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UK universities need to act urgently to reduce the number of “fraudulent” applications from international students or risk facing a backlash in Westminster, a former Conservative universities minister has warned.
Lord Jo Johnson said the higher education sector was “reaching the political limits” of tolerance for an ever-higher number of international students because too many were dropping out of courses or did not have sufficient means to support themselves.
“It’s clear to me that the days of government support for further growth in numbers are over,” he told a conference on international student recruitment on Thursday organised by Universities UK, the sector lobby group that represents more than 140 universities.
UK universities have become increasingly reliant on attracting higher-paying international students to subsidise domestic students. International fees now account for nearly 20 per cent of universities’ income — up from about 10 per cent just over a decade ago.
Despite international students delivering nearly £42bn in economic benefits to the UK in the 2021-22 academic year — a £10bn increase from 2018-19 — Johnson warned fears that some universities were “selling immigration into the UK rather than education” risked obscuring the positive narrative about their economic benefits.
Urging universities to take “collective action to weed out poor quality and fraudulent applications”, Johnson warned “entirely unacceptable” dropout rates among Indian and Bangladeshi students of “approaching 25 per cent” was damaging the sector’s reputation.
Last May, home secretary Suella Braverman announced curbs on international students, removing the right of masters students to bring family members and closing a loophole enabling students to switch to skilled worker visas midway through their course.
The government did not, however, close off the so-called graduate route visa, which allows students to stay in the UK for two years after successfully completing their course.
A survey of international students this year by IDP Connect, a student recruitment site, has indicated that the visa changes were having an impact on recruitment.
Rachel MacSween, director of stakeholder engagement for UK and Europe at IDP Connect, said the UK, while remaining popular, had slipped behind Australia and Canada as the most sought-after destination.
“Uncertainty around graduate visas in the UK is a major consideration for international students when considering whether to study in the UK. As other countries are enhancing their post-study work rights for international graduates, the UK’s share as a top study destination has declined,” she said.
Separately, senior leaders at four top-tier UK universities have told the Financial Times that they had seen significantly fewer international students not taking up confirmed places, including after paying their deposits.
Two of the senior leaders, who asked not to be named, said the shortfall had a significant impact on budgets. “It’s been a real financial blow for us,” added one.
Amid growing competition for international students, Johnson, who is chair of FutureLearn, a global digital learning platform, urged the sector to reduce its reliance on Chinese and Indian students, while improving quality — a combination he recognised would be challenging.
To weed out bogus or underfunded applicants, Johnson suggested charging application fees, requiring tuition fees to be paid upfront and following Canada in requiring annual living expenses to be lodged in escrow by students on arrival.
Vivienne Stern, the head of Universities UK, said international students were a huge economic benefit to the UK, but acknowledged that failure to maintain a robust recruitment system risked a further crackdown by government.
“Our top priority is making sure that we maintain the graduate route, and we will willingly work with government and others to make sure that we uphold confidence in the system to achieve that,” she added.