Gawdham Melath, an Indian undergraduate at Anglia Ruskin University, came to the UK full of optimism about a British education. But he quickly became disillusioned by the steep fees and cost of living.
For Melath, who now campaigns against the exploitation of international students, the problem is some unregulated agencies that sell foreign students a rose-tinted version of life in the UK. Agents say, "You will easily find a job. When you work 20 hours you will get this much money. This much you can save. This much you can pay for rent," he adds. "But when they arrive here, everything is entirely different."
Universities in the UK and elsewhere have come to rely on international students like Melath, who pay around three times as much as their domestic counterparts to study the same courses.
In Britain, fees from foreign students generate about a quarter of total university income. It is a similar story in Australia, where the A$51bn ($34bn) international education sector is now more valuable than its gold exports.
The demand, both from overseas students and the universities eager to enrol them, has fuelled a booming secondary economy, where universities pay agents commission fees to recruit students like Melath from global destinations, particularly in Asia and Africa.
These agents operate on behalf of universities in a range of countries. In 2024, 75 per cent of US universities used commission-based agents, up from 37 per cent in 2016, according to the Association of International Enrollment Management. Agents can earn commission equal to between 10 and 30 per cent of each student's first year of tuition fees.
But a global tightening of international student rules amid an immigration backlash has brought fresh scrutiny of unregulated agents, who critics say are selling lofty promises that can push students into heavy debt.
Melath believes some agents "only show the good part" and play down the financial challenges of studying abroad. As a result, many students are forced to overwork to meet repayments. In some cases, students have lost their places after their attendance fell below standards. "They are focusing on work rather than coming to class," says Melath.
The contribution of these students to the bottom lines of cash-strapped universities has also incentivised some higher education providers to enter into franchising partnerships to attract more of them. This "creates risks for students and taxpayers", British MPs have warned, opening the door to fraud and abuse of the student loan system.
Agents "may not make it clear what students get for their money", the UK parliament's House of Commons public accounts committee has said, while "there are incentives to recruit numbers rather than ensuring students enrol on the most suitable courses".
The British government is toughening its approach to student migration, most recently by texting tens of thousands of foreign students, warning them not to outstay their visas.
With universities now required to register for a code of conduct governing agents, the lucrative system that has built up around overseas students may be about to unravel.
The consequences for Britain's university sector -- and its attractiveness as a global education destination, already hit by waning demand -- may be profound.
Mandating these new measures "is one of the clearest signals yet that international student recruitment in the UK is entering a new era", says Vincenzo Raimo, a veteran higher education consultant.
But, he warns, "if British universities treat the new measures as a box-ticking exercise rather than a chance to rethink how they recruit the UK risks undermining both its reputation and attractiveness to international students at exactly the moment global competition is intensifying."
Student migration to Britain peaked in 2022, with 484,000 sponsored study visas issued -- double the number in 2018. The bulk of growth was driven by countries outside the EU.
The introduction of the Graduate Route visa in 2021, which offered foreign graduates two years to work in Britain, pushed numbers higher. In 2023-24, 732,285 students, or 23 per cent of the total student population, were from overseas.
The surge has been a much-needed source of revenue for British universities. Unlike international fees, which have risen freely, domestic tuition was capped at £9,250 a year from 2017 until it was raised to £9,535 this autumn.
Competition for overseas students has been fierce, fuelling an increase in the number of agents. Today, such agencies collectively refer two-thirds of foreign students to UK institutions, according to Enroly, a platform that supports universities in recruiting abroad.
As a result, they have significant influence. Some universities have sent academics overseas not just to woo students but also to court the in-country agents who have the power to nudge applicants towards their rivals. One lecturer at Queen Mary University of London says he has visited Istanbul twice on "conversion trips".
By day, he pitched Queen Mary to Turkish students, some of whom had come from families who remortgaged their homes to pay for tuition. At night, he wined and dined agents. "It's weird -- we pay agents to get our students from abroad, but we also have to keep them sweet," says the academic, who requested anonymity in order to speak freely.
