Durham University Vice-Chancellor Karen O’Brien has criticised the planned levy on international students, calling it “absolute insanity” and warning that it comes as the higher education sector is already shrinking.
Speaking during a Higher Education Policy Institute webinar, O’Brien was asked what she would ask of a prospective new Government. Her response was direct: “could they please take the international student levy off the table”.
“[The levy is] madness in a sector that is visibly shrinking…and will have reduced capacity to recruit international students,”
The levy is scheduled to begin in August 2028. Under the proposal, English universities would be charged £925 for every international student. The Government has said the money raised would help fund the return of targeted maintenance grants for home students.
Why Durham’s Vice-Chancellor opposes the proposal
The proposed grants would not need to be repaid, unlike maintenance loans, but would be limited to students studying “priority courses”. O’Brien said she and others were “very committed to maintenance grants for home students”, but argued that the levy was not the right way to pay for them.
“there has to be another way to do this”
Her comments came during a wider discussion of a report on the costs and benefits of international students. The report, commissioned by HEPI and Kaplan International Pathways and produced by London Economics, estimated that each international undergraduate has a net economic impact of £100,000.
It put the combined net impact of international undergraduates on the UK economy at £19.8 billion. The figures were cited in the discussion as part of the argument about the contribution international students make beyond individual universities.
Housing, the NHS and Durham’s wider population
O’Brien also called for an “ongoing and mature discussion” between the Government and higher education providers about the effects of international students on local services and communities.
She highlighted housing, the NHS and schools, saying the issues were particularly relevant “in a small city like ours”. She also offered what she described as a personal view on the sector’s efforts to have international students removed from net migration figures.
O’Brien said she was “not sure” that higher education’s “begging” on that issue had been a productive line of argument. She said many students had remained in the UK for longer and had become part of the population.
“a lot of students have come and stayed for longer, they are part of the population”
She argued that the public could distinguish between students and other forms of migration, saying:
“I think it’s more important to recognise that we have a sophisticated UK population who really do understand the difference between students… and other kinds of migration”.
The levy is not due to take effect until August 2028, leaving the policy open to further debate between universities and the Government.
