Press release
MillionPlus welcomes NUS report on international students and calls for a new approach from government
10 Apr 2017
MillionPlus, The Association for Modern Universities, has welcomed the new report ‘Student perspectives on international students’ from The National Union of Students (NUS) which shows that a majority of students in the UK feel their degrees would suffer if international student numbers dropped.
Pam Tatlow, Chief Executive of MillionPlus, said:
“This important report from the NUS confirms that international students are valued by their fellow students, and add to the academic, social and cultural experiences that make UK universities the envy of the world. It is therefore a huge concern that the NUS research confirms that some areas of the UK, outside of London, are seeing alarming reductions in international student numbers.
“Students are also clear that differentiating between universities in the way proposed by the Home Secretary, Amber Rudd MP, would be unfair and damaging. International students make up 19% of the student population in UK universities and bring enormous benefits to students and local economies alike. These students generate £5.4bn per year for the economy in off-campus spending alone and over 200,000 jobs and every year over 97,000 international students study at modern universities throughout the UK.
“Now is the time for the government to listen to both the NUS and universities and rethink its approach to international student recruitment.
“As this report shows, the Prime Minister’s post-Brexit ambitions will simply not be fulfilled unless Ministers are allowed to work with the NUS and universities to develop a new strategy to arrest the decline in the UK’s share of the international market and ensure that all universities and students benefit from what overseas students offer to the UK.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
- MillionPlus is the Association for Modern Universities. More information can be found at www.millionplus.ac.uk
- For further information or to arrange an interview, please contact Dan Blows on 020 7717 1658 or email press@millionplus.ac.uk.
- The full report is available here.