Many British universities are in expansion mode as they loosen admission requirements to cater for more European students. But how will this affect enrolments from Asia?

It's inevitable: a school system comes top of international rankings in performance, and the limelight shines. Education experts and government policymakers descend from around the globe, hoping to glean the secret of success so that they can emulate the very best. Crucially, however, many Western nations have so far been unable to translate effectively into their own systems the successes of places such as Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan in the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa).