Shot in the foot

International student numbers have fallen in England for the first time in almost three decades, writes Alison Goddard.

The UK is a world leader in higher education, second only to the US. Some 12 per cent of international students—whose numbers swell each year—come to the UK. Yet the overall numbers coming to England fell in 2012, the first decline in almost 30 years, according to an analysis published this morning by the Higher Education Funding Council for England. The BBC links the fall to the stricter visa regulations for students introduced in 2012. The Times reports that (£) visa curbs have driven away foreign students. The Guardian says that almost a quarter of postgraduate students at English universities are Chinese. 

We have a report, available only to subscribers to HE, which examines the decline in international students. I hate to say I told you so, but I did warn of the threat to British higher education as an export industry in a three-page briefing I wrote in 2010 as education correspondent for The Economist.