COBIS CEO Colin Bell talks to Andy Homden about changes in student population and curriculum, AI, wellbeing and mobile phones as he reflects on the latest COBIS survey report.
Students and demographics
AH: What does the 2024 survey show about student numbers and demographics in COBIS schools?
CB: The first thing to say is that student populations in COBIS schools are stable, if not growing. Over half (58%) of schools who responded to the survey reported an increase in student numbers compared to last year. What is becoming very noticeable, however, is that a significant minority of schools (39%) have seen a notable change to the nationalities that make up their student bodies over the past two years. These changes vary from region to region, but increases in Chinese, Russian, and Ukrainian student numbers seem to be part of an emerging pattern.
The extent to which these changes in school populations are linked to wider geo-political issues is still being worked through, but what the survey also shows is that the impact of geo-political conflict can manifest itself in schools in various ways. More than half of schools who replied (53%) felt that current and recent geo-political conflicts had a significant or moderate impact on their school and community, with a third of schools reporting an increase in anxiety in students as a result of, or linked to, geo-political conflicts. Conflicts and confrontations between students, parental views impacting student behaviour or relationships and confrontations between parents have also been experienced by some schools.