The UK has been urged to learn from Australia¡¯s experience of treating higher education as an export industry and including it in international trade agreements, as the nation contemplates a post-Brexit future.

Higher education as trade was a theme in the opening session at Universities UK¡¯s International Higher Education Forum, held in London on 21 March.

Mark Garnier, parliamentary under-secretary in the Department for International Trade, told the event: ¡°We will harness the UK¡¯s commitment, expertise and resources to export our education services to the world, so that everyone can use education as a vehicle to fulfil their potential.¡±

However, Mr Garnier¡¯s focus was almost exclusively on transnational education ¨C the provision of courses outside an institution¡¯s home country. That approach sidestepped any mention of the ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ Office¡¯s policy of toughening the UK¡¯s student visa regime and of continuing to include students within targets to reduce net migration ¨C policies criticised by universities and some in the Conservative Party.

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"Many countries with a large school-leaver population are without sufficient higher education in the country to meet demand," Mr Garnier said. "This presents a huge export opportunity for our top-class educational institutions¡­and we look to fill this demand.¡±

He added that the DIT has recruited a new higher education specialist "to support the sector¡¯s global ambitions¡±.

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Vivienne Stern, director of Universities UK International, who chaired the session, said that the UK would "look particularly" to Australia to learn about a higher education sector's experience of trade negotiations, which were, she added, "something I think we¡¯re all going to have to get a little bit more familiar with".

Paul Wellings, vice-chancellor of the University of Wollongong, cited Australian government figures showing that education service exports were worth $19.9 billion (?12.2 billion) to the nation¡¯s economy in 2015-16, behind only iron ore and coal.

¡°From a political point of view, we moved from 20 years ago not being on this chart [of exports], to being one of the most significant and important [export] sectors for Australia,¡± Professor Wellings said.

He highlighted the fact that Australia¡¯s free trade agreement with Singapore, struck in 2003, makes specific mention of higher education and quality assurance as areas where exchange ¡°shall¡± take place.

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On any potential UK-Australia trade deal post-Brexit, Professor Wellings suggested that student and staff mobility would be ¡°deal breakers¡±.

Another of the session¡¯s speakers, Phil Baty, editor of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, highlighted how leading universities "need to draw on a global talent pool for students and faculty, and they need to be researching in collaborative teams across borders to solve the world¡¯s shared grand challenges".

Sir Keith Burnett, vice-chancellor of the University of Sheffield, contrasted the ¡°extraordinary growth in nationalism across many countries¡± with the goal of universities ¡°to propagate knowledge, propagate mutual understanding across the world¡±.

He said the decisions of McLaren to open a supercar chassis factory in Sheffield and of Boeing to build a new manufacturing facility in the city were ¡°all because international students enable us to get 5,000 engineering students¡± in the city.

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¡°If we go away from the idea that we are international, we will lose almost everything as institutions,¡± he added.

john.morgan@timeshighereducation.com