With countries like India and China rapidly expanding their higher-education systems, British universities will be able to attract fewer students from abroad, the British Council has warned in a report.

The organization, a government agency that promotes British culture and educational institutions overseas, prepared the report for use in a broad review of Britain’s international agenda by the government.

Britain must review its overall approach to internationalization in higher education in order to maintain its global position, the council said.

“Institutions must move from equating international strategy with student recruitment alone to a much wider internationalization agenda where there is a balance in overseas activity between recruitment, partnerships, research, and capacity building,” the council stated. Broadening the agenda in that way will require increased spending and more participation by faculty members and students in international activities.

“At both policy and practitioner level, the UK is seen to be highly innovative, creative, and at the leading edge in all aspects of its higher-education systems and delivery,” the council said, but went on to emphasize that there is also considerable room for improvement. “There is frustration overseas that we do not proactively engage sufficiently in the big global challenges for education,” the report says.

The British government’s review of its internationalization agenda for higher education is expected to be published within the next couple of weeks, but it is not yet online. —Aisha Labi