Abstract
Since the early 2000s, UK universities have been criticised due to the performance gap between white students and their racialised counterparts. The challenges associated with an increasing intake of international students have impacted student retention and completion of programmes. Data suggests that international students underperform significantly in comparison to white students, and the assumption is that (international) students do not have the academic ability to succeed in UK HE. However, the real challenge here might not be about students' academic abilities, but about lecturers' teaching abilities; many UK universities recruit dual professional lecturers, who have not undergone appropriate pedagogical training, to embed industry experience in their curricula.