BUILA

**BUILA Leadership Announcement**   We have some important changes to the BUILA Executive Committee to announce as we look forward to the next cycle.   Catriona McCarthy has stepped down from her role as Chair of BUILA at the end of September. We would like to thank her for her outstanding contribution and commitment to the association as the Northern Ireland representative, Vice Chair and more recently Chair of BUILA. We will miss Catriona and all she brought to the role, but are delighted that her new role within the British Council as Global Head of Student Mobility and Internationalisation of UK Education will be pivotal in supporting both the British Council and the sector to continue close collaboration with shared aims. As Catriona steps down, we are delighted to welcome Andrew Bird as the new Chair of the BUILA Executive Committee. Andrew brings a wealth of experience and insight to the role and will continue to champion the organisation's mission of promoting and supporting international recruitment and collaboration within the higher education sector.   We are pleased to announce that Ula Tang-Plowman (MCIM) will be joining Nancy Donna Cooke as joint Vice Chairs. With both Ula and Nancy in these leadership positions, BUILA is well-positioned to continue building on its momentum and delivering on its strategic priorities.   Please join us in welcoming Andrew, Ula and Nancy to their new roles and in thanking Catriona for her dedication and leadership! #BUILA #ExecutiveCommittee

So delighted to announce that I am the new Co-Chair of the BUILA (British Universities' International Liaison Association) Regional Interest Group for Europe. To make it even better I get to share this role with the wonderful Scott Torrance and Sandra Silva. Big responsibility but always up for a new challenge! Looking forward to contributing to positive change within the sector. Thank you Ivar Møller and Roshan Walkerley for your support and mentorship so far!

Thrilled today to be named as Co-Chair of the BUILA (British Universities' International Liaison Association) Regional Interest Group for Europe alongside my experienced and talented colleagues Sandra Silva and Becci Denmark! Big shoes to fill following an excellent three years of stewardship by Roshan Walkerley and Ivar Møller but I am looking forward to helping facilitate and steer positive conversations and actions in the sector!

Last month, BUILA hosted its first in-person North America Regional Interest Group (RIG) in Los Angeles, coinciding with the 80th Annual NACAC Conference. University representatives from 60+ UK Universities came together to discuss the various challenges and opportunities associated with international student recruitment from the North America region. The RIG featured speakers from across the sector, including timely updates from key stakeholders British Council, UKVI, and The College Board. Collectively we examined mobility trends with Studyportals and NACAC and explored the opportunity to recruit student athletes with Athlete Futures Abroad. Thank you to all our speakers and participants for an engaging, impactful in person gathering and thank you to our North America RIG Chair, Aly Stewart for organising the event! #BUILA #NorthAmericaRIG #InternationalStudentRecruitment #HigherEd

BUILA Executive Francis G. was part of the insightful panel discussion, 'Agent Regulation: What Have We Learnt and What CAN We Learn?' at the EAIE Conference this week. 🌍 'The Agent Quality Framework has provided minimum standards for British Universities and those advising students who want to study in the UK. It is a huge step forward, and has only been achieved through collaborating with the whole sector, and speaking with one really clear voice.' Francis shared the stage with Tom Wilmot (StudyLink Connect, UK), Ilaria Bossi (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy) and Emma Skelton (IDP Education Ltd, Spain). #EAIE2024 #HigherEd #AQF #BUILA

Hello from the 19th BUILA conference, my first sector event post general election - the first day is behind us and it was great to contribute to the Directors’ Forum. I am always keen to listen to others and I particularly enjoyed a panel discussion on the importance of maintaining high student experience, focusing on #destinationmarketing and #dynamicpricing. While the first aspect might be obvious, the other two are rarely mentioned in the context of #highereducation. I couldn’t help but think that all these tips and suggestions apply equally to direct international student recruitment as well as sector’s transnational education #TNE efforts. Fab networking reception followed with a yummy dinner in the evening. I was astonished to bump into Alejandra Otero for the first time in person since the IUNC event in Moscow good 10 years ago. Many thanks to my lovely DBT colleague Krishna Joshi and Daniel Collet and Rizwan Patel from Department for Education so big thanks to BUILA for inviting us! #knowledgesharing #internationalisation #strategicpartnerships #internationalcollaboration #internationalcooperation

