The Partnership Imperative: Why UK Universities Must Rediscover Their Strategic Edge - August 2025
By Charles Cormack
Over 20 years plus of working with universities across global markets, I've witnessed the evolution of international recruitment from relationship-based partnerships to transaction-focused strategies. While agent networks are an essential infrastructure of the international recruitment machinery, I believe UK universities cannot afford to miss the opportunity to leverage their unique competitive position through strategic partnership investment.
The current global context presents an unprecedented opportunity for UK higher education. As Canada caps study permits, Australia raises barriers, and the United States tightens visa restrictions, the UK stands alone amongst major English-speaking destinations in actively welcoming international students (though I also accept the UK government’s position is not unambiguous!) .
The UK sector faces its own pressures, be they financial or migration-related, yet I observe that these have led many to react by being overly transactional, focusing on short term enrolment numbers, at the expense of longer term strategic partnerships.
The UK's moment of strategic opportunity
Having worked with institutions across multiple markets, I've rarely seen such a clear competitive advantage emerging so suddenly over our historic competitors..
This isn't just about numbers. In my conversations with institutional leaders across Asia and Africa,, there's a renewed focus on UK partnerships. Partner institutions that previously hedged their bets between multiple English-speaking destinations are now focusing their attention on the UK. The question today is whether UK universities will recognise and act on this golden opportunity. The opportunity will not last and universities need to use it to start to build robust institutional partnerships rather than simply focus on a short-term agent driven grab for students.
Why partnerships matter more than ever
Through my work developing the CCG Equitable TNE model, I've seen firsthand how strategic partnerships create value that transcends simple recruitment metrics. Yes, agent networks remain crucial—they provide market reach and services that most universities cannot replicate internally, but partnerships offer something fundamentally different: sustainable competitive advantage and a springboard towards creating local impact.
Consider what I witnessed at one Russell Group institution; For years, progression partnerships contributed around 50% of their international recruitment. their partnership manager was Then reassigned to new a new role, the position wasn't backfilled, and within two years that figure dropped to 20%. This wasn't just down to market decline or policy change—much must have been down to the failure to continue to nurture of relationships that had taken years to build.
The example is clear partnerships aren't self-sustaining. They require dedicated attention, cultural competency, and long-term commitment. Universities that understand this are building recruitment channels that become more valuable over time. Those that don't are watching carefully cultivated relationships wither through benign neglect.
The integration imperative
In my experience, the most successful universities don't view this as an either/or choice between agents and partnerships. They recognise these as complementary channels serving different strategic purposes. Agents provide market reach and transactional efficiency. Partnerships create sustainable pathways and institutional relationships that can evolve into broader collaboration.
The institutions I work with that perform best have learned to integrate these approaches strategically. They use agent networks to reach markets where they lack direct relationships while investing in partnerships where they can build sustainable competitive advantages. This isn't about reducing agent relationships—it's about optimizing the entire recruitment portfolio.
Geographic opportunities hiding in plain sight
The geopolitical shifts I'm observing create specific opportunities for proactive institutions. Brexit initially disrupted European recruitment, but I'm now seeing growing interest from European students seeking alternatives to increasingly restrictive North American destinations.
More significantly, Trump administration policies are redirecting student flows from traditional US pathways. Having worked in Latin American markets where US universities previously dominated, I'm seeing new openness to UK partnerships. Similarly, in South Asian markets where Canadian institutions held advantages, policy changes are creating space for UK institutions willing to invest in relationship building.
The key insight from my work across these markets is timing. The institutions that succeed are those that build relationships before opportunities become obvious to all competitors. This requires proactive partnership development rather than reactive market responses.
The innovation opportunity
What excites me most about current developments is the potential for partnership innovation. The traditional 2+2 or 3+1 models, while valuable, represent just the beginning of what's possible. Through our Equitable TNE model, we're demonstrating how partnerships can create mutual value through shared investment rather than extractive relationships.
The 3+1+1 structure we've developed allows students to complete most of their education locally while accessing UK degrees and post-study work opportunities. This addresses local educational needs while creating sustainable recruitment pathways. More importantly, it creates partnership development funds that reinvest in local capacity building, fostering genuine collaboration that benefits both institutions.
