Soaring numbers of Indian students are coming to Britain to study at university, attracted by cultural and historic ties between the two nations and heavily targeted marketing campaigns orchestrated by British institutions, figures show.

British universities attracted 19,205 new students from India in 2005-06. This represents a 15.1 per cent rise on the previous year and follows a 14 per cent rise in 2004-05. India is now second only to China in the number of overseas students it provides to Britain, according to the figures from Higher Education Statistics Agency.

At the same time recruitment of students from China suffered a downturn, falling by 3.7 per cent last year to 50,775. This follows sharp rises in previous years, which saw the number of Chinese students rise from 12,000 in 2000-01 to 55,000 in 2004-05.

Overall, the number of overseas students at British universities rose by 3.7 per cent to 330,080. They now account for more than nearly one in eight students.

The growth comes after several years of intensive international recruitment by British universities, which has been helped by extraordinary demand for graduate education from the booming economies of India, China and countries in SouthEast Asia, where the local university systems are unable to keep pace with demand.

The growth of students from India also reflects a concerted effort by the British government, backed personally by Tony Blair, to build up educational and research ties between the two economies.

Last year Universities UK, an umbrella group for vice-chancellors, led a delegation to India to help set up an Anglo-India Education and Research Initiative. Gordon Brown also discussed the initiative during his recent three-day visit to India.

Haydn Bartlett, director of the international office at Bradford University, where the number of Indian students has tripled to 130 in the past year, said that aggressive marketing had also paid off.

“We visit India five or six times a year to recruit students, who bring in about £1.5 million a year to the university,” he said.

Foreign students from countries outside the EU contribute more than £10 billion to the British economy each year. NonEU students have to pay full course fees and are a crucial source of income for universities.

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