Quiz

International students boost UK economy by £20bn and cost just £4.4bn

• The cost of international students to UK taxpayers is just £4.4bn, as per a report by Universities UK International, HEPI and Kaplan International Pathways.
• The net economic impact of each student is around £98,000, with a benefit-to-cost ratio of 9.4.
• There has been an increase of over £1bn in the cost of hosting international students since 2018/19, largely due to the need to provide public services for both students and dependants.
• Non-EU students provide the overwhelming majority of net impact on the economy, generating £33.5bn.
• EU students now make up only one-in-12 international students in the UK, compared to one-in-four before Brexit.
• The net impact per non-EU student is £96,000, meaning every 11 non-EU students generate £1m of net impact on the UK economy throughout their study period.
• The net impact of each EU student is around £125,000, meaning every 9 EU students generate the same £1m of net impact during their studies.
• The report pointed out that there was a benefit of £58m per parliamentary constituency – amounting to roughly £560 per citizen of the UK.
• Glasgow Central’s international students provided the most net impact per resident at £292m, followed by London’s Holborn and St Pancras constituency at £291m.
• Changes to rules on dependants and post-study work could be felt heavily, stakeholders warn.
• Linda Cowan, managing director of Kaplan International Pathways, said that employability skills and careers advice are at the top of international students' list.
• Tim Bradshaw, chief executive of the Russell Group, urged the UK government to ensure the UK remains an attractive destination for international students.