Growth in overseas student numbers should be capped, particularly in areas with accommodation shortages, and England¡¯s international education strategy should be rewritten to target diversification by country and qualification level, according to a new report.

Any further moves to limit universities¡¯ ability to take on more students should be accompanied by increases in teaching grants to compensate for lost income, says the paper from the Social Market Foundation (SMF), a cross-party thinktank, which?highlights how the outgoing government¡¯s policymaking in this area has been ¡°poorly thought out¡±.

Another recommendation included in the research,?Too much of a good thing? International students and the financial stability of English higher education,?published on 24 June, is reforming the country¡¯s visa system so that rising costs can be spread out over time to avoid them becoming a barrier to top international applicants.

The publication comes after the government?decided against scrapping the UK¡¯s graduate visa?after its Migration Advisory Committee?cautioned against the move.

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Despite the respite, the SMF argues in the paper ¨C and a complementary report entitled?Crazy for you ¨C?that public opinion has shifted to a more negative view of international students in part because of the perception that they are taking the places of domestic applicants.

Universities¡¯ advocacy strategy ¡°risks appearing arrogant and remote, dismissive and misrepresenting of others¡¯ concerns¡±, the paper says and ¡°ignoring and wishing away these concerns risks missing a golden opportunity to address them¡±.

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Availability of accommodation is highlighted as a key challenge, as it?has been in Australia and Canada, which are also looking at?limiting international student numbers, and the SMF links its central recommendation to alleviating this strain.

A cap, the paper says, should apply to universities¡¯ visa allocations, which can currently be increased by up to 50 per cent annually.

This should be reduced to 20 per cent, with the limit ¡°reviewed on a periodic basis¡± as a way of stopping expansion from ¡°spiralling out of control¡± without diminishing the UK¡¯s reputation as a study destination, the report says.

¡°Where student housing shortages are identified, the onus should be on universities to demonstrate that their requested student visa allocation increase would not exacerbate the shortage,¡± the paper says, and if the institution fails to demonstrate this then its request should be rejected.

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At the same time, the SMF argues the government should increase the direct funding grant provided to universities to remove the need to cross-subsidise domestic students with international fees.

This grant, currently about ?1,150-per-student, should be restored to 2020-21 levels in real terms and tied to inflation, the report says.

On reforming the international education strategy, the SMF argues that?achieving the target of attracting 600,000 students?to the UK ¡°should not be taken as encouragement to revise it upwards¡±.

Instead, new targets should be introduced around reducing the proportion of universities¡¯ income that comes from one or two countries and encouraging institutions to allocate more of their student visas to undergraduate and research students as opposed to master¡¯s courses, in order to provide a more sustainable source of funding and strengthen the UK¡¯s research pipeline.

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Jonathan Thomas, a senior fellow at the thinktank, said the past year had seen a shift ¡°away from the policy presumption that attracting international students without limit is immune from any trade-offs and tensions¡±.

¡°This shift is a good thing, as it provides the UK with an opportunity to acknowledge and address them, rebuilding slipping public confidence and maintaining public consent to the UK¡¯s continued openness to international students,¡± he added.

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tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com