IELTS Research Reports

A multiple case study of the relationship between the indicators of students’ English languagecompetence on entry and students’ academic progress at an international postgraduate university1 INTRODUCTION1.1 BackgroundThe past decade has seen rising numbers of students seeking degree level study outside their homecountries. UNESCO estimates that figures for international students have risen from 1.7 million in2000 to 2.5 million in 2006. The Institute for International Education (IEE) which currently tracksstudent numbers across national borders estimates the equivalent figure for 2006/7 to be 2.9 million(IIE website, 2008). Of the eight most popular destination countries for international study, four areEnglish speaking; the US, UK, Australia and Canada. The UK is the second most popular destinationfor foreign study, taking a 13% share of all international students in 2006/7. Whilst the IEE figuresdemonstrate variation in international student enrolment between countries and over time, the risingtrend is consistent for the UK. Between 2002/3 and 2006/7, the number of enrolled internationalstudents in the UK rose from 305,395 to 376,190. The most popular countries of origin for UKinternational study in 2006/7 were China, India, the US, Germany, France, Ireland, Greece, Malaysiaand Nigeria.These effects of the internationalisation of higher education have been particularly pronounced inthe UK where governmental policies have directly, and indirectly, encouraged the expansion ofinternational student numbers. Successive initiatives by the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, in 1999and 2006 (Prime Minister’s Initiatives 1 and 2) specified target increases in the number of non-UKstudents studying in UK higher education (DIUS, 2008; British Council, 2008). The targets of PM1were exceeded ahead of schedule and PMI2 aims to increase international students by a further70,000 in 2011. The influx of overseas students has occurred simultaneously with the growth anddiversification of the UK higher educational sector and the transfer of funding responsibility from thestate to the individual student. However, the accompanying statutory limit on tuition fees for homestudents has inadvertently introduced an economic incentive for higher educational institutions (HEIs)to seek alternative sources of income and it is probably not coincidental that the same period has seenHEIs developing and implementing internationalisation strategies. Consequently, government policyhas indirectly encouraged HEIs to maintain their own financial stability through the pursuit of growingnumbers of international students.In the UK, statistics from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA, 2008) confirm that muchof the expansion in international student numbers has taken place in postgraduate programmes. Atthe start of PMI1 in 1999/2000, the total number of postgraduates studying in the UK was 408,620of whom 23% were classified as non-UK. For the year 2006/7, postgraduate numbers had risen to559,390 of whom 8.6% were from the non-UK EU and 24.4% from elsewhere. It is the latter groupthat have contributed most to the increase, as the percentage of non-UK EU students has remainedsteady since 2002/3 when the separate categories of origin were introduced. Thus, there has been bothan absolute and proportional rise in non-UK students over the past nine years. HESA statistics donot, however, differentiate between research and taught postgraduate students but a Higher EducationPolicy Institute report published in 2004 (Sastry, 2004) demonstrates that the rise in student numbers isdirectly attributable to international enrolment on taught Masters programmes as postgraduate researchstudent numbers have remained stable during the period covered by the report.The value of a degree gained in the UK holds attractions for foreign students. As well as the reputationof the UK degree and the quality of higher education, the conferring of a postgraduate degreeimplies English language proficiency of a high standard; one sufficient to preclude any necessityfor formal English language testing in the future. Additionally, the 1-year duration Masters courseIELTS Research Reports Volume 11133