Sunday 14 August 2022 09:49 AM Four out of 10 UK students are being rejected by elite universities in favour ... trends now

Overseas students are surpassing British teenagers in gaining entry to some of the country's elite universities, leaving many clambering for places when A-level results are announced this week, it has emerged.

For the first time, four in ten UK applicants were turned away from the two most esteemed universities - Oxford and Cambridge.

Higher education experts claim some redbrick institutions are focusing on high fee-paying overseas students from China and India who pay on average £24,000 a year, The Sunday Times reports.

The fee is almost triple that of domestic students. A study of undergraduates in Russell Group universities in England shows that one in four are overseas students.

Mark Corver, former head of data at the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), said: 'This is the toughest competition for UK students to get a degree place, especially at one of our leading universities, for a generation.

'Selective universities have not recruited more UK students because they don't pay as much as overseas students. The gap between UK and international fees is likely to be around £15,000 this year. That's getting on for £50,000 of additional income per student over a three-year course. 

'Unable to increase fees for UK students to cover rising costs, many universities feel forced to dedicate an increasing share of places to overseas students just to keep going.'

Statistics from the London School of Economics show 70 per cent of students are from overseas, while the figure at Edinburgh and King's College London comes in at 40 per cent. Manchester Metropolitan has recently announced its plans to double its number of overseas students.

Elsewhere, concerns continue that many UK students are missing out on

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