In 2023, UK universities spent a total of £500m on education agents – but there is very little oversight of how these agents operate. In the UK, a quarter of total university income is generated by international students, who pay much higher fees than home students. The easiest solution has been to recruit international students, whose fees are not capped. The image many people have of an international student is a rich kid from the globe-trotting elite. “We have a code of ethics for agents,” said Vincenzo Raimo, who has worked in international student recruitment for 25 years.

Source: The Guardian April 07, 2026 05:32 UTC