Overseas students in UK: Romanian students ‘most likely to work’

European Union students living in England and Wales are much more likely to be employed than those from outside the EU, figures suggest, with rates highest among those from Eastern Europe.

Findings from the last census show there were 373,600 non-UK-born, non-UK passport-holding international students in England and Wales on 21 March 2021.

A third of them were employed at that time – compared with approximately a quarter of people aged 18 years and over in full-time education – but this rate varied significantly depending on where they came from.

Almost half (47 per cent) of EU-born international students were employed, while just a quarter of their peers born outside the EU were.

This is probably because almost all those from the EU would have arrived under flexible free movement rules and faced no restrictions on their working hours, Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, told Times Higher Education.

She said EU citizens in general have high employment rates in the UK, so it is logical that Eastern European students were the most likely to have jobs.

About three-quarters of Romanian students had jobs at the time of the census – the highest rate of all 101 countries recorded.

Those from Bulgaria (63 per cent), Poland (57 per cent) and Lithuania (56 per cent) also had high rates of employment.

Indian nationals, who represent the UK’s largest international student population, had an employment rate similar to the overall average, while 43 per cent of Nigerian students, then the fourth largest contributor, were employed.

By contrast, just 5 per cent of students from China were economically active at the time – the third lowest rate of all.

Student employment rates are important because they affect the composition of the labour market after the end of free movement, said Ms Sumption.

She said the hospitality sector saw a large drop in workers from the EU as a result, but the census data reveals that the industry is one of the largest international student employers.

“This indicates that international students who work could well be one part of the explanation for the surprising increase in non-EU citizen employment over the past two years – alongside others such as Ukrainians and people from Hong Kong,” she added.

The East of England (41 per cent), London (37 per cent) and the West Midlands (35 per cent) were the regions with the largest proportions of international students in employment.

Ms Sumption said regional differences are probably just a function of where different nationalities tend to live, with migration patterns always varying because of factors such as social networks.

A third of the international student population were recorded in the census as living in London, compared with just a fifth of adults in full-time education.

Diana Beech, chief executive at London Higher, said the capital city’s global “pulling power” is strong and acts as a magnet for talent from across the world.

“The cultural diversity of London’s population together with the high concentration of higher education institutions in the region makes the UK capital particularly attractive to students from a wide range of countries,” she added.

“This brings benefits to the nation as a whole, as the capital is often a gateway to future careers and opportunities right across the UK.”

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com