Universities fear bankruptcy as ministers fight over allowing more foreign students Fears are mounting that UK universities will lose out on talented international students

Education Secretary Damian Hinds is battling with the Home Office to overhaul immigration rules in a bid to enable UK universities to attract more overseas students post-Brexit.

Mr Hinds is understood to be pushing Home Secretary Sajid Javid to make it easier for British institutions to compete with their international rivals for students once the UK leaves the European Union.

Restrictive immigration policies introduced since 2010 have seen the UK lose its market share of overseas students, with vice-chancellors complaining about the inclusion of international students in Government’s net migration targets.

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Fears are now mounting that the higher education sector will lose out further should EU students be subject to the same immigration rules as those come from outside the bloc.

The leaked political declaration on the future trade arrangement with the EU failed to give any assurances on whether European students would continue to move freely as they do now after the UK’s withdrawal.

It comes as the Home Office is due to publish a White Paper on immigration post-Brexit in the coming days.

‘Amazingly well-placed’

Speaking to i, Mr Hinds talked of the importance of overseas students to the country both from “an export earnings and soft power perspective”.

“I want to grow our international student base, I’m very clear about that and I think there is a good opportunity to do so.

“We are amazingly well-placed in the international market because of the strength in some of our brand names. We will be making sure our offer to the world is put very strongly and seeking to grow our student numbers,” he said.

The Cabinet minister added he would be making sure the UK is “competitive” against other countries when it comes to attracting students from overseas.

His comments come as i understands the Department for Education is pressing the Home Office to tweak immigration rules to ensure the UK can outbid its rivals for students.

Meetings between the two departments have taken place but education officials have failed to secure the necessary assurances from the Home Office.

Those looking to study in the UK are extremely lucrative for the university sector, and are also believed to generate between £15bn to £25bn for the UK economy.

Financial worries

The drop in international student numbers has been widely cited by university leaders as a significant factor behind the financial challenges hitting the higher education sector.

But more importantly, concerns are growing of the possible loss of soft power that comes with Anglophile businessmen and women and diplomats who studied in the UK.

The growth rate of international students over the three years between 2012 and 2015 was just 0.7 per cent in the UK, compared with 22.5 per cent in the US, 26.9 per cent in Canada and 18 per cent in Australia.

The Home Office is considering the recommendations published by the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) in September, but many believe the body failed to go far enough.

Crucially, the MAC did not advise the Home Office to remove international students from net migration targets, which is blamed for projecting an image of the UK as unwelcoming for international students.