international students

UK universities have seen a record number of non-EU students gaining places on courses through ‘clearing' this year. Meanwhile, EU student clearing numbers are up on last year, but yet to reach their peak in 2011.

‘Clearing' is a process in the UK for students who either didn't get any university offers or who do not get the exam results they need for their offer. Basically it is a system to get applicants without an offer to find a university course that still has spaces available. Students can find a uni clearing list to discover the courses that still have vacancies and then contact the universities directly to try and gain an offer.

Busiest Year Ever

Overall, this has been the busiest year ever for clearing, with over 430,000 students being placed on courses since UK A-level results were released just five days ago. Non-EU international students have mirrored this trend, with clearing numbers increasing by 7% compared to this time last year. Similarly, EU student clearing numbers are up 9% on 2012. You can see the numbers over the last five years in the table below released by university admissions organisation UCAS.

The cost of university fees for international students has been under discussion over the last week, after it emerged that some students will be paying up to £35,000 a year to study in the UK from September. However, despite this huge cost, it has been revealed that the UK is not the most expensive place to study for overseas students.

The Complete University Guide surveyed 110 universities across the UK and the results were predictably startling, with international students being charged up to four times as much as home and EU students.

Though international undergraduate fees start at just £7,450 for lecture based courses, the annual cost goes as high as £35,000 for medical degrees at King's College London. Indeed, undergraduate medical fees are over £30,000 at a number of universities including UCL, Sheffield, Southampton, Glasgow, Manchester, Nottingham, Bristol and Cambridge.

There is a similar range of costs for postgraduate students, with international students being charged anything from £7,900 to a massive £38,500 (for postgraduate medical students at Queen Mary University London).

After coming in for criticism over harsher student visa restrictions and new measures that have made international students feel less welcome, the British government has unveiled plans to recruit almost 100,000 more overseas students over the next five years.

The plans were part of a new governmental strategy for international education, called International Education - Global Growth and Prosperity that was revealed on Monday. With the sole aim of encouraging students to study in the UK, the initial report said that it is ‘realistic' for overseas student numbers to grow by 15-20% in the next five years, meaning an extra 90,000 students by 2018.

The scheme comes in part as a reaction to the growing dissatisfaction amongst higher education experts at government actions that have been perceived as making international students feel unwelcome in the UK. Indeed, this year, the number of overseas applications for UK universities fell for the first time in 16 years.

Business secretary Vince Cable addressed this issue and emphasised how he hopes to prevent the downturn from becoming a trend:

"We have created an attractive environment and we should sell this in a positive way. We are anxious to reassure you we welcome overseas students and there is no cap on numbers."

The British government is considering charging non-EU students £200 a year for access to the NHS as part of radical new plans to cut costs for the health service.

The charge would be added to visa costs for any students staying in the UK for more than 6 months, and is just one of a number of proposals being put forward. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt told the BBC that the fee is in line with what other countries charge international students for healthcare, explaining:

"We have been clear that we are a national health service not an international health service and I am determined to wipe out abuse in the system."

The Department of Health claims that currently it costs the NHS £30m a year to treat foreigners in England. However, whilst this may sound like a lot, to put it in context, that is the equivalent of just two hours of NHS's annual spending.

Growing Opposition

Though the possibility of this scheme was only revealed this morning, a number of vocal opponents to any such changes have already emerged.

People complain all around the world. But I would not condemn it. The fact that they are not satisfied with their lives means that they want to move on. It is still better than staying idle and putting up with one's current lot.

It is almost Murphy's Law, or let's call it Erik's law, that there are as many people seeking jobs in London as there are residents (or even more, I would say, because of the number of people commuting to work). But whenever I greet someone new in our house, they will always say that they are looking for a job. I reply: "so are 7 million other people here".

Even if they are doing well, everyone is thinking of a change. But it is natural. Life is moving fast and if we sleep in, we will be overtaken by someone from the long queue with CVs at the manager's desk. I personally hope I will be replaced at SportsDirect by the good-looking Spanish girl interviewed last month.