Durham VC says international student levy “absolute insanity”

By Hugh Ludford

Durham’s Vice-Chancellor, Karen O’Brien, has criticised the incoming levy on international students studying in the UK as “absolute insanity”.

Asked on a Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) webinar what her one ask of a prospective new Government would be, O’Brien said “could they please take the international student levy off the table”. 

“[The levy is] madness in a sector that is visibly shrinking…and will have reduced capacity to recruit international students,” continued the Vice-Chancellor.

“[The levy is] madness in a sector that is visibly shrinking…and will have reduced capacity to recruit international students,”

Vice-CHancellor, Karen O’brien

The levy, set to begin in August 2028, would charge English Universities £925 per international student. 

In 2024/25, 32% of Durham students came from overseas, with the University aiming for 36% for the 2026/27 academic year. The University’s Financial report for the year ending July 2025 cites “ongoing volatility in international student recruitment” across the sector, and has considered “UK or foreign government policy changes” as a factor affecting international student recruitment within its financial planning.

The Government had said that funds raised from the levy would go towards the reintroduction of targeted maintenance grants for home students. 

Unlike maintenance loans, these would not need to be paid back but would only be available to students on “priority courses”.

O’Brien said that while she and others are “very committed to maintenance grants for home students” but that “there has to be another way to do this” rather than funding it through the levy.

More widely, the discussion focused on a report into the costs and benefits of international students by London Economics commissioned by HEPI and Kaplan International Pathways.

This report estimated the net economic impact per international undergraduate to be £100,000, with an aggregate net impact of £19.8bn brought into the UK economy by international undergraduates.

In other parts of the discussion, O’Brien advocated for an “ongoing and mature discussion” between government and higher education providers, and being honest about the impact of students on housing,“particularly in a small city like ours”; the NHS; and schools.

She also said that as a “personal view” she is “not sure” that what she characterised as the Higher Education sector’s “begging” for international students to be removed from net migration figures has been “a productive line of argument”.

O’Brien said that “a lot of students have come and stayed for longer, they are part of the population”. 

O’Brien said that “a lot of students have come and stayed for longer, they are part of the population”

“I think it’s more important to recognise that we have a sophisticated UK population who really do understand the difference between students… and other kinds of migration”.

Image: Rose Stacy / Palatinate