Industry News
Brighton College head touts benefits of international quotas
Posted on 30th May 2007
The headmaster of Brighton College has explained why he believes that the school's unofficial quota on the number of foreign students has created a "nice balance".
Speaking to the Argus newspaper, Richard Cairns explained that it is "fantastic having an international dimension", although he noted that schools should not necessarily give places to pupils from China because of the huge demand.
This could result in a dominant group of students, when in fact a truly multicultural environment would better serve the interests of schools, he said.
"I like having Chinese, but also having Russians, Germans and so on. We are 92 per cent British. That is a nice balance. It means about one in 12 is from an international background," he remarked.
Mr Cairns concluded by saying that parents have welcomed an increase in nationalities, although they also said they are "glad" that there are unofficial quotas on the number of incoming foreign students.
In many higher education establishments, strict quotas are in place to control the acceptance of pupils from non-EU countries.