THE Bishop of Winchester has called on the Government to take action to stop the fall in the number of international students at UK universities.

The Right Reverend Tim Dakin said in a speech that the drop in enrolments is “not in the interest of the British people”.

He highlighted the contribution made by international students to British academic institutions in a House of Lords debate on immigration policy.

It comes after new figures released by admissions body UCAS showed that the numbers of EU students applying for the most competitive UK university courses have dropped sharply.

In October following the Brexit vote, Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced major new restrictions on overseas students which included two-tier visa rules and a crackdown on work visas, she also linked their rights to the quality of their courses.

According to Paul Blomfield, co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on international students, they bring £8bn a year to the UK economy.

Tim Dakin, a governor at the University of Winchester, urged the Government to take action to ensure that international students could continue to study in the UK, saying that this was essential to preserve British universities as “true centres of wisdom and learning.”

The Bishop said:“The value of studying abroad is unquestionable.

"How would scholarship look today if St. Augustine had been unable to complete his studies due to visa complications?

"Would we have heard of Thomas Aquinas if he had been turned back at the French border?

"And would “the world is everything that is the case” still be the case if Ludwig Wittgenstein was asked to produce a study permit on arriving in Britain?

“Perhaps it is natural for me, a Bishop in the Church of England, and a member of a global community of faith, for these figures to come to mind.

“The point I wish especially to make though, is that in a modern world, where talk of globalisation and internationalism is constant, our universities should be at the centre of co-operation between nations, whether that be through scientific, artistic, intellectual or cultural endeavours, all of which help us to develop our understanding of the world around us and of our shared humanity.”