Origianlly published on February 10th, 2009

It has emerged that one in five UK degrees are awarded to international students, as the prestige of British universities continues to lure the overseas market.

According to a report by the Higher Education Statistics Agency, the number of foreign students from EU countries grew 6%, while the figure for those from countries outside the EU rose by 6%.

Diana Warwick of Universities UK said of the figures: “It is a mark of the quality of our system that we attract international students.  It is a privilege and a responsibility that we take seriously for the UK to be able to educate people from overseas. We hope many will be 'friends of the UK' in the future.”

Over one quarter of students at the University of Edinburgh come from abroad, yet compared to other leading UK institutions, Edinburgh remains comparatively oriented toward British students.

In a list of the top 20 ‘most attractive’ UK institutions for international students, Edinburgh comes 18th, trailing far behind the leader, Manchester University.