International students are not “taking seats away” from domestic UK students, stakeholders have reiterated after various media outlets have led with stories suggesting otherwise.
After pressure from right-wing members of parliaments and calls for resetting the government’s investment in UK higher education, the Financial Times and The Telegraph have run articles with headlines about British students ‘missing out’ on places to international counterparts.
The FT suggested that it is becoming “apparent that the big increase in the share of places offered to international students was starting to affect the chances of British children attending the highest-ranked universities”.
The report highlights proportional changes in the numbers of international students at Russell Group, highlighting that more than a quarter of places at English Russell Group universities went to international students last year, up from 16% between 2012-2017.
