A large increase in Chinese students saw the number of non-European foreigners starting courses at British universities jump by 10 per cent last year, boosting revenues at institutions seeking to mitigate growing financial pressures.
Data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency, a government body, showed a 2 per cent rise to 2.4m students studying in higher education in 2018-19 compared with 2017-18. This included a 10 per cent rise in “international” students, who pay full fees, to 343,000 and a 2 per cent increase in non-UK European students, who are counted separately because they pay the same rates as English students.
The international figure included a 13 per cent increase in Chinese students to over 120,000 — more than a third of all non-EU students and up by 35 per cent over the previous five years. The number of Indians rose to nearly 27,000.
Chris Skidmore, the universities minister, stressed the government’s commitment to expanding the number of foreign students to 600,000 by 2030 and said: “The figures show our world-leading universities continue to attract the brightest and best.”
Despite concerns over Brexit and the future status of EU students in the UK, the number from non-UK European countries last year was 143,000, up from 139,000 in the previous year but flat at 6 per cent as a share of the total, in what may be the penultimate cohort eligible for UK fees and government-backed loans.
Among full-time undergraduates domiciled in the UK, the share identifying as white students was almost unchanged since 2014-15 at 75 per cent, while the proportion of black students rose modestly from 6 per cent to 7 per cent. Those from private schools rose from 105,000 to 113,000 and from state schools from 984,000 to 1.1m.
The number from postcodes with low participation in higher education over the period rose from 123,000 to 140,000 and students from the most deprived backgrounds jumped from 163,000 to 196,0000.
However, critics argued the data revealed insufficient progress in promoting social mobility. “These dire statistics should be a serious cause of concern for the government, which has made clear it wants to ‘level up’ across the country,” said Imogen Farhan, a researcher with the think-tank Reform. “Urgent reform is required which mandates universities to publish how they spend their widening participation budgets and commitment to admissions which consider a student’s background.”
The data also showed the share of first class degrees being awarded remained at 28 per cent in 2019 compared with 2018, after several years of “grade inflation” that raised concerns over the quality of marking and the risk of undermining the value of university qualifications.
Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of the Office for Students, the university regulator, said she would analyse the data ahead of issuing a report in the spring. “Grade inflation risks undermining public confidence in higher education for students, graduates and employers alike. We will continue to seek action to address these issues.”
Across all degrees, the share of higher education students who were female remained constant since 2016-17 at 57 per cent.
