Picture an international student, six weeks into her first term in Manchester. Her English is better than she thinks, but the seminars move fast, and last Thursday she used an AI tool to summarize the lecturer’s handout.
She read the university’s AI guidance in week one and she still isn’t sure whether she’s within policy, and she’d rather not ask in case it sounds like a confession. Her lecturer tells her every employer will expect her to use these tools. English, AI, the world of work: she is being asked to get to grips with a lot, a long way from home.
Anyone working in international education will probably recognise her.
Start with English. For an international student it has always been the first hurdle, and it is just as important in today’s AI-enabled landscape. In Pearson and AWS’s AI Readiness research, half of employers put communication and collaboration among their top three requirements for graduates, more than any other skill. International students will also need the judgement to question and check what AI produces – which will demand a high level of English proficiency.
Then there’s AI itself. Most students are finding their own tools. About half use independent tools for writing, against 20% who use their university’s, and only 34% are highly confident they’re following the rules. In the UK, students are better informed about guidance than anywhere else we surveyed, yet just 35% are comfortable telling staff about all their AI use. That looks like a question of trust, and trust takes time, especially in a new country.
Amongst all this, trust in higher education remains strong. Nearly two thirds of respondents (63%) say AI makes a university education more essential, not less. Yet only 14% of learners say their university training has developed their ability to apply AI tools to a professional workflow to a high level, while employers identify limited hands-on experience with workplace AI tools as a leading barrier to graduate readiness.
Experience is hard to build alone. UCL’s Industry Exchange Network, run by its engineering and computer science departments, offers one answer. It hands students live problems from employers, around 1,500 projects a year, and 40 to 45% of participants are later recruited by their industry partners.
It starts with the real-world English they need, not just to pass a test, but to analyse complex content, take part in a seminar and critically evaluate a textbook
So, what helps? International students need support built around them. It starts with the real-world English they need, not just to pass a test, but to analyse complex content, take part in a seminar and critically evaluate a textbook. Without it, it’s all too easy to reach for an AI assistant to translate on the spot and, in doing so, outsource the learning.
Universities can help by setting clear guidance on AI, so that hidden use doesn’t open a trust gap and push the use of AI underground. They also need to give lecturers direction on how AI can be used responsibly in the workplace, so it can be incorporated into their teaching.
Employers can set out what “ready” to work with AI looks like, role by role, rather than in general terms. The judgement a legal assistant needs to decide when to override an AI tool is not the same as the judgement a pharmacy technician needs to understand a dispensing workflow.
None of this needs inventing. Much of it is already underway. What’s missing is the connection between policymakers, universities, employers and those of us who assess learning. Until we make it, international students may be left to work it out alone, six weeks into a new course in a new country.
About the author: Shileen Costain heads PTE at Pearson She leads global commercial strategy and sales across key international markets. With more than 25 years’ experience spanning education, international student recruitment, marketing, partnerships and commercial leadership, Shileen brings a unique perspective on the forces shaping global education and learner mobility. Having worked across Australia, the UK and North America, Shileen has held senior leadership roles with Pearson and Monash University, spanning higher education, international marketing, market development, stakeholder engagement and student recruitment.
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