The UK technical and vocational education and training (TVET) / skills sector must come together to promote itself to the world as a new national education export drive is being launched to support the aspirations of the Government’s International Education Strategy released in 2019, and updated in 2021.

In 2019-2020, over 1.3m regulated technical and vocational qualifications were delivered through hundreds of training providers and further education colleges, supported by over 100 awarding organisations across the globe. By tapping into international demand, UK businesses is unlocking new customers and sales for skills providers in markets around the world.

The UK’s thriving education sector exported £23.3 billion in 2018 and Government is supporting the sector to boost the figure to hit £35 billion a year by the end of the decade, via a wide range of new initiatives including a new Export Academy, financial support and a range of missions, ‘meet the buyer’ events and webinars.

Graham Stuart MP, said:

“With education exports reaching £23.3 billion in 2018, the Department for International Trade’s education work, has become all the more important during the pandemic.

British education is in demand around the world. Be it for skills training in Vietnam, Higher Education in Brazil or English Language Training in Japan, DIT provides a range of support options for education providers looking to expand internationally. 

We really do need to galvanise ourselves, government and the sector together to take advantage of it.”

The UK Government is committed to supporting sector’s exports overseas in key priority markets including Indonesia; India; Saudi Arabia; Nigeria; Brazil; Mexico; Pakistan; Vietnam; and the UAE. Fantastic support is also being offered in other export markets.

The Department for International Trade (DIT) is already helping UK skills providers tap into international opportunities via its network of International Trade Advisors, education specialists and a newly launched Export Academy. These initiatives will help to position UK skills providers as the partner of choice and help investors and partners overseas to find UK providers.

Demand internationally is growing for UK products particularly in Asia with the region set to be home to the 66% of the global middle classes by 2030, hungry for high quality British goods and services.

Exports contribute billions into the UK economy, supporting millions of jobs and providing sustainable growth for thousands of businesses.