UK ministers scrap foreign students target in shift to overseas hubs strategy

"Ministers are scrapping target numbers for international students in the UK and will instead focus on encouraging universities to open hubs abroad, as part of a plan to bring British education to people on their own doorsteps. The government's new international education strategy will set a target of increasing global education exports to 40bn a year by 2030, replacing the previous target set in 2019 of recruiting 600,000 international students a year to study in the UK."

"The Department for Education said it would also bring in toughened compliance standards to ensure people coming to the UK to study were genuine students, and that universities would face recruitment caps and licence revocations if they failed to meet those standards. This approach removes targets on international student numbers in the UK and shifts the focus towards growing education exports overseas by backing UK providers to expand internationally, build partnerships abroad and deliver UK education in new markets, the DfE said."

Ministers are abandoning numeric targets for international student recruitment in the UK and shifting policy to encourage universities to establish overseas hubs. The government sets a new aim of increasing global education exports to 40bn a year by 2030, replacing the 2019 target of recruiting 600,000 international students to study in the UK. The Department for Education will introduce tougher compliance standards to verify genuine students and may impose recruitment caps or revoke licences for non-compliant universities. The strategy emphasizes expanding UK providers abroad, building partnerships, and delivering UK education in new markets. Students expressed preference for on-campus international cohorts and noted international students bring skills and experience beyond economic value.

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