Navigation Toggle Icon

Episode 4 – international students

10 December 2020

Episode 4 – International Students

Accommodation matters for our international students. It’s crucial that they can rely on us to provide them with a home for success while they’re here studying in the UK.

With world-renowned universities and its cultural diversity, the UK continues to be an attractive proposition for international students. The upward trend of increasing numbers of students travelling to the UK for their higher education has continued to grow over the last two decades and – despite Brexit and the global Covid-19 pandemic – the future continues to look promising.

As the leading provider of student accommodation in the UK, we continue to work alongside our world-class universities as they look to recruit international students to come and study here.

The impact of Covid-19 and Brexit on international students is the topic of our Accommodation Matters podcast this month. Joining our host Darren Ellis, Unite Student’s Higher Education Engagement Director, are guests:

  • Vivienne Stern, director of Universities UK International
  • Professor Sir Steve Smith, former vice-chancellor of Exeter University
  • Dr Paul Greatrix, University of Nottingham’s registrar
  • Sheena Birch, Unite Students’ commercial director

During the podcast, Sir Steve Smith says: “There has been a real effort to try and predict what might come next year because of Brexit in terms of making sure that students are welcome, and know they are welcome, to come back to the UK.”

Sheena Birch added: “We’re quietly confident that January should be busy … the Covid-19 vaccine has definitely improved confidence.”

Unite Students launched its Accommodation Matters podcast in September for anyone working in or associated with student accommodationPrevious episodes are available to listen to here.

Each month, we host a roundtable chat with a different panel of guests from university student accommodation leaders, national policy experts and subject specialists. Future episodes will focus on topical issues and explore the student living experience, while also reflecting on what might be coming over the horizon.