Just wrapped up #BUILA2024 in Birmingham - a hugely valuable conference as usual. Delighted to contribute to a range of sessions across the week, including #TNE #diversity #trends #agents and many more. Thanks to all those who contributed to making these sessions a success: Rob Carthy Fraser Deas Chris Kelly Steph Wood Rachel MacSween Oliver Quinn-Palmer Annabelle Lee Dr Suzanna Tomassi Lawrence DSouza Pete Richards Robin Reeves Cecilia Pereira-Yates Elaine Robertson Jenny Zhou and many more. It is clear that the UK remains a top destination for students around the world, but there is lots to do to ensure we continue to be top of mind, including a key priority to work closely with the new UK government as they confirm their approach and priorities over the coming weeks and months. Thanks to all at #BUILA HQ for all the work behind the scenes to bring 500 people together over 3 days Philippa Collins Robson Edward Chan Kim Hadley Sarah Caine Jennifer Plant Paulina Day as well as my colleagues on the BUILA Executive Catriona McCarthy Andrew Bird Samuel Jackson-Royle Nancy Donna Cooke Jasmine Bual Brian Greenwood Shonagh Maak Ula Tang-Plowman (MCIM) George Hunt Francis G.

BUILA smashing it out the park again this year 👏 QS Quacquarelli Symonds was proud to be the headline sponsor of this year’s event in Birmingham. So lovely to hear positivity coming out of adversity and a collaborative mindset prevailing. To help drive recovery, we were proud to launch our new platform, QS 360, delivering actionable insights at the touch of a button. An amazing gala dinner featured polo, Bollywood dance routines, epic amounts of food and a memorable England win ⚽️ Congratulations to the entire #BUILAConference team for delivering for us all once again. See you all again next time 🤝 Russell Watson Chris Taylor Matteo Quacquarelli Kym Nguyen Catriona McCarthy Francis G. Samuel Jackson-Royle Shonagh Maak Andrew Bird Brian Greenwood Jasmine Bual George Hunt Stuart Easter Philippa Collins Robson Kim Hadley Edward Chan Jennifer Plant Nancy Donna Cooke Dee De Rocha Paulina Day Ula Tang-Plowman (MCIM)

A hugely insightful 3 days at the 19th annual BUILA conference in Birmingham. Key takeaways for me: - the UK remains a hugely popular student destination in all major markets - There is an opportunity with the incoming govt to reset the narrative around international education and to build mutual understanding - Partnership is a key aspect of the future for all UK HEIs - AI offers the sector new and innovative ways of achieving greater automation and personalisation at scale - There is still huge value in the personal touch and cultural understanding, even in an increasingly technology-driven world Outstanding job by the BUILA support team on organising this year’s event and looking positively towards 2024/25. Oh, and, it’s coming home! Catriona McCarthy Andrew Bird Stuart Easter Samuel Jackson-Royle Dee De Rocha Nancy Donna Cooke Jennifer Plant Paulina Day Sarah Caine Edward Chan Kim Hadley Jasmine Bual Brian Greenwood Shonagh Maak Cecilia Pereira-Yates Robin Reeves Kate Barnes Kym Nguyen Matteo Quacquarelli Yusuff Kaffo Caroline Rushingwa Ula Tang-Plowman (MCIM)

This year we welcomed over 560 delegates in person and online at our annual #BUILAConference. Thank you to our fantastic sponsors for supporting the event this year: Acumen, Part of Sannam S4 Group QS Quacquarelli Symonds Adventus.io aecc ApplyBoard BridgeU British Council IELTS (International English Language Testing System) Cambridge University Press & Assessment Cialfo Duolingo English Test Enroly Grok Global Services IDP Connect UK & Ireland Password | English Language Testing QA Higher Education Qualification Check Studyportals UK India Business Council UniQuest Ltd. BMI GlobalEd | Times Higher Education Edified TOEFL INTO University Partnerships SAMS Global StudyLink Connect UCAS British Council