One in every five pounds received by UK universities last year came from international students, according to Guardian analysis that reveals the scale of the sector’s growing dependence on overseas tuition fees for financial survival. With the annual dash to allocate university places for the next academic year about to begin, there are fears UK students could lose out to their overseas counterparts, whose higher fees have become critical to university budgets. Tuition fees from international students now make up a third or more of the total income at some…
Tag: Education
Glum Chinese graduates go viral with pictures of misery amid jobs anxiety
As millions of young people in China graduate from university this month, the traditional pictures of joyful students throwing their hats and gowns into the air have been replaced by photos of them lying on the ground or throwing their degree certificates into the bin. Some photos show students draping themselves over bridges or park benches in poses of dejection. In others, students lie face down on stairs or in grassy fields. The pictures, which have been going viral on social media, allude to the fact that 11.6 million students…
China’s 11.6m graduates face a jobs market with no jobs
With a master’s degree in applied linguistics from one of Australia’s top universities, Ingrid Xie did not expect to end up working in a grocery store. But that was where she ended up after graduating from the University of Queensland in July last year. Xie did her undergraduate degree in China, studying English in the shade of palm trees at Hainan Tropical Ocean University. She went abroad for her master’s because she thought that would help her find a better job. But after working at a Korean supermarket in Brisbane…
China overtakes US in contributions to nature and science journals
China has overtaken the US to become the biggest contributor to nature-science journals, in a sign of the country’s growing influence in the world of academic research. The Nature Index, which tracks data on author affiliations in 82 high quality journals, found that authors affiliated with Chinese institutions are more prolific than their US counterparts in physical sciences, chemistry, Earth and environmental sciences. The only category in which the US is still in the lead is life sciences. The finding comes from a snapshot of the Nature Index’s data taken…
English universities warned not to over-rely on fees of students from China
England’s higher education regulator has warned universities against over-reliance on tuition fees of students from China, as Rishi Sunak backtracked on his earlier pledge to close UK branches of the Beijing-sponsored Confucius Institute. The Office for Students (OfS) wrote to 23 universities with high numbers of Chinese students on Thursday, asking to see their contingency planning in case of a sudden interruption to overseas recruitment. “Such interruptions could result from, for example, a changing geopolitical environment which could cause an immediate and significant impact on income,” an OfS report said.…
How war in Taiwan could mean the wheels come off the UK economy
As the world struggles with the economic fallout from the Ukraine war, fears are mounting about a conflict that would be even more consequential: a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Last week, Taiwan’s foreign minister said he was preparing for the possibility of a conflict with China in 2027, and a leaked memo from a four-star US general said his “gut” told him the US – which is committed to defending Taiwan – would be at war with China in 2025. The UK foreign secretary warned last week that such a…
UK quietly shifts China policy as trust between countries erodes
While Britain’s conflict with Russia is playing out on the battlefield of Ukraine, escalating tensions between London and Beijing are largely unfolding a little more discreetly at home: in universities, among researchers and in hi-tech and other strategic businesses. It may not be a high-profile drama of poisonings and deadly weapons supply, but hundreds of Chinese researchers have been turned away from British projects over the last couple of years, as trust between the two countries has been eroded. A further 50 researchers, already in the UK, have also been…
1,100 scientists and students barred from UK amid China crackdown
More than 1,000 scientists and postgraduate students were barred from working in the UK last year on national security grounds, amid a major government crackdown on research collaborations with China. Figures obtained by the Guardian reveal that a record 1,104 scientists and postgraduate students were rejected by Foreign Office vetting in 2022, up from 128 in 2020 and just 13 in 2016. The sharp increase follows a hardening of the government’s stance on scientific ties with China, with warnings from MI5 of a growing espionage threat, major research centres being…
British Gas is ready to bully beyond the grave | Brief letters
“It’s not who we are,” says British Gas in response to criticism of its bullying tactics (‘It’s not who we are,’ wails British Gas. Sorry but when you’re using bailiffs to install meters, that’s exactly who you are, 3 February). Oh, yes it is. This is a company with a “bereavement team” that is, in fact, a debt collection agency. Nothing could surprise me now about British Gas. Edith Nicoll Menstrie, Clackmannanshire In response to Janet Mansfield (Letters, 1 February), as a politics teacher at Loreto sixth-form college in Manchester,…
Chinese students in UK told to ‘resist distorting’ China’s Covid policies
A senior Chinese diplomat involved in the recent violence against pro-democracy protesters in Manchester has suggested Chinese students in Britain should “resist distorting and discrediting” China’s Covid policies. The comments by China’s consul general in Manchester, Zheng Xiyuan, at a symposium to discuss the work of international students were said by Lyndon Lee, 23, a second-year law student at the University of York, to appear threatening. Zheng was filmed in October pulling the hair of a protester, Bob Chan, who had been dragged into the grounds of the consulate where…