Universities' student visa lobby

The overseas students market will be worth £20bn, say universities

Universities in the United Kingdom are lobbying the government to help them recruit more overseas students.

Competition for overseas students has increased sharply - with the UK losing market share to countries such as Australia.

Universities UK says overseas students are now a "major export industry".

"It is worth more than food and drink, tobacco, insurance, ships and aircraft," says Drummond Bone, president of Universities UK.

Universities UK, at a meeting at the Labour party conference in Brighton, will call on the government to support higher education in its efforts to recruit students - and not to allow visa regulations to unfairly restrict recruitment.

Visa regulations

"For British universities to remain amongst the foremost destinations for international higher education, we urge the government to support our efforts, and avoid putting any unnecessary barriers in our way," says Professor Bone.

"We have already raised our concerns about recent changes to the visa regime for international students as well as further measures proposed by government, including plans to abolish the right of appeal for international students who are refused visas, that risk making us less attractive as a study destination."

The UK remains the second most popular destination for overseas students - with the United States the most popular. But figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), published this month, showed that the UK's share is slipping.

In particular, Australia is attracting an increasing number of students - and has the highest proportion of overseas students in its university population.

There is a strong demand for university courses taught in English - which has helped the United States, the UK and Australia. But increasingly other non-English speaking countries have been offering university courses taught in English.

The overall market in overseas students is forecast to grow substantially - with Universities UK saying it could be worth £20bn to the UK economy by 2020.

There is also expected to be a growth in universities opening campuses in other countries. This month, the University of Nottingham opened a campus in Ningbo, China, where it will provide degree courses in English to Chinese students.

Higher Education Minister Bill Rammell said international students make a "valuable academic and cultural contribution to our institutions and contribute an estimated £5bn a year to the UK economy".

Mr Rammell said that initiatives to attract overseas students, backed by the prime minister, had been "very successful" and that another phase would begin in April 2006.