Cap could cut university reliance on China

A foreign student cap at universities should be implemented to cut reliance on Chinese students, a report has said.

More than a fifth of total fee income at 16 universities is from Chinese entries, think tank Onward has found.

While the fees of UK and EU students are capped at £9,250 per year, universities can charge overseas students far higher fees, which they use to subsidise research and other costs. Since the mid-nineties, the number of full-time Chinese students in Britain has increased from 1,510 to 115,435. British universities now rely upon overseas students for income of £5.8 billion, of which £2.1 billion is from students from China.