Higher Education: Finance
(asked on 3rd March 2026) - View Source
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much and what proportion of university fee income is derived from international students in each of the last five years.
The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is responsible for collecting and publishing data on the UK higher education (HE) sector. These data are shared with the department and includes a wide range of information on UK higher education providers (HEPs), including the income they receive through tuition fees.
Between 2019/20 and 2023/24, the proportion of HE tuition fee income that is attributed to international students in UK HE has steadily increased from 39% in 2019/20 to 47% in 2023/24.
The below table shows international tuition fee income as a proportion of total tuition fee income for UK HEPs:
Academic year | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
International tuition fee income as a proportion of total tuition fee income (sector) | 39% (£8.2 billion) | 39% (£8.8 billion) | 43% (£10.4 billion) | 46% (£12.1 billion) | 47% (£12.7 billion) |
HESA university finance data returns for the 2024/25 academic year are not complete therefore have not been included.