International students’ experiences of English language requirements

The research, which drew on focus groups and surveys involving approximately 750 international students from a range of countries, educational routes and institutional contexts, found that:  

• many students reported uncertainty about which English language tests and evidence routes are accepted by which universities and courses.   
• cost, geography, test-centre access and speed of results create real barriers, particularly for students from lower-income backgrounds, rural areas, second-tier cities or countries with limited test infrastructure.   
• choice and flexibility matter because students’ financial, geographical, technological and personal circumstances differ, while rigorous standards must continue to be maintained. 

UKCISA makes the following recommendations: 

1. UK universities should ensure that information on English language requirements is clear, prominent and consistently understood and communicated internally and externally, enabling students and their advisers to understand the full range of accepted tests and other forms of English language evidence.  
2. UK universities and the wider sector should ensure that students have flexibility and choice in English language tests and evidence routes, supporting access and equity for students who have different financial, geographical, technological and logistical circumstances. 
3. English language test providers should review test formats to minimise unnecessary format dependency and cultural unfamiliarity, while ensuring that tests continue to assess the language skills that students need for UK higher education. 
4. UK universities should develop a shared cross-institutional understanding that meeting English language requirements is not the end point of student preparedness and ensure that academic and professional services staff are equipped to support international student communities. 
5. UK universities should develop clearer and more consistent approaches to recognising prior English-medium education and qualifications from UK transnational education partnerships where these can appropriately evidence English language ability and where institutions are permitted to exercise such discretion. 

You can hear more from our Head of Engagement and Partnerships Yinbo Yu, on why English language requirements are about more than just getting in, on Wonkhe.