A new academic year is coming soon. But as students flock back to campuses, we will probably see fewer international student faces. According to the latest statistics, the number of work or study visa applicants fell by more than a third compared with last July, with some institutions bracing for a 50% decline in new international enrolments. This is causing a severe financial crisis for many universities, which can charge much higher fees for international students, a boon for campuses that find themselves running out of budget and even facing closures.
As an international student myself, I am saddened by this exodus. UK higher education is amazing. Studying here gave me the best opportunity I could have. I am deeply grateful for my lecturers, who encouraged me to pursue my passion and take the plunge into journalism. But I am not surprised by the sharp fall in our numbers.
The political climate for international students over the past year (I’ve been here for four years, but I feel like the situation has been especially tense since parties began their election campaigns) has been extremely bleak. The Tory government and Reform leader Nigel Farage demonised international students in their bid to win votes in the election this summer.
Farage and some Conservative ministers implied we are the driving force behind surging immigration (a byword for “bad” for all parties this election season) – even though it is debatable whether students actually contribute to net migration to the UK. Many countries, including the US and Canada, choose not to count international students in their figures because most of us are temporary migrants who will return home after course completion.
Senior Tories such as Robert Jenrick and James Cleverly have repeatedly framed international students as low-quality students abusing the immigration system; while Farage pledged to “freeze non-essential immigration”, and to further restrict our right to stay in the UK after graduation.
It’s frustrating to hear these tired stereotypes being repeated. International students bring so many benefits aside from the fees we pay. We engage with local communities, work as hard as anyone else here and break down cultural barriers. To demonise us like this is narrow-minded and only does this country a disservice.
Even more disheartening is the recent draconian policy changes: in May 2023, the then home secretary Suella Braverman announced a ban on international students bringing their families to the UK during their study. It feels needlessly cruel when this remains an open route in other popular study destinations. Many international students had lives, families and dependents before moving here – and it’s not about resources, seeing as the old route required students to give financial proof they could support loved ones.
It is becoming more expensive to study in the UK, too, and I don’t just mean living costs. This February, the immigration health surcharge for visa applications was raised by 66%, from £624 to £1,035 a year. One second we are demonised; the next, we are a powerless cash cow, ready to be milked.
I am also fed up with the stereotypes. Coming to London from Beijing four years ago, I have learned that encountering discrimination as an international student is a fact of life. Most of my coursemates are friendly, but assumptions pushed by rightwing politicians and newspapers against us persist: that we are all extremely rich, don’t speak English and refuse to “integrate”. Since the Covid pandemic, research shows how discrimination against students from east and south-east Asia has surged. I have a Chinese friend who had eggs thrown at them, and another who was punched in the face while walking home. Many seem to think every Chinese student is a communist spy – even though many Chinese students are taking great risks protesting against their government. Sometimes it feels like who we are as people is irrelevant: our not-so-white faces and our visa status are enough to tell the whole story.
When someone finally remembers that we can be useful, it’s always about money – I’m not going to repeat the numbers here. The point is, as the UCL provost Michael Spence (who was an international student from Australia) wrote earlier this year, we are losing sight of the human perspective. In this frenzied debate on immigration, we tend to forget that international students are human beings. Knowing us isn’t an imposition – in fact, often the opposite: research by the House of Commons shows 76% of home students believe “studying alongside their peers from overseas would give them a better worldview”, and 85% said: “It would be useful preparation for working in a global environment”. Educating international students can also help Britain foster personal connections with future world leaders and build soft power, which feels much needed in this world full of conflicts.
I love the UK. Here, I met my partner and started my dream career. The multicultural environment I’ve studied in has helped me become more open-minded and creative, and I hope my peers have benefited in the sameway. I won’t be leaving anytime soon, and I’m glad Labour have vowed to keep the graduate visa route open. But if we want the UK to remain a culturally inclusive, diverse, exciting place to study, we have to change our conversation around international students, to reflect the fact we are human too.
Joyce Yang is a writer based in London
