The figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that the commission paid to agencies for non-EU student recruitment by the 106 universities that provided commission data rose from £74.4m in 2011-12 to £86.7m last year.

Only 19 of the 158 higher education institutions surveyed did not use agents

Only 19 of the 158 higher education institutions surveyed did not use agents – all of them “elite or specialist” institutions including Oxford, Cambridge and Imperial College London.

The data shows a rise in the use of agents, with admissions statistics provided by 124 institutions showing a 6.4% increase in the number of international students recruited via agencies (to 58,257) in the same two year period.

This figure accounts for nearly a third of all non-EU enrolments nationwide in 2012-13, as recorded by the Higher Education Statistics Authority.

However, comparing this with the 16.5% rise in payouts reveals that the increased spending may be largely down to agents’ commission rates increasing in recent years.

Coventry University made the most use of agents, using them to recruit 5,634 students over three years, followed by Newcastle University, with 5,085.

Coventry was also the institution that spent the most on agency recruitment. Its commission and tax totalled £10.2m, though that figure includes fees paid to progression and pathway providers.

The University of Bedfordshire and Middlesex University were also among the top spenders, paying out £9.5m and £8.8m respectively to agents alone.