12th October 2011 9:00
By Blue Tutors
In the last five years there has been a dramatic rise in the number of overseas students studying in the UK. Reported on the BBC, during the time when the number of home students continuing to university has risen by 6%, the same figure for overseas students is 32%, and last year there were just over 400,000 overseas students studying in the UK. All the figures were collected from Hesa (the Higher Education Statistics Agency).
The increase not only boosts an institution’s status around the world, but also provides much needed financial help, because EU students pay the same tuition fees as students from the UK, and those from outside the EU pay a range of tuition fees, with there being no upper limit.
A number of academics have said that these statistics highlight the importance of foreign students in UK universities at a time when the government is trying to reduce immigration, and have tighter controls on student Visas. Sally Hunt, the general secretary of the University and College Union said that "Our universities are consistently enriched by the students and academics that come to this country to study, carry out research and share their knowledge. Politicians must be very careful not to restrict academic access or make ill-judged comments that give the impression UK universities are closed for business."