New report finds education exports £1.5bn higher than previous stats

Today the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) alongside the Department for Education (DfE) have published the report Education Export Data: Scoping Exercise.

This has been carried out by the London School of Economics (LSE) and finds a revised education exports estimate of £24.5 billion per annum for 2019, £1.5 billion larger than DfE’s initial observation.

In this report:

• The report has conducted a critical review of the UK Government’s methodology for measuring education exports data. This aims to support DBT and DfE’s joint ambition to improve education export data collection, as per the International Education Strategy (IES).
• Through an extensive literature review of market trends and international best practice, and stakeholder engagement, the report recommends a new taxonomy for education exports. The report also outlines recommendations for improving data gaps and inconsistencies.
• Publication of the report will allow DBT, DfE and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to work with the UK education sector to improve the collection of education exports data. This supports the IES ambition to increase education exports to £35 billion per annum by 2030. It will also positively contribute to DBT’s target of £1 trillion exports by 2030.

Minister for Investment Dominic Johnson said:

“The UK’s education sector continues to be one of our greatest soft power assets and, as this report suggests, a leading export that supports our universities and helps attract the world’s best minds to the UK.

“We are making great progress in our race to a trillion in exports, helping to achieve the Prime Minister’s priority to grow the economy, creating better jobs and opportunities across the country.”