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International numbers rise in UK: HESA

The UK welcomed 5.5% more international students in 2010/11 than the previous year, with big rises in Chinese and Saudi numbers. The findings, released today by the Higher Education Statistics Authority, show a total 2,501,295 students in UK HE last year, with 130,120 from other EU member countries (up 4.1%) and 298,110 from non-EU countries (up 6.2%).

The biggest rises in non-EU markets came from China and Saudi Arabia

The biggest rises in non-EU markets came from China, up 18.1% to 67,325, and Saudi Arabia up 23.1% to 10,270.

From EU countries Germany sent 5.4% more students, totaling 16,265, and there were significant percentage rises from Romania and Bulgaria whose numbers grew to 4,625 (up 45%) and 4,615 (up 36%) respectively.

The news comes as the UK begins its curbing of international numbers, with just over a month to go before current post-study work rights for non-EU students are restrained.

Professor Christine Ennew, pro-vice-chancellor for internationalisation at the University of Nottingham, said: “The growth in numbers of international students studying in the UK reflects the quality of both the education and student experience offered by UK HEIs.

“Sadly this picture may start to look very different in the next few years as a consequence of both direct damage to recruitment and indirect damage to reputation as a result of the current visa regime.”

Other growth stories this year included Nigeria, which climbed 5.4% to 17,585, however this was slower than the 16% last year. Thailand grew 8% to 5,945.

Indian growth was underwhelming at 1.5% (to 39,090 students)

Malaysia was the only major market to fall, slipping 1.1% to 13,900. Indian growth was underwhelming at 1.5% (to 39,090 students) compared to 13% last year – thought to be related to visa changes. Students from China and India accounted for more than 35% of all non-EU numbers.

Notably, Scotland saw a big rise in Chinese interest climbing from 4,680 to 6,145 – up 31%.

The number of domicile students actually fell 0.7%, likely to be a normalisation after the surge in university applications in 2009/10.

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