Within a large sample of international progress review group cohorts from autumn 2005 to summer 2007, the International Graduate Insight Group reports that the UK was the first-choice destination for 83% of them and that the top three factors influencing their decision were, in order, 'research quality', 'reputation', and 'teaching quality'. UK HE International Unit, 2008 (opens in new window).The UK has 1% of the world’s population but undertakes 5% of the world’s scientific research and produces 14% of the world’s most highly cited papers (Universities UK 2010).

The private rates of return to Higher Education study in the UK are above average at around 14% for both males and females compared with OECD average rates of 12% for males and 11% for females. OECD, Education at a Glance 2009 (opens in new window).

The UK sells more brainpower per capita than anywhere else in the world. In 2005 this amounted to £75 billion in knowledge services. Work Foundation, Trading in Ideas and Knowledge, 2007 (opens in new window).

In the UK around 80% of those who enter Higher Education 'type A' programmes (theory based degrees) go on to successfully complete their programme. This is well above the OECD average of 69%. OECD, Education at a Glance 2009 (opens in new window).

The UK (England, Wales, and Northern Ireland) is, together with Scotland, one of nine out of the 46 Bologna Process participating countries that has managed to successfully verify its qualifications framework against the FQ-EHEA (The Framework for Qualifications of the European Higher Education Area) UK HE Europe Unit, 2009 (opens in new window).

93.2% of international students were satisfied with the expertise of their lecturers – ISB 2008 run by I-Graduate across 65 universities in Autumn 2008 with responses from over 40,000 international students. I-graduate 2008 (opens in new window).

CIHE/International Student Barometer 2007 report comparing the experience of international students in the UK with international students in the USA, Australia, South Africa and the Netherlands found that international students in the UK were more satisfied than international students elsewhere that they had good teachers, expert lecturers and appropriate assessment. CIHE/International Student Barometer 2007 (opens in new window).