The number of TNE students now outnumbers foreign students in the UK by 60%.

Transnational Education (TNE) is education delivered in a country other than the country in which the awarding institution is based.

A new report has revealed that there are now 1.6 times as many students studying for UK awards abroad than there are international students studying in the UK.

There have been new plans made during British Prime Minister Theresa May’s state visit to China recently for a new campus to be built – Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU).

PM visited China along with the University of Liverpool Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dame Janet Beer. The new campus is set to be built in the city of Taicang and will open in 2020. They have intentions of the campus holding 6,000 students by 2025.

“The new campus will forge innovative, dynamic relationships between the university, local companies and society, providing highly-skilled, international graduates and contributing to the knowledge economy,” said Dame Janet.

A Universities UK International (UUKi) report shows that there is a growing trend in UK nationals studying overseas. The report revealed that UK TNE provision in higher education (HE) has grown by 17% from 2012-2013 to 2015-2016.

More than four in five UK universities offered some type of HE TNE during that time with Malaysia and Singapore introducing the most. Asia, in total, hosted the most UK TNE students (52%), followed by Africa (15%), the European Union (13%), the Middle East (11%), North America (5%), non-EU (3%), Australasia (1%) and South America (less than 1%).

The sum of students studying abroad continuously increases. The Director of UUKi Vivienne Stern said the report shows a “fascinating picture of the scale and scope of UK university TNE, drilling down for the first time into both the level of study and mechanism. I’m proud that our sector is at the forefront of delivering education through innovative international partnerships, as evidenced in the report.”

Between 2015 and 2016, on a global and regional level, the areas of study where TNE students are choosing is shared between undergraduate and postgraduate study. The 2016-2017 summary data shows that 707,915 students were studying for UK degrees abroad.

This highlights the definition of globalisation and shows how the world is shrinking. Opportunities are evident all over the world and students/the youth of today have recognised that.

According to University World News, the UUKi says that with 82% of UK universities offering transnational education, this HE TNE should be an important element of the UK government’s educational export strategy and this entire process is enhancing a positive relationship between global partners of HE.

UUKi has also said that as many countries plan to meet the demands of HE and address skills gaps, a lot of them have been happy to host UK TNE programmes themselves. There is an expectation for new markets to blossom for UK institutions to deliver TNE overseas.

University World News also makes it evident that as “UUKi believes UK quality assurance frameworks help to communicate to global partners the “continued excellence in the UK’s education offer”, but at the same time new approaches and innovative models which are “context-sensitive” and “work collaboratively with local policy-makers and-or partners” have shored up the UK’s position as a leader in providing awards overseas.”

This trend is set to soar and what a great one that it is. With the global expansion of education comes global excellence across humanity.