But some academics worry that the focus on foreign students is going too far. At Queen Mary, some lecturers say the university is prioritising recruitment over support for existing students.
"Money isn't going to the actual work of research and education," says Liesbeth Corens, a history lecturer at Queen Mary, but towards surplus reserves that help the university maintain its estates and act as a buffer against sector volatility.
Corens criticises the university's hiring of three new international student recruitment staff while it is implementing voluntary severance schemes and departmental mergers, forcing staff to teach bigger classes with slimmed-down budgets. Queen Mary did not respond to request for comment by the time of publication.
Those without the brand prestige of Queen Mary, part of the UK's high-ranking Russell Group universities, must rely on marketing strategies and courses to win students, says Joshua Brown, an education professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. "And if those enrolments don't hit, they're in trouble."
Coventry University, for example, where tuition fees account for 80 per cent of income compared to Queen Mary's 55 per cent, has spent lavishly on agents. In 2022-23, when Coventry had 396 agency partnerships, it spent £55mn -- 12 per cent of its expenditure -- on paying commission. In the following year, agent commission totalled £45mn.
"It must spend to feed the beast," says John Connolly, whose company feezy.io digitises universities' agent contracts. "When an agent says we'd like 3 per cent more [in commission], it really takes a brave member of staff to say no and risk losing the agent." Coventry says this is a sector issue and declined to comment further.
The risks of the system fall on those who can least afford them. Some students have felt misled by agents pushing unrealistic assurances about job and immigration prospects.
Awesome Olasope, outgoing student union president of London Metropolitan university, which has one of the highest dropout rates of UK universities, says some agents see their work as "a quick moneymaking scheme".
"They may not give entirely accurate information and say it's going to be fine . . . you will figure it out," he adds. The university says it works with "trusted agents" and employs "robust checks to ensure compliance with immigration rules".
Brent Morris, managing director at agent Sable International Study Abroad, argues agents invest many months in supporting clients and ensuring they fit their course, because agents are only paid once the student has successfully enrolled. A single dropout costs "hundreds of pounds per student in adviser time, processing, marketing and events".
The UK's new code of conduct regarding agents -- the Agent Quality Framework -- is intended to clean up the system. But critics warn it will be challenging to police the biggest players -- especially as many now use intermediaries known as "agent aggregators" to find students, making oversight even harder.
Since launching in 2023, the AQF does not seem to have improved accountability and visibility of these contractors, Connolly says. "Universities' stretched teams lack the capability to implement it properly."
In June, the UK introduced a space to name the agent on the official confirmation form that students need to enter the country -- but it is voluntary.
Jamie Arrowsmith, director of Universities UK International, says the changes could be "really powerful if properly implemented" by enabling universities to monitor the outcomes of agent-recruited students. But the AQF is only a "developmental framework," he adds. "It's not yet embedded in regulation, and it isn't a magic bullet."
Meanwhile, the UK's tighter enforcement on visa approvals and other laws will "stop bad actors gaming the system once and for all", the Department for Education says.
Some universities rely on other ways to boost intake without adding pressure on their own facilities or staff. This includes franchising their degrees to private providers at home and abroad.
What began in the 1990s as a niche option for universities struggling to fill quotas has became a popular revenue-raiser in the sector, with 110 universities and colleges using it in 2022-23, according to the Office for Students, England's higher education watchdog.
The franchisee teaches the course while the lead institution, which awards the degree, retains between 12.5 and 30 per cent of the student's tuition fee, according to the Comptroller and Auditor General.
The number of students enrolling on franchised courses more than doubled to over 130,000 in 2024-25 compared with 2018-2019, according to official figures. Analysis from 2022-23 by the OfS shows 55 per cent of students on franchised courses have either zero or unknown qualifications.
A former student recruitment consultant at franchised providers, who asked to remain anonymous as they work for higher education institutions, says franchisees face minimal scrutiny: "You get students enrolled on courses, often not passing degrees, but they keep taking the money from the student loan book."
