UK government ministers are being warned that any U-turn on their commitments to grow international student numbers could result in billions of pounds in lost revenue, wreck their growth plans, and damage local economies in their own constituencies.
New polling, commissioned from Public First by Universities UK, has revealed that the UK public doesn’t see reducing legal migration as a priority compared to other pressing issues, and are not in favour of cutting the number of international students.
Universities UK International (UUKi) has published a new report on the UK’s student recruitment performance. The report examines how the UK can become a more attractive study destination to international students, and is a follow-up to Part 1, published in 2020.
Commenting on speculation that the UK Government may look to cut international student numbers, Vivienne Stern MBE, Chief Executive of Universities UK, said:
We've joined with GuildHE, Million Plus and University Alliance to urge the government to restate its commitment to the ambitions set out in the International Education Strategy and to avoid language that suggests international students and their dependents may be unwelcome in the UK.
From supporting the efforts to preserve vital rail networks, to offering financial assistance to build bomb shelters so Ukrainian institutions can continue to conduct classes; UK universities have played a pivotal role in helping to support Ukraine over the past year.
We've called for an urgent resolution to the ongoing discussions about UK access to Horizon Europe, with the future of the EU-UK research scheme ‘close to the precipice’.