Universities warned over foreign applicants
UNIVERSITY admissions will be monitored from next year to ensure British students are not being discriminated against in favour of foreign applicants who can pay more.
An investigation suggested that universities are increasingly recruiting lucrative overseas students, while at the same time, the number of places offered to UK students is falling.
Figures suggested that from 2008 to 2016, the number British undergraduates at 23 universities fell by more than 33,000, the equivalent of more than 4,000 UK students missing out each year. In contrast the number of degrees offered to non-eu students, who pay far higher fees, rose by 22,000. While British student fees are capped at £9,250 a year, foreign students can pay up to £35,000 a year.
The Sunday Times investigation suggested that thousands of overseas students were being granted fast-track admissions without needing to take A-levels, instead completing a sixmonth foundation course.
Lord Adonis, former education minister, said the findings were “seriously alarming” and a “betrayal of the mission of universities”, while Sir Anthony Seldon, vice-chancellor of the University of Buckingham said such discrimination, if proven, would be “very wrong.”
However the Department for Education has promised that the new Higher Education and Research Act, which will come into effect from April 2018, will monitor whether British students are facing discrimination. Universities will be forced to publish admissions, attainment and retention rates.
A spokesman for the department said the new data would help “gain an insight into whether domestic students were being treated unfairly.”
The investigation showed that half of top Russell Group universities have cut British undergraduate numbers since 2008. At Warwick University, the number of Britons taking a first degree fell by 28 per cent while non-eu undergraduates rose by 15 per cent.
Likewise, at Manchester University British undergraduates declined 10 per cent while non-eu students rose by 58 per cent.
Other universities where UK student numbers have fallen include Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College London, Liverpool, Nottingham, Sheffield, Southampton, Cardiff and Glasgow.
However the Department for Education said they were working to ensure students did not face discrimination at UK universities. A spokesman said: “All universities must demonstrate how they are widening access before they can raise fees above £6,000 and we will also require universities publish their admissions, attainment, and retention rates.”
A spokesman from Cambridge University said: “Cambridge assesses all students through a rigorous application process. We admit those with the greatest ability and potential, regardless of background or fee status.
“International student numbers have been increasing at Cambridge as the number of applicants and the strength of the field has also risen. International students overall still have a significantly lower success rate than UK students. In 2008, 28.4 per cent of UK applicants were accepted; in 2016, the figure was 26.3 per cent. From 2008 to 2016, the proportion of nonuk applicants accepted has varied between 14 per cent in 2008 to 12.2 per cent in 2016. The number of applications has risen sharply during that period from around 4,446 in 2008 to nearly 7,000 in 2016.
“We continue to make progress in widening participation at Cambridge, state sector entry and BME admissions continue at historic highs. The University of Cambridge does not offer international foundation programmes.”