought leadership, and best practices shared with stakeholders across our destinations.
Like us, Wendy believes building educational bridges is a service to humanity. “Educating the world is the right mission,” she says.
With experts like Wendy helping to guide ApplyBoard’s strategic direction, international students can continue depending on ApplyBoard to help them achieve study success in the UK and other top study destinations around the world.
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