Overseas students add £20bn boost to UK economy during stay
The economic contributions made by international students in the UK are 10 times greater than the costs of hosting them, according to new research commissioned by the Higher Education Policy Institute think-tank.
London Economics, the consultancy, examined the costs and benefits of hosting the 231,000 international students who arrived in the UK during the 2015-16 academic year.
The researchers concluded that each annual intake of international students brought £22.6bn of economic benefits to the UK through tuition fees, accommodation payments and other forms of spending during their studies. They estimated that the costs of hosting each intake of overseas students amounted to £2.3bn.
As a result, the researchers said that each new intake produced net economic benefits of just over £20bn, or £310 for every UK resident, over the course of their studies.
Nick Hillman, director of Hepi, said the Home Office had not accepted previous figures on the benefits of allowing international students into the UK because earlier studies had ignored the costs of hosting them. Government figures have sometimes suggested that the costs of hosting students might outweigh the benefits. Read more…