Liverpool v-c ‘ambitious’ despite overseas enrolment ‘challenge’

The University of Liverpool has faced a challenging international recruitment round, according to its vice-chancellor, as the institution grapples with being at “the whims” of shifting government policies in recent years.

Nevertheless, Tim Jones has “ambitious” plans to make the institution he has led since January 2023 more research intensive, better recognised and more highly esteemed internationally.

“The agenda was very much to elevate the university to a place where I think it should be,” he told Times Higher Education.

“I want us to be the destination of choice for students for staff. I want the university to be at the heart of the city and the innovation agenda within the city, which is so important to stimulate economic growth.

“People like that simple ambition, and I think people within the organisation want to be at a place that’s better recognised.”

Professor Jones, who is a double alumnus of the university, said Liverpool had enjoyed an “excellent” recruitment round domestically, taking in more than 6,000 UK undergraduate students for the first time.

But internationally, it has been “more challenging”, which reflects the problems the entire sector faces as a result of some of the previous government’s policies and messaging, he said.

According to figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency, two-thirds of Liverpool’s international students were from China in 2019-20 – encouraged by what Professor Jones described as the “golden age” of government relations with Beijing, and by its joint-venture campus in Xi’an.

Yet it had reduced this proportion to 41 per cent by 2022-23, with the institution recognising a need to diversify as tensions rose.

At the same time, Liverpool has significantly increased the number of students it welcomes from India. However, the previous government’s dependants ban has resulted in a sharp decline in visa applications nationally from Indian students.

“Of course, the problem with the diversification is that the changes of government policy again have damaged that ability to diversify,” said Professor Jones.

“We’re always at the whims of government policy for things like international student recruitment, and that can change things very, very quickly.”

The Sunak administration’s habit of attacking both the sector and international students was “very damaging and had a huge impact”, according to Professor Jones, and he was grateful for the change of tone from Labour.

The former provost at the University of Birmingham also welcomed the new government’s supportive messaging around the sector’s financial issues.

Professor Jones said there needs to be an inflationary increase in tuition fees – along with some other measure of grant funding.

“We’re unusual as a country in that we put all the cost of education on to the individual, or almost all; very little comes from the government,” he said.

“But I recognise that we’re in competition with the NHS, with schools, with police, with, you know, everything else.

“And universities are never at the top of the priority, so it’s a challenge.”

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com