Russell group member the University of Exeter (UoE) is to cut the intake of foreign students into its business school following concerns over their academic quality — a move that may be followed by other UK institutions. Fifty-four percent of students in UoE’s business school are from outside the European Union — above the figure of 45 percent agreed between the parent university and the B-school. “The university needs other colleges to increase their international student numbers in order to be able to reduce the ratio in the business school,” state minutes of a debate at a recent university council meeting.

International numbers in the B-school will be cut by 200 and redistributed to other colleges. Exeter’s strategy is being viewed with interest by UK universities with the highest numbers of international students, as judged by non-EU students as a proportion of total intake. Exeter, which has already reached a 2015 target to expand its international student population to 4,000, ranks #22 on the list — with 21.7 percent of students from outside the EU.

Shaun Curtis, director of the international office at Exeter, told Times Higher Education: “Certainly in the Russell Group, we think about… getting the right (international student) balance by level, by programme, by country. If you have an international strategy, you have to think about these things now. The key issue is how do we make sure those (international) students are of a similar calibre to home students?”

Exeter’s international student numbers have been boosted by its hosting of an international study centre run by private company INTO. The company operates feeder centres in partnership with a number of UK universities, which prepare international students for degree study by offering A levels and English language programmes.

UoE council minutes state that growth in international student numbers in the B-school “had been driven by INTO which had resulted in students predominantly from the People’s Republic of China studying accounting and finance”. The minutes also state: “A review was being undertaken to look at the quality of students entering the business school through INTO, as the quality of these students was now, for the first time, lower than those recruited by the university.”

Bill Rammell, vice chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire, which is #15 on the list, says the institution had “reduced (its) international student numbers, both to drive quality and ensure effective integration between home and international students which is the key to the positive globalisation of higher education”.

However, a spokesman for the University of Warwick — #18 on the list — said high international numbers were “not really an issue for us” and were likely to increase further. The high numbers were because Warwick is a “research-intensive university with a lot of postgraduates and MBA students”, areas that traditionally attract overseas students, he said.

Rupee decline apprehensions

There is “intense” concern among British universities that the dramatic fall in the value of the Indian rupee could lead to a big drop in recruitment from the country. At one point at the end of August, the rupee’s value against the pound sterling was more than 20 percent less than it had been in mid-May, and it is feared this could make study in the UK too expensive for many prospective Indian students.

Sanam Arora, president of the National Indian Students Union in the UK, predicts that 12-15 percent fewer Indian students will study abroad as a result of the rupee’s declining value, and that a “significant portion” of the reduction would hit British universities. In 2011-12, the number of Indian students attending British universities fell by 24 percent, a drop blamed in part on the end of the automatic right to work in Britain for two years post-graduation. “Not only do Indian students have to shell out more as a result of the rupee slump, they also know that the chances of repaying loans they took out for their studies have little scope of being paid off by way of post-study employment in the UK,” says Arora.

An added headache for British universities is that the rupee has declined more against the pound than against the US or Australian dollar, she points out, meaning the UK could lose students to those nations. From mid-May to September 10, the rupee’s value declined 17.4 percent against the pound, 14.5 percent against the US dollar, but only 10 percent against the Australian dollar, according to the currency website www.xe.com.

Edward Acton, vice chancellor of the University of East Anglia, says that concern about Indian recruitment in the UK sector is “intense” and that the exchange rate is a “significant variable”, alongside tougher student visa requirements and “alienating” messages coming from the Home Office. In concert they could “lock us into decline”, he warns.

The government has repeatedly stressed there is no cap on foreign student numbers and that international graduates can still work in the UK after completing their courses, provided they are sponsored by an employer and earn above a certain threshold. Colin Riordan, vice chancellor of Cardiff University and chair of the UK Higher Education International Unit, says he would be “surprised” if the sector doesn’t experience a decline in applications from India in the coming months.

“The… danger is that British universities become overwhelmingly dependent on recruitment from China, which creates a potentially risky vulnerability,” adds Riordan. A 17 percent rise in Chinese student numbers in 2011-12 offset the drop from India and entrenched China’s position as the biggest overseas recruitment market for British universities.

(Excerpted and adapted from Times Higher Education)