Have you ever wondered how many Foreign students there are in London and in the UK – visitors here learning English or studying degree courses? It is not widely known just how big and significant this business is for the UK. From students choosing to come to London and to UIC we are clear that most students in the world would prefer to come to the UK to study.

A recently announced government review has discovered that in universities alone international student fee income provided £1.87 billion (8 per cent) of the total income of £23.4 billion for the sector in 2007/08. Fees is obviously just one part of this – the International students also provide a significant economic contribution to the communities in which they live, in 2007/08 it was estimated that the total off-campus expenditure of international students was £2.3 billion! The knock-on employment generated through international students being in UK Higher Education is estimated to be equivalent to 27,868 full time jobs in the UK.

Language Schools like UIC in London are part of a separately huge industry which teaches around 600,000 students a year – in the UK to learn English. These students contribute some £1.5 billion in foreign earnings to the UK economy.  The PM has acknowledged this is a leading export industry whose expansion is key to Britain’s future. It is one of the success stories of the economy at present: from 2005-8 the English language sector has seen compound growth of around 30% !

The Mayor of London – Boris Johnson – has also recognised this contribution to the life of the capital saying “London’s overseas students make a fantastic and valuable contribution to the diversity and vibrancy of life in our great city not to mention the support they give to our economy. There’s really no better choice with so many study options and a great social and leisure scene to enjoy. London is one of the few places where you can establish a global network of friends and colleagues and we are investing heavily in huge projects like the 2012 Games to make it even greater city to live and work in over the coming decades”(London DailyNews)

Schools, teachers, host families, hostels and residences, shops, transport … all these benefit hugely from this most successful of UK export businesses.