The International Education Strategy and a social ecological approach to resilience and inequalities among international students

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International students yield substantive socioeconomic, cultural, and intellectual benefits for the UK andits universities. The knowledge, skills, and networks students gain benefit themselves, homecommunities, and foster global cooperation. Recognising their role in tackling changes like demographicaging and Brexit, the government's International Education Strategy pursues increased internationalstudent numbers and expanded rights for graduates to remain and work. International studentsencounter challenges to their wellbeing, acculturation, educational and employment outcomes, and tosustained, effective knowledge transfer and internationalisation. The pandemic amplified familyseparation, distress, barriers to support, exclusion, and xenophobia. Those on student visas cannotaccess British social protection schemes and have limited employment rights. They depend on familialresources, private financing, and limited scholarships, hampering access for those from marginalised anddisadvantaged backgrounds. This interdisciplinary social policy research explores the challenges andinequalities international students face throughout their studies, and individual, psychosocial,socioeconomic, and social policy factors supporting resilient adaption. It uses mixed methods, including arapid review of social policy, creative visual methods, and a longitudinal survey. Shared through policybriefings, journals, conferences, and research networks, findings will inform the co-development of socialpolicy with students at university, national, and international levels. Nationally, this can widen access tohigher education, reduce inequalities, foster inclusion, improve integration, and support internationalgraduates to remain and work. Globally, this can help an outwards-looking Global Britain exercisepositive influence, facilitating horizontal global intellectual exchanges and equitable partnerships for theachievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, reducing global poverty and inequalities.