Provost’s update: The UK is lucky to have its international students

Students on Main Quad at UCL A message from Dr Michael Spence, UCL President & Provost. What an amazing thing it is to be an international student: to leave your home, family, friends and everything familiar, often at a young age, and set out for a different country and culture, full of ambition to learn new things, not just about your subject but about life, the world and yourself. And what an amazing thing it is to be a country that attracts international students: to be able to bring to our shores some of the most talented, bravest and motivated people in the world, who bring us, yes, economic benefits, but also far-reaching social and cultural benefits, and who graduate with a connection to this country that is a source of tremendous ongoing international influence. I am deeply saddened, therefore, by the narrative that is developing in some corners of the commentariat about our international students. Some misleading and exaggerated media reporting over recent weeks, playing on the xenophobia that exists everywhere, has exposed a small but real vein of hostility to these remarkable people. As someone who came to this country as an international student, married to someone who went to Australia as an international student, and knowing something of the enormous step that it is to travel overseas for study, I want to assure our international student community that you are valued at UCL and that we will stand up for you. Contrary to some of the claims currently circulating, international students come to the UK to work hard, experience British life and, in so many cases, with a real thirst to turn what they are learning into ideas that make a difference both here and at home.