A History Of Foreign Students In Britain

Foreign students have travelled to Britain for centuries and, from the beginning, attracted controversy. They contributed to the schools and universities they attended but repeatedly met with suspicion and sometimes scorn. Students from France were seen as a threat in the Middle Ages; in the early 20th century the future leaders of India were viewed as disloyal; and in their turn the future leaders of Africa were watched for fear of their possible communist sympathies.

In a ground-breaking analysis, this book explores who came to Britain and why, who paid for them, and what it cost them to do so. Examining how policy was made and practices changed, it compares the British experience with that of other host countries from France to the United States and the Soviet Union.

It shows how students reacted to living and studying in Britain and how their presence shaped British institutions. While focusing primarily on universities, it also looks at children in schools, at the cadets who went to Sandhurst, and at the trainee nurses recruited from around the world who propped up the health services as they worked for their qualifications.