INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ARE BIG BUSINESS for British universities. Analysis by Times Higher Education from 2020 to 2021 shows that tuition fees from non-European Union international students were worth about £7 billion to universities, roughly 17 per cent of their total income — up from 13 per cent in 2016-17. This financial reliance on overseas tuition fees has allowed the market for international student recruiters to flourish. But there are some warning tremors suggesting that all may not be well.
Study Group, a leading provider of international education, recently announced in a private communication to its partners that it plans to halt recruitment of students from Bangladesh. University partners had apparently raised concerns about Bangladeshi students not enrolling in courses.
This a swift about-turn. As recently as 13 June last year, the same company issued a press release entitled “Study Group helps Bangladeshi students seeking an international education”. The organisation was touting a fair it had
