Essay sample on The UK Profits from International Students, and Here’s Why

Recently, the Higher Educational Policy Institute has published a study that addresses the cost of the increase in the international student population in the UK. It turns out that international students make a considerable contribution to the economy of the country. An average citizen of the UK gets £310 a year more than in case these students decided to study in another country.

Why are These Figures so Interesting?

The majority of educators agree that international students are good for the economy of the UK. Nevertheless, the scale of such a contribution and its value for the educational system and the whole country is impressive.

The report considers not only the gross contribution to the UK economy but also such details as the cost of such students for the public purse during the period while they are in the country. Such costs were analyzed for the period of 2015-16, analyzing one cohort of students, and the study revealed some impressive figures:

• Non-EU citizens spend in average £7,000 from the public purse, while contributing about £95,000 to the economy of the country. If you cannot calculate the multiplier, we can help you: the profit of hosting international students from non-EU countries is 14.8 times bigger than their total cost for citizens. It’s a great benefit.
• Such a profit means that just eleven students from non-EU countries are able to contribute more than £1 million to the UK economy.
• While these students don’t cause a considerable impact on the public purse, each one of them contributes in average £68,000.
• According to the report, the total benefit from international students during 2015-16 is about £20.3 billion.

Once again, the figures above show the net cost which was calculated taking into account all the costs spent on hosting these people, based on their gross contributions. And remember that these figures reflect contributions of a single cohort of students for only one year. Thus, this data can be used as an estimated annual impact of international students on the economy of the country. Obviously, these figures will increase with a number of students.

How the Benefits are Distributed

London and the South-East regions host biggest populations of international students, which is a reason why these regions benefit from it most of all: about £2.44 billion for the South East, and £4.64 billion for London. At the same times, such regions as Yorkshire, Scotland, the North West, and the West Midlands also admitted more than 15,000 students from other countries during 2015-16, which means an amount of cash estimated between £1.5 and £2 billion. And the parliamentary constituency which benefited most was Sheffield Central, which even isn’t in the South East. It gained £226 million, which exceeds any figures from other parliamentary constituencies of the United Kingdom. Only a few constituencies from the top-eight list were in the north of England; Cambridge and Oxford joined the top-three list.

How These Figures May Impact the Policy?

So, what is so important about these figures? They clearly illustrate how the UK economy benefits from international students. Despite this fact, they are still targeted as migrants who take too much money from the public purse, and the government keeps providing new restrictions of the rights of non-EU students within the aggressive policy against immigration. However, these restrictions haven’t influenced the number of international students, but the after-Brexit restrictions on the students from the EU, and even threats of implementing such solutions, raise concerns about their impact on the UK economy.

This study is different from many others, because it addresses the main argument against non-EU students, and proves its inaccuracy. According to the HEPI Director Nick Hillman, there is no response from the Home Office to the data about benefits for the UK economy. In the past, similar studies were rejected because they ignored an important feature – the cost of international students. This study, on contrary, provides detailed data which proves that the cost is very small compared to the profits.

This study illustrates how the UK economy benefits from students from other countries and even shows how such benefits are distributed in different regions. This is a great argument in favor of expanding the intake of international students, regardless of any political ideas.