International Students in the UK : how can we give them a better experience?

This paper focuses on practical actions that can be taken to improve the learning experience of international students in the UK. Informed by personal experience in the UK, New Zealand and Australia, supplemented by an extensive literature search, a series of actions are recommended to improve the learning experience of international students from culturally diverse backgrounds. The suggested actions cover issues for individual lecturers, Departments, Higher Education Institutions and national level bodies. The approach taken is to incorporate personal reflection and personal views and the ideas of writers in the field. The paper is written in the first person and sets out the author’s wish list of ideas, hopes and aspirations for the future, from the perspective of a teaching fellow working in a research focussed University in the UK.