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The long and winding road: a review of the policy, practice and development of the internationalisation of higher education in the UK

Internationalisation is a key element in the evolving role and function of the UK higher education (HE) sector. Its perceived benefits are promoted widely and sought assiduously. It has come to be believed by many practitioners that internationalisation and the quest for quality and status in HE are synonymous. In the current phase of internationalisation considerable emphasis is being placed on the student experience, and a dominant factor in that experience is the quality of the teaching provision. This paper is intended, through a historical analysis of both the HE sector in the UK and the evolution of internationalisation as interpreted in the western developed world, to contextualise the current perspective of universities on this topic and consequently the requirements placed on those responsible for teaching and learning. This analysis has been undertaken through primary and secondary texts with more contemporary references made to the media debate. Evidence suggests that it has always been apparent that the UK university sector and its responses to change are frequently reliant on, or influenced by, the decisions made by government. The issue of internationalisation, for obvious reasons, is more dependent on government policy than is any other. Teaching and learning in the university sector are therefore more closely aligned to national policy at present than may have been the case in recent times, and this is the policy context in which the article is presented.