This isn't just theory. I'm working with institutions implementing these models across India, Indonesia, and Africa, creating pathways that serve local development needs while generating sustainable recruitment for UK partners. The early results suggest we're only beginning to understand the potential of truly innovative partnership structures.
The resource reality
In my consulting work, I regularly encounter the same challenge: universities understand the value of partnerships but struggle with resource allocation. Partnership development requires dedicated staff with specific expertise—cultural competency, relationship-building skills, and deep understanding of different educational systems.
Too often, I see institutions assign partnership responsibilities to already overloaded international recruitment staff or academic colleagues with no relationship management training. This approach virtually guarantees suboptimal outcomes. Successful partnership development requires the same professional attention that universities dedicate to research development or academic program management.
The institutions I work with that achieve the best partnership outcomes have learned to invest appropriately. They hire dedicated partnership managers, provide cultural competency training, and create performance frameworks that balance quantitative recruitment outcomes with qualitative relationship indicators. This isn't overhead—it's strategic infrastructure.
Risk mitigation through diversification
The volatility I've witnessed in international student recruitment over recent years—Brexit disruptions, visa policy changes, economic shocks, geopolitical tensions—has convinced me that diversification isn't optional. Universities with comprehensive recruitment portfolios including strong partnership networks have proven more resilient during these disruptions.
In my work with institutions across different markets, I've observed how partnership diversification provides several risk mitigation benefits: reduced dependency on individual high-volume markets, greater stability during policy disruptions, enhanced relationships that can weather temporary challenges, and institutional knowledge that transcends individual staff changes.
The universities that weathered recent challenges best were those that had invested in building diverse partnership portfolios rather than concentrating on single markets or channels. This isn't just about geographic spread—it's about creating multiple pathways that can adapt to changing circumstances.
The competitive advantage waiting to be claimed
Having worked with successful institutions across multiple markets, I'm convinced that UK universities face a unique moment of strategic opportunity. The competitive landscape has shifted dramatically in temporarily in their favour, but this advantage won't last indefinitely. Other destinations will adjust their policies, new competitors will emerge, and the current window of opportunity will close.
The institutions that will thrive are those that recognize partnerships as strategic infrastructure requiring dedicated investment and professional management. They'll build comprehensive international recruitment portfolios that leverage both agent networks and institutional partnerships to create sustainable competitive advantages.
In my view, the choice facing UK universities isn't between different recruitment channels—it's whether to seize this moment of competitive advantage or let it pass while maintaining familiar approaches. The universities that make strategic partnership investments now will be best positioned when others struggle with single-channel dependencies and volatile market exposures.
This is about more than recruitment numbers. It's about building institutional relationships that can evolve into research partnerships, staff exchanges, and joint program development. It's about creating sustainable competitive advantages in an increasingly complex global market. Most importantly, it's about recognizing that the UK's current welcoming stance toward international students creates opportunities that forward-thinking institutions cannot afford to ignore.
The question isn't whether partnerships matter—it's whether UK universities will invest strategically in building them while they hold this unique competitive advantage.
References
House of Commons Library. "International students in UK higher education." https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-7976/
Business Because. "Study In UK: International Student Acceptances Up 31% At Start Of 2025." https://www.businessbecause.com/news/in-the-news/9642/study-in-uk-international-acceptances-up-2025
HEPI. "After a Dip in 2024, are UK International Student Visas Poised to Return to their Previous Peak?" https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2025/05/06/after-a-dip-in-2024-are-uk-international-student-visas-poised-to-return-to-their-previous-peak/
NPR. "International students look to the U.K. instead of the U.S., as Trump squeezes visas." https://www.npr.org/2025/06/05/nx-s1-5415740/trump-international-student-visas-uk-universities
The PIE News. "New equitable TNE model proposed by CCG." https://thepienews.com/ccg-equitable-tne/
Universities UK. "For the right reasons, with the right partners, in the right way: reviewing the value of TNE partnerships." https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/universities-uk-international/insights-and-publications/uuki-blog/right-reasons-right-partners-right-way