Universities in the UK are being urged to provide better support for students from China to improve integration on campuses amid concerns about “ethnic clustering”.
Chinese students make up a quarter of all international students and the £2.3bn fees they pay every year play a vital role in propping up the UK’s cash-strapped higher education sector.
But a paper by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) says Chinese students face acute and distinct challenges when they move to the UK to study and vice-chancellors must do more to help. It warned: “Some Chinese students feel like they are being treated as revenue sources rather than as valued members of the community.”
According to Hepi, one of the issues affecting integration is lower proficiency in spoken English among Chinese students. They also do not use WhatsApp and Instagram, relying instead on Chinese social platforms such as WeChat and Little Red Book.
“Since Chinese students are unfamiliar with media platforms and apps used in the UK, they continue to rely on China’s domestic apps, enhancing the likelihood of ethnic clustering,” the report said.
Another issue is that Chinese students often find themselves concentrated in large numbers in particular institutions, which means they end up socialising with other people from China – a problem exacerbated by limited opportunities to live in diverse households.
The Hepi report also reflects the frustration among Chinese students, drawn from interviews with 100 students at 20 institutions, as well as experts across the UK and China, and warns they may choose to go elsewhere.
“Respondents lamented the lack of effort universities make to understand and support their community,” the paper said. “This perception, combined with China’s strained economy, could reduce the appeal of UK higher education institutions among Chinese students, who may choose to study elsewhere or to stay closer to their network in China.”
Figures published on Thursday by Ucas revealed a 1.9% drop in the number of Chinese students accepted on to undergraduate degree courses via the university admissions service this year. Having peaked at 18,500 in 2022, the number fell to 17,405 last year, then declined further in 2024 to 17, 070 – a 7.7% decline over two years.
Josh Freeman, Hepi’s policy manager, said: “The international environment is changing and UK universities can no longer rely on Chinese students arriving in increasing numbers.
“Yet these students, and the high fees they pay, are critical to the long-term economic health of many institutions. That means institutions will have to work harder to attract and keep them.”
The paper suggests that universities introduce a “buddy system” that pairs domestic students with Chinese students to build better integration. It also calls for more targeted career support for Chinese students who find it more difficult to find post-study employment in the UK.
Author of the report, Pippa Ebel, a China specialist and researcher based in Guangzhou, said: “All international students face challenges when moving to an unfamiliar environment, but there is evidence to suggest that the problems facing Chinese students are more acute and distinct.
“If more assistance was provided for Chinese students to integrate, not only would the students have a better experience but campuses and UK society at large would feel the benefits.”
A spokesperson for Universities UK, which speaks for more than 140 institutions, said: “International students are a valued – and vital – part of the UK’s higher education community, bringing a breadth of experience to campus.
“The popularity of our universities with international students is a testament to the excellent reputation of our sector, and universities are well practised at mitigating risks which come with operating in a global market.”
• This article was amended on 14 December 2024. The image was changed for a more generic photograph of students to avoid identifying a particular university.
