The University of Salford also signed a contract last week with Mumbai-based company White Bridge Education to lure more students from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. The firm claims to have “11 years of experience in counselling Indian students around the world” on their university choices.
It comes as university chiefs have warned that the previous government’s crackdown on dependent visas has deterred students from key countries, with the sector now racing to recapture them or seek alternatives.
Vivienne Stern, the chief of lobby group Universities UK, recently said she was “shocked” by how quickly the move had reduced foreign student numbers.
“We thought there would be a reaction, but this is a very competitive landscape. What a minister says here can very easily be translated into dozens of media articles in countries around the world for which the UK recruits strongly,” she said.
Indian and Nigerian students made up the second and third-highest foreign intakes to British universities last year but also brought the highest number of dependents with them, stoking fears they may have been put off by new visa restrictions.
The Telegraph understands there are also serious concerns within the sector about universities with the highest concentration of Nigerian students following a currency crisis. It is expected to mean a significant drop in applications from the country this year, with large swathes of students now unable to afford foreign tuition fees.
About 40 per cent of universities in England are expected to run budget deficits this year, with three universities thought to be in serious financial peril.
Universities believe Labour will pressure the sector to manage its own financial problems rather than provide a taxpayer bailout.
A spokesperson for De Montfort University said: “We recruited in-country representatives in Thailand, Malaysia and India to provide more efficient support to applicants and external partners, by having people based in the same region and time-zone as them.
“All of these staff were recruited when numbers in these markets were growing. We maintain robust admission procedures to ensure all our students, including international, are properly qualified to study with us.”
UCL, York and Salford were approached for comment.
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Publish date : 2024-08-06 09:14:00
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