UK Universities Hit Record High With 787,000 International Students in 2022/23

The United Kingdom has recorded its highest-ever number of international students in the 2022/23 academic year, a new study has revealed.

The Centre for Migration Control (CMC), a think tank focused on migration reduction, found a record number of 787,000 international students enrolled at UK universities for the 2022/2023 academic year, Erudera.com reports.

The figure has increased from 679,970 international students in the UK in the 2021/2022 academic year, as reported previously by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).

To learn the enrollment figures, CMC submitted Freedom of Information requests to a total of 80 higher education authorities, accounting for over 50 percent of all international students in the United Kingdom.

Data revealed an increase of 28.1 percent in international students at British universities between 2021/22 and 2022/23, meaning there is an additional 107,740 students.

The CMC projects a potential influx of over 870,000 international students in the UK if this trend in the number of international students appears in all universities across the country.

In an interview with The Telegraph, the CMC research director Robert Bates said the influx of international students in the UK is not surprising, as since 2019, the Education Department has worked to increase the number.

Bates voiced concerns about universities prioritizing international students over domestic ones and blamed former British Home Secretary Suella Braverman for the situation, urging her to take responsibility for the mess.

“A surge in international students will have far-reaching social consequences, putting further strain on the housing supply, the health service and the finances of emaciated local councils. “Ultimately Suella Braverman (the former Home Secretary), despite her rhetoric, must take responsibility for this mess which occurred under her watch,” he said.

Earlier this year, as part of efforts to reduce net migration, Braverman announced plans to ban most international students from bringing their dependents to the UK starting January 2024 unless they are in postgraduate research courses.

According to the Office for National Statistics, for the year ending June 2023, the net migration of international students who initially entered the UK on a study-related visa was 263,000. The figure included students who changed their visa type while in the UK.

International students must now pay more when applying for a student visa from outside the UK. Since October this year, visa fees have increased to £490.

In 2021/22, 120,140 international students in the UK were from the EU, and 559,825 were from other countries. Official data indicate that China remains the most significant source country for international students in the UK, sending 151,690 students in 2021/22.

UK universities hosted nearly 254,000 international students in 2017/18. The figure steadily increased, reaching an all-time high of 381,700 in 2020/21.