Bureaucracy is often seen as the bane of education, a sector that is struggling to keep pace with societal change.
It is fascinating then, to see that the strategy behind the UK’s new international education strategy is a new steering committee.
Authored by the Department for Education, the Department of Business and Trade, and now the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office, with Sir Steve Smith remaining as international education champion, the new IES introduces a new group in to the mix – the Education Sector Action Group (ESAG), chaired by an unnamed minister who will be tasked with delivering on the ambition.
Add to the list the announcement of a new diplomacy‐led approach, where heads of missions will act as local education champions in target markets around the globe. The hope will be that many hands make light work.
The UK government reportedly receives daily requests at a diplomatic level to engage with developing countries on building education infrastructure. By bringing more stakeholders together, the aim is to seize more of those opportunities.
The strategy design is a collaborative cross section of the entire education ecosystem, from government departments to member associations. But will it be cohesive?
I think it is fair to say delays are likely. The release of the IES publication itself has already been postponed by nine months as it was rewritten several times to respond to government white papers on immigration, post-16 education, skills and an Autumn Budget.
Now educators will have to wait again for details of who will be appointed to ESAG, and then a further 100 days as they consult their members and produce action plans to deliver the detail of this strategy.
You can also throw it to the mix a yet-to-be-released government white paper on soft power and how the the individual education strategies of each of the devolved nations dovetails this plan.
If the Home Office remain disconnected, then familiar problems may still prevail
The one partner that really needs to be included in the ESAG steering group is the Home Office. A major failing in the last iteration was the constant disconnect in government between immigration policy and a national education export strategy. If the Home Office remain disconnected, then familiar problems may still prevail.
The headline vision for the IES is to collectively grow education exports to £40bn per year by 2030, an ambitious goal that seeks to unlock the potential in areas like transnational education, English language teaching, edtech, and British qualifications and skills – but stops short of offering any detailed, actionable plan or levers for such diversification.
This inevitably jars against the reality for British universities, which are facing visa delays, financial cuts, and the international student levy, a policy that will cost universities an estimated £600m a year over the same period.
What is the old adage? Grow or die? There is a feeling of relief in some quarters that the government didn’t actively seek to reduce international student numbers as part of their ‘strengthening’ of the UK’s immigration system. However, the repeated mentions of “sustainable recruitment” in this new IES give the sense that universities are being put into a hold position in the current status quo.
A major disappointment to many will be that the IES doesn’t offer any new funding options or regulatory changes to allow educators to innovate. The flip side is that, the announcement of ESAG, means it is likely member associations are going to be able to contribute to the detail required to make this succeed.
The document opens with the ominous line “the world is changing fast”, but history tells us that bureaucracy and innovation are not easy bedfellows.
Can the UK mobilise its full collaborative strength to break down barriers for British education exports to thrive in a competitive world? Or will we be left waiting for yet another committee to take action?
We will be exploring the new international education strategy at The PIE Live Europe on 24-25 March 2026, at The Brewery London. Book your tickets today and join in the debate. Check out the agenda and booking information here.
