Plans by Conservative ministers to limit international students¡¯ use of the NHS could further deter overseas applicants, the sector has warned.

The move coincides with an analysis published this week, which concludes that overseas students are less of a drain on health and other public resources than the average citizen.

Following the Conservative Party¡¯s third-place finish behind the UK Independence Party in the Eastleigh by-election on 28 February, The Sunday Times reported that immigrants may have to be resident in the UK for up to a year before they are able to access hospital care, excluding emergency and antenatal services.

In a House of Commons debate on 26 February, Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, told Parliament that ¡°we have to ask whether it is appropriate for us to be giving free healthcare to short-term visitors, to students, to people on temporary visas¡±.

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A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said that the NHS ¡°is not there to serve the health needs of the world and we will not tolerate abuse of the system¡±.

Dominic Scott, chief executive of the UK Council for International Student Affairs, said that if access were limited, it would be ¡°yet one more sign that the UK is less welcoming¡± to international students after the visa system was toughened up and the automatic right to work in the country for two years post-graduation was ended.

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Some overseas students did have private health cover as part of wider insurance policies but they were ¡°possibly the minority¡±, he added.

Paul White, pro vice-chancellor for learning and teaching at the University of Sheffield, said that charging international students for health services would be ¡°complex to administer and unlikely to be cost- effective¡±.

¡°The message that the introduction of such charging would convey would be very negative,¡± he added.

The number of student visas issued in the year to the end of December 2012 fell by a fifth compared with the previous year, the Office for National Statistics revealed on 28 February.

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However, the number of visa applications to universities was up 3 per cent.

The Economic Costs and Benefits of International Students, a study by global forecaster Oxford Economics for the University of Sheffield, calculates that overseas students generated a net economic benefit to the city of ?120.3 million, or around ?218 per resident, in 2012-13.

They consume ?6,905 of public services a year (a figure the study says is likely to be overestimated) compared with ?8,388 for an average citizen in the area, says the report, which was launched on 4 March.

International students are less of a burden on services because they are young and therefore use the NHS far less than older people, thus costing less than two-thirds the amount of the average user, the analysis states.

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They are also not allowed to access the majority of state benefits, such as child benefit, severe disablement allowance and council tax benefit, the report adds.

david.matthews@tsleducation.com