Helping International Students Feel Connected at University
*Updated 21 September 2026*
No single technology can prevent an international student from feeling isolated.
Universities can, however, remove many of the communication barriers that make it harder for students to ask questions, find support, understand information and feel connected to their institution.
That matters across a substantial student population. HESA statistics published on 27 January 2026 show that 685,565 international students were studying at UK higher education providers in 2024/25. Although that represented a 6% fall from the previous year, international students remain an important part of UK higher education.
The Government's International Education Strategy 2026 also places greater emphasis on sustainable recruitment, a high-quality student experience and strong institutional support systems.
For universities, the question is therefore not simply how to attract international students.
It is how to ensure they can communicate, participate and access support effectively once they arrive.
What Challenges Are International Students Experiencing?
International students are not a single group and their experiences vary considerably.
Research published by HEPI in May 2025, based on nearly 5,000 international students at Russell Group universities, found that half reported experiencing poor mental health during their time in the UK. Around one in three reported experiencing racism. At the same time, 94% said they felt safe and welcome on campus, compared with 73% who felt safe and welcome in the UK more broadly.
That mixed picture is important.
Universities should avoid assuming every international student is isolated or struggling. Instead, services need to be designed so support is straightforward to access when somebody does need it.
Communication can become particularly important around admissions, accommodation, finance, academic queries, wellbeing, immigration guidance, complaints and emergency support.
If those services are difficult to find, only available through one channel or difficult to understand, an existing problem can become harder to resolve.
How Can Communication Help Students Feel More Connected?
Communication is not simply about sending more information.
Universities already communicate through websites, email, portals, telephone services, Microsoft Teams, SMS, messaging platforms, apps and social channels.
The challenge is making those communications work as a connected experience.
A student should not need to understand the university's organisational structure to know whether their problem belongs with accommodation, student services, an academic department, finance or welfare.
The communication environment should help direct them towards the right support.
Britannic's Higher Education proposition focuses on connecting voice, digital channels, contact centres, collaboration technology and student-facing systems so institutions can provide more consistent communication throughout the student journey.
How Can Universities Reduce Language Barriers?
Academic English proficiency does not necessarily mean every conversation is equally easy.
An international student may be comfortable attending lectures in English but find it harder to explain a complicated accommodation problem, discuss finances or seek support during a stressful situation.
Universities therefore need to think beyond whether students can technically communicate in English.
The better question is whether they can communicate confidently when the conversation matters.
Britannic's NetTranslate provides real-time AI translation across telephone calls, Microsoft Teams and chat in more than 100 languages. It works with existing communication environments, allowing the student and university employee to speak in their preferred languages while translation takes place during the conversation.
This could support interactions involving admissions, student services, accommodation teams, finance departments and other university services.
Human interpreters will remain appropriate for some highly sensitive or specialist conversations. AI translation provides another option where universities need immediate multilingual communication at greater scale.
Does Digital Communication Automatically Make Support More Accessible?
No.
Digital services can improve access, but universities should not assume that every student has equally reliable technology or connectivity.
Jisc's 2024/25 Higher Education Digital Experience Insights Survey, published in September 2025 and based on 15,398 students, found that 60% had experienced Wi-Fi connectivity problems and 37% had lacked access to a suitable device at some point. These problems were more pronounced among international students and students from minority ethnic backgrounds.
This makes channel choice important.
An app-only approach may work well for some students and create another barrier for others.
University communications should allow students to move between digital self-service, messaging, email, telephone and human support depending on the situation.
The goal should be choice without fragmentation.
How Can Universities Connect Student Support Across Channels?
A student enquiry rarely fits neatly into one communication channel.
A student might first read information online, send an email, follow up through WhatsApp and eventually call because the issue remains unresolved.
If those interactions sit in separate systems, the student may repeatedly explain the same problem.
Connected contact centre and enquiry-management technology can help bring those interactions together.
