Fewer Russian Children Being Sent to British Schools

According to a study by the UK-based 'Good Schools Guide,' in 2015, 3611 Russian schoolchildren attended British schools. Three years later, this figure is down to 2806. The survey data is based on information received from 1,300 educational institutions in the United Kingdom. However, it is worth noting that the study was conducted at the beginning of the year, before the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal followed by the expulsion of Russian diplomats from the country. Therefore, the publication concludes that such statistics were likely affected by the deterioration of relations between Moscow and London against the background of the conflict in Ukraine and Syria.

"The figures indicating a fall can be a short-term deviation which will soon straighten out or refer to the changing tastes of wealthy Russians in the field of education. Time will tell," says Ralph Lucas, Editor-in-Chief of the ‘Good Schools Guide.’

After President Putin sent military aid to Syria to support Bashar Assad, relations between Russia and Britain began to cool, the deterioration peaking around the Skripal scandal, the subsequent expulsion of diplomats and attempts to boycott the 2018 World Cup held in Russia this July.

By Dimitri Dolaberidze