At Buckinghamshire New University, the age of franchise-fuelled growth is over. At its peak in 2023-24, it had 14,500 franchised students -- the most of any UK university -- compared with 6,400 enrolled on its main campus.
Vice-chancellor Damien Page, who started the role in February, says this was "massively out of proportion" and plans to cut franchised provision by 85 per cent by 2028-29, reducing total income by £20mn. "If you've got a £20mn risk, and our net income is about £100mn, you're talking about a significant proportion."
The National Audit Office's investigation into student finance at franchised providers last year found "there is insufficient evidence that students are attending their courses" -- which in theory determines access to loans -- with some providers using "agents or cash bonuses to persuade students to sign up to courses". It called for the sector to investigate anomalies "as a matter of urgency".
Page argues franchising -- where students are disproportionately from poorer backgrounds -- has been oversold as a means for widening participation. In reality, he says, it often leaves students behind, with outcomes "taking down our overall metrics".
Staff were never comfortable with the franchise-heavy model, he says. "Voices were raised about their concerns, the things they saw and practices that didn't align with our values, but they weren't listened to," he adds. "Now we live or die by our own work. We're not going to be reliant on other organisations. I would advise any other university with large franchise numbers to do the same." Buckinghamshire cut ties earlier this year with five of its former private franchise partners.
Even so, other universities are continuing to explore franchise models. For Queen Mary's new "International Year One" in business and management, for example, it will outsource the teaching and recruitment for the programme to Kaplan International College, a for-profit group offering pathway courses into higher education.
Taught at Kaplan's centre in London Bridge, the one-year course will enable foreign students to move straight on to the second year of Queen Mary's business management undergraduate degree. Kaplan's tuition fee is about £9,000 cheaper and requires lower entry grades and English language qualifications.
Queen Mary academics fear the Kaplan pathway, billed as the only one of its kind leading to a London Russell Group university, will not improve the academic preparedness of students.
In some classes at Queen Mary, international students are in the majority, meaning academics have had to adapt, says the lecturer who asked not to be named. Teaching certain classes with limited English language skills is "demoralising", he adds. Queen Mary accounting lecturer Chandres Tejura said he was "flabbergasted" when he experienced one student live-translating with their phone.
The future of international student recruitment could hinge on whether the UK can tighten compliance without undermining its attractiveness. Foreign students are a hugely valuable group not only for universities, but also to British employers who could benefit from young, international talent plugging skills gaps.
Pressure to reduce migration has already prompted the government to place limits on overseas students. In 2024, the then Conservative government banned international students from bringing family members with them. Then the Labour government announced plans in May to reduce the length of a Graduate Route visa from two years to 18 months.
Naz Panju, a UK-based agent, warns clampdowns on international intake may have cut net migration figures, but the government has only "taken the golden goose and killed it".
Charlie Ball, head of labour market intelligence at Jisc, a non-profit providing digital infrastructure in higher education, says: "We should be proud of being the destination of choice for so many of the globe's young high achievers and we ought to be thinking of ways to keep them." The gross export value of higher education from international students is £20.1bn a year, according to think-tank Public First.
The volatility of foreign student markets could push universities to strategise more on appealing to home students. International student fees look handsome on paper, but shrink significantly once generous scholarships and hefty agent commissions are stripped out.
Despite worries over the role of agents, a global survey of university leaders by Navitas and Nous Group shows 24 per cent will increase investment in agent commissions and incentives, but down from 30 per cent in 2022.
Margins will keep depleting, says Connolly. As student flows and fees become increasingly volatile, universities "will need to be able to say we tried everything", he adds. "It means more vice-chancellors and senior people shaking hands with agents."
Yet for some students, the investment is no longer worth it. Puneeth Gowda, an Indian national, had to work evening shifts to cover his £16,500 tuition loan for a masters degree in motorsports engineering at Oxford Brookes.
Although he has since secured a job in the UK, he says most of his course mates have not. For students from poorer Asian backgrounds, "[Coming to the UK] is a waste of money", he warns. "If you don't get the right kind of work, it's better to give up the dream."