Fifth of UK universities’ income comes from overseas students, figures show

Guardian analysis highlights how dependent sector has become on countries such as China and India

One in every five pounds received by UK universities last year came from international students, according to Guardian analysis that reveals the scale of the sector's growing dependence on overseas tuition fees for financial survival.

With the annual dash to allocate university places for the next academic year about to begin, there are fears UK students could lose out to their overseas counterparts, whose higher fees have become critical to university budgets.