According to data from the Higher Education Statistics Authority (HESA), UK higher education reached its target of 600,000 a decade early with 605,130 international students in the 2020/21 academic years.
In 2020/21, the populations of international students in the United Kingdom vary within and outside the EU. 452,225 of them are students from outside the EU, while 152,905 are students from the European Union. The total number of higher education students in the country is 2,751,865. There is an increase of 9% compared to 2019/20.
For international students, the increase of 48,505 resulted in an 8.7% increase compared to the 2019/20 figures, with a total of 556,625 students not from the United Kingdom. The participation of international students in master degree program is also increasing.
In 2020/21, first-year students from India increased by 27%, while students from China fell by 5% for the first time. With “huge increases” in both 2019/20 and 2020/21, students from India represent 19% of all non-EU enrolments in 2020/21 – equivalent to 84,555 students.
Lucy Van Essen-Fishman, Chief Policy and Research Analyst at HESA, said: “The pandemic has deeply affected international students. But the 2020/21 Student data shows that there is still an increase in international first-year students.” said.
Stephanie Harris, Acting Head of Policy and Global Engagement at UK Universities International, said: “We are proud to have achieved this goal in such a challenging year with Covid-19 restrictions in place. We expect to continue our work with industry partners to create the best conditions and student experience for students studying at our universities.
Institutions that have more international students at each level:
University College London (International Student 23.360)
Manchester University (17,625)
University of Edinburgh (15.590)
King’s College London (15.550)
Coventry University (13,760)
UK universities continue to attract students from all over the world. Even though the number of students coming from this region has decreased due to the Brexit period with the EU, the gap seems to have been closed with selected students from other countries.
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