A surge in Polish students partly accounts for an increase in the number of foreign teenagers at British universities, according to figures released yesterday.

The number of Poles studying in Britain leapt between 2006 and last year from 4,325 to 6,770. Poland overtook Spain and Italy in a top ten list of European Union countries with the most students in Britain.

Ireland was highest, with 16,255 students, closely followed by Greece. Germany and France had 14,000 and 13,000 respectively. The greatest increases were for Cyprus, which came fifth and has seen a 21 per cent rise in students to 8,710, and for Poland – sixth on the list.

China provided the greatest number of students to Britain last year, with almost 50,000 – 2 per cent down on the previous year. India showed an increase of 24 per cent and was second only to China, with nearly 24,000 students in Britain.

The number of EU students in Britain rose by 6 per cent, and other countries increased by 7 per cent.

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