In a speech this morning, the shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said that the party would consult on ¡°applying different targets and controls to different kinds of immigration so we can help our universities compete in a growing global market¡±.

International students should be ¡°immediately¡± removed from the coalition¡¯s net migration targets, she said.

The government has pledged to reduce net migration to the ¡°tens of thousands¡± by next year, although the latest figures showed a shock rise to 212,000.

Ms Cooper criticised this policy which ¡°treats all legal immigration in the same way ¨C be it university students or low skilled migrant workers, refugees or family members ¨C as something bad for Britain that should be reduced.¡±

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¡°Fee paying international students at our universities ¨C who are in the target ¨C have fallen for the first time for 20 years, cutting the investment they bring into Britain,¡± she said, something that was ¡°deeply damaging to our economy¡±.

¡°We want to see more fee paying university students. Higher education is one of Britain¡¯s biggest exports worth over ?10 billion a year. And business leaders from across the globe were educated at Britain¡¯s universities,¡± she added.

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But Ms Cooper said Labour wanted to see ¡°stronger controls¡± on short-term student visitor visas because these were being ¡°abused¡±.

david.matthews@tsleducation.com