Middle East applications to study in UK rise

The number of undergraduates applying to Britain from oil-rich Middle Eastern countries has doubled in only three years, according to Financial Times research.

Increasing numbers of the region’s future elites have been attracted by the international reputation of UK higher education.

Numbers have risen every year since 2001 in spite of big fluctuations in the oil price. Over the past decade, the figure has leapt fivefold.