BRITAIN CALLING?

London, March 26: The number of students coming to the UK from India for higher education has shown a sharp increase despite the hike in visa charges, while arrivals from China and Hong Kong are down, according to figures released today.

In 2005-06, the latest year for which details were available, UK universities attracted 19,205 students from India — a 15 per cent rise over the previous year.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency said India was now second only to China for the number of students who travel to Britain to study.

A spokesman for the agency told The Telegraph: “India shows the highest increase after Nigeria, which had a rise of 17.9 per cent. The number of students who came from Nigeria in 2005-06 was 9,605. We get the statistics from the universities themselves.”

China sent 50,755 students to study in the UK in 2005-06 but this was a drop of 3.7 per cent on the previous year, while there was a 12 per cent fall in arrivals from Hong Kong.

Attracting foreign students has become big business for the UK. Even public schools, especially ones with boarding facilities, now market their products with commercial professionalism. Foreign students from countries outside the EU contribute billions of pounds to the British economy each year and are a crucial source of income for universities because they have to pay full course fees.

The UK sees itself in competition with America for Indian students, who now prefer to head for the US universities because greater funding is available there.

Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union, warned that lack of funding could undermine the UK’s attractiveness as a destination for foreign students.

“The foreign market is a lucrative one for UK universities and our reputation for quality is one reason so many foreign students want to study here,” she said. “It is absolutely vital that we do not undermine our international standing through an obsession with the market in higher education.”

She pointed out: “Class sizes are extremely high and staff are being forced to provide even more for less. The overlooked pastoral work of particular staff — often over and above their normal duties — is crucial to helping foreign students.”

She added: “We need foreign students to extol the benefits of their university education in this country and that can only happen with proper investment in higher education.”

The sciences showed signs of recovering from the falling popularity, which has led dozens of departments to close. The number of first year students in physics rose by 3.7 per cent.

The agency said the number of full-time undergraduates aiming for a first degree has risen by 3.3 per cent from 1,039,130 in 2004-05 to 1,073,775 in 2005-06. Most subject areas recorded an increase in students; the largest percentage increase was recorded in the architecture, building and planning subject area, which saw a 13.8 per cent year-on-year growth in full-time students aspiring to a degree.

Physical sciences recorded a rise of 3.7 per cent in full-time first-degree students. An increase of nearly one-third was seen in the subject category of forensic and archaeological science. At the same time, physics, chemistry, and geology all recorded an increase in enrolments.