INTO This Week 49

The interviews are held annually in mainland China and Hong Kong - both major markets for INTO. They enable parents of current students to have one-to-one meetings with senior INTO staff from the UK and USA, and discuss their children's academic progress and other general issues.

Centre Directors, Programme Managers and other key centre staff from INTO UEA, Manchester, Exeter, Newcastle, City, OSU and USF all participated in this year's interviews. Individually they met parents for 30-minute sessions, in which they shared reports and videos about students' progress and discussed their grades, study plans and university prospects in detail. Parents were able to ask questions and voice concerns, and senior bilingual staff from the INTO Regional Offices were on hand to interpret.

Liz Munro, INTO Academic and Operations Director, said: "The visits by academic staff to meet parents have become a major event on the academic calendar. Staff welcome the opportunity to meet parents and to discuss the progress of the students. We know well that the involvement and support of parents is vital in helping students succeed in meeting their academic goals."

Kevin Conroy, Centre Director at INTO Newcastle, said the trip allowed him to "provide direct feedback to parents, discuss students' progress and deal with any queries and concerns." He added: "We are also doing something that no other education provider does in China. I believe it has amazing reputational value, establishing powerful, close contacts with families and agents. It also helps our centres in terms of academic improvement and marketing, offering invaluable feedback and first-hand market intelligence."

Martin Halsall, Director of the INTO London Centre, said: 'I think the trips act as a motivator for students, as it is quite clear that a true reflection of the situation regarding a student's stay in London and their performance in the classroom is not always being communicated to those at home!... I met several parents who were concerned about their son or daughter for various reasons, and yet left the interview feeling far more relaxed and comfortable with the situation which I was able to describe to them."

As well as being good for parents and students, the meetings also enable centre representatives from the UK and US to develop a deeper understanding of the concerns of students and their families. Val Owen, Course Coordinator on the International Foundation Programme (Humanities) at INTO Manchester said: "It was very reassuring for some of these parents to meet someone who actually teaches their sons or daughters... I was able to give them an academic report and update on their progress and answer any questions they might have had on attendance or university choices."

She added: "The parents I met were exactly as I would have been had I sent my children half way round the world. Many were anxious to know that their children were happy and were being fed well, aside from the academic element."

The trip was also useful in informing Centre representatives more about regional market requirements. Val Owen, who met a number of agents during the trip to answer questions about NCUK university progression, said: "Seeing the tremendous efforts that the China team go to to recruit students and keep agents up-to-date with the fast-changing developments was incredibly worthwhile. To see how hard they work, the amount of time they give up, and the enthusiasm they have was immensely gratifying."

INTO's regional staff  were also able to learn more about the workings and requirements of UK and US Centres, which will feed back into better agent training and student counselling. Daniel Yuen, Regional Director for China, Hong Kong and Macau, and coordinator of the Parent Interviews, said: "All INTO Regional Office staff in China benefit from the visit. They learn in detail about the Centres by interpreting for UK and US participants, which feeds back into improved agent training and student counselling. Conversely, overseas colleagues also benefit, by seeing how Regional Office staff work, by visiting partner agents, and by meeting students' parents and understanding their concerns. The Parent Interviews has no commercial intent, but in reality, parents and agents see so much value in the annual event that they naturally recommend new students to INTO."

Above: Tim Hanmer from INTO UEA in a parent interview.

Pathway to prosperity: making student immigration work for universities and the economy, from think tank Centre Forum, makes the most compelling case yet that reducing student visas will "harm the British economy, higher education system and Britain's global standing."

Unlike previous studies, the report draws on a comprehensive set of data from the pathways sector taken from five key providers (including INTO). Its results are startling: pre-degree level providers stand to lose much of their business, given "70% of their students currently begin on (B1) English language levels below the proposed new minimum standard, and 60% study at a [pre-degree] level equivalent to year 13 (NQF level 3)."

Universities could also lose thousands of students, given more than 20,000 students per annum progress from pathway colleges. As many as 24,000 jobs in the pathways sector could also be lost.

A variety of politicians, universities and educational organisations attended the report's launch, including UEA Vice Chancellor, Professor Edward Acton, and Lib Dem MP and special adviser on Access to Higher Education, Simon Hughes. INTO staff were also there in force.

There were high quality contributions from speakers and strong representations from the floor. Some made note of the fact that it was illogical to use language level as a proxy for intelligence or the ability to complete a degree course. Others criticised inconsistencies in the UK Border's Agency rules, or warned of the impact cuts would have on STEM subjects given the high number of international students taking them.

Professor Acton praised the wider campaign against the cuts so far, saying the "scale of response to consultation was unusually large", and reiterating that "universities are entering a period of very grave uncertainty".

Simon Hughes noted that there was a "lively internal debate in Government" but noted his concern that "rogue institutions still spoil the system". He said the Government was still discussing the issue and that he would take points made away for discussion.

A range of other areas are covered in the Pathway to prosperity report, including the importance of pre-degree level international students to the wider HE sector and British economy. It notes that this year, over 7,000 students progressed to British universities from the language level (B1) that the government is proposing to block. It also claims that £1.34 billion is spent annually by such students on basic living costs in Britain, and £600 million on university tuition fees. In total this means a contribution of almost £2 billion per annum.

In terms of UK jobs in education and the broader economy, the report states: "Even if a more conservative assumption were used that the 60 per cent of students who have to take NQF level 3 courses no longer attended pathway colleges, then it is still estimated that around 14,400 FTE jobs and spending of £1.2 billion would be lost."

There has been other campaign activity to stop the cuts in recent weeks, including  an open letter to the Observer this weekend from 16 of the country's most influential vice chancellors.

An update from the UK Borders Agency on results of the result government consultation on the cuts is also expected at some stage next week.