UK universities face ‘financial crisis’ amid collapse in international students

Students attend their graduation ceremony. Improved A-level results would not be enough to stave off the erosion of staff numbers and courses, vice-chancellors said. Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty

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.