Overseas student growth ‘not as high as government hopes’

By David Matthews. The number of international students coming to UK universities will grow at a slower rate over the next 13 years than is hoped for by the government. That is the upshot of a new British Council report that anticipates the UK will host 568,000 overseas students by 2024, boosted by demand from countries including India, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Nigeria, a 29 per cent increase over 2011 levels. Yet the government’s industrial strategy for education, released in July, says it is “realistic” for international student numbers to grow by 15-20 per cent over the next five years, a much faster rate of growth than expected by the British Council. More...