Despite output of monarchs, presidents and prime ministers, UK lags US in Hepi Soft-Power Index

Almost 60 world leaders were educated in the UK—second only to the US—according to the 2024 Higher Education Policy Institute Soft-Power Index.

The eighth annual edition of the index, which is based on the number of senior serving world leaders educated at a higher level in countries other than their own, shows that 58 studied at universities in the UK, just 12 behind the top ranked nation, the US, with 70.

Despite the high number of UK-educated leaders, the country is losing ground to its transatlantic counterpart. In 2017, the UK topped the index, with 58 leaders to its name compared with 57 for the US. Since then, the US has always outranked the UK, but this year’s 12-point gap is the highest on record.

Hepi said that this year’s results showed the biggest one-year increase in the number of senior world leaders educated in the US, up five from 65 last year.

The index only counts leaders educated outside their own home country, meaning that UK monarch King Charles and prime minister Keir Starmer do not appear in the UK’s numbers as they were domestically educated.

Confusion over UK welcome

“As a firm believer in the benefits of studying abroad, I am sorry to see the UK’s relative position slip—and for the sixth time since we began calculating the numbers seven years ago,” said Hepi director Nick Hillman. “What could once have been excused as a blip is now a very clear trend.”

In third place on the index is France, which educated 28 leaders, followed by Russia with 10. Australia, Belgium and Spain tie for fifth place, having educated seven world leaders apiece, while Germany, Italy and Switzerland have educated six world leaders each.

“International students bring all sorts of financial, educational and social benefits to the UK, but the constant flux in policy, such as the tighter rules introduced in January 2024, has confused people about whether the UK is truly welcoming,” Hillman added. “So we cannot assume that we will recover the ground we have lost relative to the US.

“I hope the new UK government, which immediately adopted much more positive rhetoric on international students, will bear the Soft-Power Index in mind as they continue evaluating whether the current student migration rules and high visa costs are fit for purpose.”

Changing of the guard

The changes affecting the UK’s performance in this year’s index include the addition of University of Bristol PhD-holder Hun Manet (pictured, top left), who has been the prime minister of Cambodia since late 2023.

Sylvanie Burton (pictured, top centre), the first female president of Dominica, also since late 2023, studied as a postgraduate at the University of Manchester in the 90s. However, since her predecessor Charles Savarin was also a UK student, this did not impact the UK’s score.

Alexander Stubb (pictured, top right), who was elected president of Finland in early 2024, studied at the London School of Economics in the 90s, and Halla Tómasdóttir, who was recently elected as president of Iceland, studied at Cranfield in the 90s.

Outgoing UK-educated leaders include Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, who abdicated earlier this year; Abdullah of Pahang, who had studied at various UK institutions, and whose term as 16th king of Malaysia ended in January; and George Vella, whose period as president of Malta came to an end in April.