Britannic's INBOX Enterprise captures interactions across email, SMS, social channels and WhatsApp and connects them with workflows and business systems. Contact centre platforms can then add voice, chat, intelligent routing and access to relevant student information.
That allows communications to move away from isolated inboxes and telephone numbers towards a more coordinated student-support journey.
Queen Mary University London provides an example of this approach. Its communications environment integrates Mitel MiContact Centre with CRM and digital enquiry management, allowing digital interactions to be prioritised, categorised and managed more consistently. Britannic's updated university content also describes its use of WhatsApp, webchat, SMS, social media and voice through an omnichannel model.
The value is not the number of channels available.
It is whether those channels lead students towards the same connected support environment.
How Can Technology Support Human Student Services?
International student support should not become an automation exercise.
Some questions can be answered through self-service, AI or automated workflows. Others require judgement, reassurance or specialist expertise.
The communication journey needs to recognise the difference.
A chatbot might explain how to request a council tax exemption.
Automation might route an accommodation query.
AI translation might help a student explain a problem.
A contact centre might identify the appropriate department.
None of those should prevent the student from reaching a person when the situation requires one.
Britannic's wider approach to customer and student experience is based on using automation to remove repetitive work while preserving straightforward escalation into human support.
That balance is particularly important in student welfare.
The objective should not be fewer human conversations.
It should be making sure human conversations happen where they provide the greatest value.
Why Should Student Communications Be Connected Across The University?
A university can unintentionally create isolation through organisational silos.
Admissions might use one platform.
Accommodation may use another.
Academic departments may rely on Teams and email.
Student welfare might operate through a separate telephone number.
Finance may have another inbox.
From the university's perspective, these are different departments.
From the student's perspective, they are all the university.
Enterprise communications can help institutions connect these environments so students receive more consistent routes into support.
Unified communications can connect employees across voice, messaging, video and collaboration, while contact centre technology can intelligently route student enquiries and CRM integration can provide greater context. Britannic's Higher Education proposition brings these elements together rather than treating telephony, collaboration and student engagement as separate technology projects.
What Does Better International Student Communication Look Like?
Britannic's approach can be represented through five stages.
- Reach - Students should have clear ways to contact the university through channels appropriate to the situation.
- Understand - Language, accessibility and communication preferences should not unnecessarily prevent students from explaining what they need.
- Connect - Voice, email, chat, messaging and university systems should work together rather than creating disconnected conversations.
- Support - Automation should make it easier to reach the right person when human expertise, judgement or reassurance is required.
- Improve - Universities should analyse demand, recurring questions, channel use and service outcomes to identify where the student experience can be improved.
The framework shifts the focus away from simply introducing more communication technology.
It asks whether that technology actually makes the university easier to navigate.
What Should Universities Review?
Before changing student communications, institutions should check:
- Whether international students can easily identify where to ask for help
- Whether support is available through more than one appropriate channel
- Whether language creates unnecessary barriers during important conversations
- Whether students repeatedly explain the same issue to different departments
- Whether telephone, email, messaging and digital enquiries are connected
- Whether communications integrate with relevant student or CRM records
- Whether automated services provide a clear route to a person
- Whether welfare and urgent enquiries can be prioritised appropriately
- Whether digital services remain usable for students with connectivity or device limitations
- Whether communications remain available during outages or periods of unusually high demand
- Whether interaction data is being used to identify recurring student problems
- Whether responsibility for continuously improving the communication journey is clearly defined
Communication Should Make The University Easier To Navigate
International students already have to adapt to a new academic environment, systems, processes and, in many cases, a new country.
University communications should not add another layer of complexity.
Technology cannot manufacture friendship, community or belonging. It can make it easier for students to ask for help, communicate in a language they are comfortable using, reach the right person and remain connected with university services.
That is where enterprise communications can make a meaningful contribution.
Britannic combines unified communications, contact centre technology, NetTranslate, digital enquiry management, AI and communications infrastructure to help higher education institutions create more connected student journeys.
