The proportion of foreign students who break the rules by staying in Britain after finishing their course could be as low as one per cent, it has been reported.

Analysis commissioned by the Home Office, which has not been published, is said to suggest that estimates of how many international students "vanish" each year are out by tens of thousands.

The latest data indicate that 1,500 non-EU students a year breach the terms of their visa by staying in the country, according to the Times.