Chinese student applications to UK universities up by 30 per cent, as Manchester plays major host
- UK higher education is benefiting from tensions between US and China, say experts
- Number of students from mainland China studying in UK higher education has more than doubled in the last decade
Applications from Chinese students to study at UK universities have gone up 30 per cent since last year, with numbers exceeding those from Northern Ireland for the first time, according to official statistics.
The UCAS university admissions agency revealed on Thursday it had received almost 20,000 undergraduate applications from students in China this year (19,760, up from 15,240 in 2018), compared with 18,520 from Northern Ireland. The real figure will be higher as not all Chinese applications are made via UCAS.
The number of students from mainland China studying in UK higher education has more than doubled in the last decade.
Welcoming the figures, the universities minister, Chris Skidmore, said: “International students bring huge cultural and economic benefits to the UK. These figures show we are making good progress in our ambition to open up world-leading higher education to anyone who has the potential to benefit from it and I’m confident that we can go even further.”
