Universities must reform their admission requirements and provide better language support to deal with the large numbers of Chinese students arriving in the UK with relatively poor English skills, a report says.

The , published by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) and consultancy Uoffer Global, also finds that “ethnic clustering” in some institutions – high concentrations of learners from the same background – is a particular problem for students from China.

As a result of the slowdown of China’s economy, the country’s growing emphasis on practical skills over academia, and Beijing’s rhetoric around overseas study, the number of applicants to the UK may drop sharply, the paper warns, “leaving a hole that other countries do not fill”.

Despite concerns around the UK’s over-reliance on Chinese students, efforts to ease the “acute” challenges of integration faced by Chinese students should be “ramped up rather than reduced”, it adds.

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Figures show that English language proficiency is significantly lower among students from China than those from other developing economies such as India and Malaysia, and some warn that exams meant to assess English skills may not give a true picture of Chinese students’ capabilities.

The intensive tutoring and rote-learning style of education in classrooms means that Chinese students can pass International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exams yet still lack fluency and confidence in communication, particularly in spoken English, when they arrive in the UK, the paper says.

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Surveys of Chinese postgraduates in the UK conducted for the report found that about one in three self-assessed their own English language levels as being below the official thresholds required by universities.

Along with language challenges, Hepi also found that Chinese students’ integration was hampered by their uneven distribution across UK institutions, with 20 per cent of the total cohort concentrated in just three highly ranked institutions: UCL and the universities of Glasgow and Manchester.

Data in the report shows that 21 per cent of Chinese students surveyed had friends exclusively from their own country, and a further 11 per cent had few British friends.

A key driver behind this, the paper says, is limited accommodation options and information access, which often leads to Chinese-only households, something that survey respondents would like help addressing.

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How to support students with English as a second language in higher education

According to the research, Chinese students also find it more difficult than other nationalities to find employment after graduation, which is another area of concern for them.

Author Pippa Ebel, a researcher and expert on China, writes that some of the students have concluded that UK institutions see them only as a revenue stream.

“Unfortunately, all too often Chinese students feel the relationship between them and their host university is transactional,” she says. “Respondents lamented the lack of effort universities make to understand and support their community.”

The paper recommends that institutions consider alternatives to the IELTS exam, in particular short video interviews to gauge speaking abilities, as well as emphasising non-academic competencies in the application. Once students from China have arrived in the UK, the sector could offer free weekly language and culture classes to help them integrate better.

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The report urges the sector to engage more closely with agents in China to help widen the distribution of students across the UK and to provide more support with accommodation so Chinese students can enjoy more diverse households.

Josh Freeman, Hepi’s policy manager, said Chinese students, and the high tuition fees they pay, were critical to the long-term economic health of the UK sector.

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“That means institutions will have to work harder to attract and keep them. But the sector should not do so at the expense of quality, and rigorous admissions standards on language and academic ability must be maintained,” Mr Freeman said.

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com