SCIENCE & EDUCATION

International students are spurning the UK's most prestigious universities as a re sult of Government immigration curbs, The Independent can reveal.

Some courses at universities in the Russell Group – which represents 24 top institutions, including Oxford and Cambridge – have seen a drop of up to 30 per cent in applications from Indian students.

The impact of strict new visa rules has been compounded by the negative publicity that followed the revoking of London Metropolitan University's (LMU) licence to teach overseas students last month.

The drop in applications for courses starting this month also follows the murder of Indian student Anuj Bidve in Manchester last Christmas. But university leaders said the Government's immigration clampdown was the decisive factor.

Dr Wendy Piatt, director general of the Russell Group, said: "As ministers crack down on abuse of the system, they must be careful about the messages they send to the world's best and brightest students."

Under new visa regulations that came into force in April, students face tougher questions about their destination, limits on their ability to work and harder questions on their English-language capability. The Russell Group says overseas-student numbers must be maintained because educating non-EU citizens is "a major UK export industry" that brings in £2.5bn a year in fees.

The application figures come as Craig Calhoun, the new director of the London School of Economics, spoke of his "concern" about overseas recruitment in an interview with The Independent.

Course: The Independent