Balancing act

By the same token, the contribution of overseas students should not be overlooked. In a city such as Sheffield, for instance, it is estimated to be worth around £120m a year. In addition to this, a number of foreign students go on to find employment here when they graduate, plugging recognised gaps in the workforce in terms of both skills and talent.

Yet it is the universities themselves that stand to be the biggest losers if there is a sharp drop in the number of those coming here from abroad to study. Leeds University, for example, nets a minimum in some subjects of £16,200 per student for each year they are here. It is understandable, therefore, that higher education institutions are concerned by the stricter controls placed on overseas students in a bid to tackle the problem of bogus students who simply use it as a means to enter Britain and remain here illegally.

Indeed, Leeds University’s vice-chancellor Michael Arthur has written to Theresa May asking the Home Secretary to reconsider the decision to include international students from the targets that the Government has set in terms of reducing net immigration.

As David Cameron takes a tougher stance on immigration, it is vital that the correct balance is struck between clamping down on illegal entrants and encouraging those who bring with them the promise of adding real benefit to our region to still come here to study. Getting it right will be no easy task. But it is important to the health of our local economies – and the long-term future of our universities – that we do.