A new study released last month by the Department for Education found that UK education “exports” raised £18.8bn a year in 2014.
Two-thirds of the earnings came in the form of tuition, expenses and research fees paid to British universities. Fees for independent schools accounted for £800m a year, while language schools accounted for £1.8bn.
Living expenses paid by non-EU and EU overseas students at British universities totalled more than £6bn a year.
UK revenue from education related exports and transnational education activity 2010-2014 Research Report July 2017
Headline results in 2014 – the total value of UK education-related exports and Trans National Education (TNE) activity was estimated to be £18.76 billion, an increase of 18 per cent over 2010 in current prices. Education-related services and goods (of which Higher Education is the main contributor) accounted for 92 per cent of the total value with revenue from TNE activity accounting for the remaining 8 per cent in 2014. The relative shares have changed little since 2010.
Changes in value between 2010 and 2014 Higher Education Higher Education exports were estimated at £12.43 billion in 2014, an increase of around 30% over 2010 in current prices. This figure rises to an estimated £12.98 billion if Higher Education related TNE activity, valued at around £550 million, is included. This increase has largely by driven by an increase in two sources of income:
- Non-EU student income which rose by around 30% in current prices from £6.56 billion to £8.55 billion between 2010 and 2014; and
- Income from research and other contracts which rose by around 56% in current prices from £0.77 billion to £1.19 billion over the same period.
Other education related export sectors English Language Training (ELT) exports was estimated at £1.82 billion in 2014, 18 per cent lower in current prices compared to between 2010 and 2014. This primarily reflects a decrease in the length of courses being taken-up by ELT students, resulting in lower fees and living expenditure.Education products and services were valued at £1.77 billion in 2014, a 17 increase in current prices over 2010. This reflects in part the additional demand created by the continued steady growth in student numbers at UK Higher Education providers.
Education products and services were valued at £1.77 billion in 2014, a 17 increase in current prices over 2010. This reflects in part the additional demand created by the continued steady growth in student numbers at UK Higher Education providers.Non-EU Further Education exports were estimated at £0.36 billion in 2014, a 61 per cent fall in current prices compared to 2010, primarily reflecting a decline in the number of non-EU visa applications for individuals wishing to study at UK FE colleges.
Non-EU Further Education exports were estimated at £0.36 billion in 2014, a 61 per cent fall in current prices compared to 2010, primarily reflecting a decline in the number of non-EU visa applications for individuals wishing to study at UK FE colleges.Independent school exports increased slightly over the period 2010-2014 from £0.63 billion to £0.8 billion, an increase of 27 per cent in current prices. Transnational Education (TNE)
Independent school exports increased slightly over the period 2010-2014 from £0.63 billion to £0.8 billion, an increase of 27 per cent in current prices. Transnational Education (TNE) activity. The value of TNE activity was estimated at £1.58 billion in 2014, an increase of 48 per cent in current prices over 2010. This was driven in the large part by TNE in British schools overseas (£0.29 billion), but due to the nature of the estimates and limitations in the methodology, these changes should be seen as indicative only.
UK Higher Education TNE income increased by 56 per cent (£0.20 billion) between 2010 and 2014. This was driven by a 54 per cent increase in HE TNE enrolments between the 2009/10 and 2014/15 academic years.
Changes in share between 2010 and 2014 Over the period 2010-2014, the share of Higher Education to the total value of education related exports has increased by a further 6 percentage points from 60 to 66 per cent. TNE activity has increased by 1 percentage point over the same period from 7 to 8 per cent.
The share of ELT and Further Education (non-EU students) have both fallen by 4 percentage points: the ELT share dropping from 14 to 10 per cent and the Further Education share dropping from 6 to 2 per cent.