They made up 37 percent of engineering and technology students admitted in 2022, up from 29 percent three years earlier.
The proportion studying physical sciences, which include physics and chemistry, increased from 16% to 22% during the same period.
Nick Hillman, director of the Institute for Higher Education Policy, said: “There appears to be evidence of displacement of UK students by international students at some universities and it will add up to a large number of places.
“It matters because the number of 18-year-olds is growing, some people are undecided on private colleges, and it’s going to be it costs them more to enter.”
There have also been large increases in the share of international students in recent years in education and teaching, with the share of international students rising from 35% in 2019 to 56% in 2022. In media and communications, their participation has increased from 29 percent to 42 percent.
Dr Mark Corver, former director of research at Ucas and managing director of dataHE, said: “High inflation has reduced the value of the UK fee cap to just £6,000 in 2012 money, below the cost of tuition for many.
“Universities that can attract international students will be willing toregardless of what they want to study.
“But the increasingly dire economics of teaching UK students will inevitably lead universities to favor the provision of low-cost classrooms over subjects that need infrastructure or expensive specialist staff, particularly for UK students. ”.