APPG for International Students holds AGM & first meeting following the General Election

On 12^th July 2017, the APPG for International Students held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) and first meeting following the General Election on 8^th June, in accordance with parliamentary rules.

At the AGM, the Officers voted for the APPG to continue with its parliamentary activities and the AGM approved the APPG’s Annual Report which can be found here. It was also unanimously agreed that Exporting Education UK would continue to act as the APPG Secretariat. Nicky Morgan MP was newly elected as the APPG Secretary, replacing Ben Howlett MP, and the remaining Officers were re-elected. The APPG for International Students Officers are therefore as follows:

• Paul Blomfield MP (Co-Chair and Registered Contact)
• Lord Bilimoria of Chelsea (Co-Chair)
• Nicky Morgan (Secretary)
• Baroness Uddin (Treasurer)
• Geoffrey Robinson MP (Vice-Chair)
• Alison Thewliss MP (Vice-Chair)
• Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe (Vice-Chair)

Following the AGM, the APPG meeting was held with a panel of experts sharing their thoughts on the role of international students in Global Britain, alongside 50 supports of the APPG from across the education sector. The panel included Nicky Morgan MP, Member of Parliament for Loughborough; Ken Gill, Chief Executive of the Consortium of Northern Universities; Yinbo Yu, the International Students Officer at the National Union of Students; and Martin Barrow, an advisor to the China-Britain Business Council.

The panel’s discussions focused on international students in the context of the new ‘Global Britain’; noting the contribution of international students to the British economy, to the British education sector and to British relations with the rest of the world in terms of ‘soft power’. The panel emphasised the need for robust data and for the government and the sector to strengthen public understanding of the benefits of international students to the UK. There were also calls for action at all levels to do more to create a positive a welcoming environment for international students in the UK, with more initiatives such as Sheffield University’s #WeAreInternational Campaign. A full note of the meeting will be published shortly.