Overseas students not seen as 
migrants 
says study

The report suggests the Government should remove them from immigration targets and support attempts to attract even more to come here to study.

It was carried out by the British Future think tank and Universities UK, the representative organisation of the country’s universities.

David Cameron has said he is seeking to reduce net migration to the ‘’tens of thousands’’.

Last month the Prime Minister announced tougher rules to be imposed on universities and colleges which sponsor international students to study in the UK.

From November, the threshold for stripping educational institutions of their ‘’highly-trusted sponsor’’ status will be cut, so that they lose it if 10 per cent or more of the individuals they offer places are refused visas, rather than the present 20 per cent.

According to the new report, international students are the largest group of migrants from outside the EU counted in the Government’s immigration figures.

But a poll of 2,111 people found just over one in five (22 per cent) class overseas students as immigrants, and only the same amount would support a reduction in their numbers.

Steve Ballinger, director of communications for British Future, said: “It is true that people in Britain are concerned about immigration.

“What they’re not worried about are international students coming here to study at our universities. The vast majority don’t see international students as immigrants at all.

“Trying to get net migration down by targeting international student numbers would be unpopular and would fail to address the public’s anxieties about immigration.”