Young graduates at the University of York, England. Education figures said universities may see further erosion of staff numbers and courses. Photograph: Richard Baker/In Pictures/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Young graduates at the University of York, England. Education figures said universities may see further erosion of staff numbers and courses. Photograph: Richard Baker/In Pictures/Getty Images University funding UK universities face ‘financial crisis’ amid collapse in international students Higher education figures call on Labour to reverse tax on fees and warn institutions at risk of ‘going under’
Prefer the Guardian on Google University leaders are warning of financial turmoil in British higher education after new figures suggested a collapse in international student numbers would deprive the sector of vital income and undermine its future.
The sector’s leaders called on the government to rethink the levy on international student fees imposed under Keir Starmer, as a former universities minister warned there was a risk of a university “going under” because of the financial crisis.
Read more While UK sixth-formers enjoyed improved A-level results , and a record 194,800 English 18-year-olds were accepted by their first choice of university, vice-chancellors who spoke to the Guardian said it would not be enough to stave off further erosion in staff numbers and courses.
Figures published by the Home Office show student visa applications to the end of July fell 11% compared with the previous year. With summer visa applications coming before the start of the academic year in autumn, the gloomy figures mean many UK universities will see significant losses if the trend continues, with some fearing international enrolments dropping by 30%.
View image in fullscreen Students at Harris academy in Wimbledon collect their A-level results on Thursday. Photograph: Isabel Infantes/Reuters Prof Shitij Kapur, the vice-chancellor of King’s College London, said the fall in international student numbers was “in line with the pessimistic expectations” and may also reflect a drop in postgraduate applications earlier this year.
Kapur said: “The critical thing is what this cycle will entail, which does not become clear till about October. The simple rubric is that every five international students impact one university job. And these falling numbers will invariably impact the financial health and staff complement of universities.
“The silver lining in this gloomy picture is that the strength and desire to go to universities amongst our school leavers remains as strong as ever despite concerns about the loan schemes and graduate jobs, as you can see today.”
Successive governments froze domestic undergraduate fees at £9,250 between 2017 and 2025, allowing inflation to erode their value by a third. Subsequent increases will be largely wiped out by universities paying a £925 levy on each international student.
View image in fullscreen Students celebrate their results at Barking and Dagenham college in Romford on Thursday. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA David Willetts, the Conservative former universities minister and an architect of higher tuition fees, said universities were undoubtedly “under increasing financial pressure and that’s mainly because of the freeze in fees for eight years”.
Willetts added: “There is indeed a risk of a university going under [through] financial crisis but what worries me more is just all the cutting back on the qualit…