RISHI Sunak's plans to crackdown on the number of foreign students coming to the UK could be a "major threat" to universities and lead to a "collapse" in research and innovation, politicians and academics have warned.

Universities Scotland said it could be a "double whammy" for the 19 higher education institutions north of the border as they are "reliant on income from international students to subsidise the cost of teaching Scottish students due to underfunding from the Scottish Government."

The possible limit on numbers from No 10 is in response to figures published earlier this week by the Office for National Statistics which revealed that net migration to the UK had climbed to 504,000, up sharply from 173,000 in the previous year.

The spike was partly fuelled by international students coming to universities after the lifting of travel restrictions in place during the pandemic. 

The ONS said there were 476,000 students in the year to September, a 76 per cent increase on 2019. 

One proposal being mulled by the Prime Minister is only to allow students attending an “elite” institution to enter the country. 

Another measure could see a ban on students bringing family members.

Last year, 116,000 dependants entered the UK.

While India sent the most students, with 127,530, Nigerians brought in the most dependants, with 50,631 bringing 51,637 dependants.

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has previously complained about foreign students "bringing in family members who can piggyback onto their student visa."

Alastair Sim, the Director of Universities Scotland told The Herald: “Any attempts to cut international student numbers at Scottish universities would be damaging to universities and the Scottish economy.

"Every year more than 65,000 students from more than 180 countries study in Scotland. This diversity brings significant advantages to both our students and the wider university community as well as generating a £1.94bn net contribution to the Scottish economy.

“80% of recently surveyed international graduates said they intend to build professional links with organisations in the UK and 74% indicated that they are more likely to do business with Scotland as a result of studying here.

"Why would we want to reduce these opportunities?

“Additionally, Scottish universities face a double whammy: we are reliant on income from international students to subsidise the cost of teaching Scottish students due to underfunding from the Scottish Government.

"Any move to restrict international students should be resisted by universities, the business community and wider society.”

SNP Shadow Home Secretary Stuart McDonald said the “absurd ban” would “deal another hammer blow to Scotland's economic interests.”

"If Westminster imposes this ludicrous and entirely counterproductive policy - it will be doing so against Scotland's wishes and in the face of strong opposition from the Scottish Government. 

"International students bring huge benefits to Scottish society, our education system and economy. Yet again, the losers from this Tory policy would be communities across the length and breadth of Scotland.”

Lib Dem MSP Willie Rennie said limiting the number of students would be a “major threat to universities, especially in Scotland where we are particularly reliant on income from their tuition fees.” 

“We should be celebrating that we can attract so many, rather than treating them as a problem,” he added.

Professor Anton Muscatelli, the Principal of Glasgow University said it would "cause the collapse of our research and innovation system thus abandoning any prospects of any growth agenda succeeding."

"It’s remarkable that this interdependence is so poorly understood within some policy circles," he added.