Applications from China to UK universities have fallen for the first time in more than a decade, figures released yesterday show.
The number quadrupled between 2014 and last year to almost 29,000 but has decreased by 4.2 per cent this year.
Disruptions caused by Covid are likely to have contributed to the decline but experts say that interest in studying in the UK among Chinese teenagers is waning. Some universities are reliant on Chinese students for a substantial amount of their tuition fee income.
The figures last month for applications to start at universities this autumn, released by Ucas, the admissions service, show a 3.1 per cent increase in international candidates compared with the same time last year.
