Next government ‘should axe international student levy’, says v-c

The vice-chancellor of Durham University has branded the incoming international student levy “absolute insanity” as universities plan to lobby the next prime minister to overturn the controversial tax. 

Karen O’Brien, who has led the university since 2022, said if she had to ask for one thing from a refreshed government, it would be to take the policy “off the table”.

She is the latest to weigh in as the sector asks the likely next prime minister Andy Burnham to consider scrapping the levy.

It is currently planned to come into force from August 2028 and will see universities charged £925 for each overseas student they enrol.

The government has said funds raised by the levy will go towards the reintroduction of maintenance grants for domestic students who “need them most”.

Speaking as part of a panel organised by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) on 9 July, O’Brien and her fellow speakers were asked for “one tweak” they would like to see from a new cohort of ministers.

“Could they please take the international student levy off the table?” she said. “It's madness in a sector that is visibly shrinking in front of our eyes and will have reduced capacity to recruit international students.”

O’Brien added: “We are all very committed to maintenance grants for home students. There has to be another way to do this… This levy is absolute insanity.”

In a discussion exploring the economic benefits of students from abroad – responding to estimates that a decline in numbers coming to the UK has cost the country nearly £3 billion – O’Brien also suggested transnational education (TNE) was no substitute.

Many universities are exploring TNE activity – education programmes delivered outside the UK – to make up for declining international student enrolment at home. 

The government recently reported a 17.1 per cent increase in TNE revenues, but the vast bulk of this (83.6 per cent) relates to growth in schools and early years provision, rather than university activity.

“All of us in the higher education sector are going on these transnational education adventures,” O’Brien said. “We've just started a new joint educational institute in China, and many universities have announced new campuses in India.

“These are good things to be doing, but they are risky and the financial returns are very unlikely, in my view, to be anywhere near what we see from the impact of students coming to the UK.”

The government’s international education champion, Steve Smith, also offered his thoughts on the “TNE push”, saying it was “what other governments are talking to us about”.

“I've done over 500 engagements with other governments, and what they say to us is, ‘we'd like UK quality, but we'd like it at a price point that makes it a more inclusive activity’.”

Smith said the government expected TNE activity to “grow enormously in the next few years”, but acknowledged the returns on overseas campuses for universities in the UK were “a lot lower” than enrolling international students at home.

However, with the “migration issue… causing such a lot of concern”, Smith suggested TNE could become an increasing area of focus for universities.

The pair were also joined by Linda Cowan, managing director of Kaplan International Pathways, which helps international applicants looking to study abroad.

Cowan urged the government to “keep repeatedly saying that we welcome international students”.

georgia.luckhurst@timeshighereducation.com