内容摘要：Industrial waste is turning into rock in "decades", much faster than the millions of years it is thought to take for it to form naturally, according to research carried out along the Cumbrian coast.

Industrial waste is turning into rock in "decades", much faster than the millions of years it is thought to take for it to form naturally, according to research carried out along the Cumbrian coast.

It fell from 19,000 in 2022/23 to 17,565 last year.Students from India fell from 12,235 to 9,950 and Nigerian students dropped from 9,415 to 5,985.

The number of students from Pakistan increased from 5,075 to 5,540, saw a 27% drop in international students - down from 4,570 to 3,335.The University of Glasgow saw a 15% drop in overseas students, down from 15,200 to 12,935.

The biggest drop was Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen where the number of overseas students almost halved, down to 2,365.However, the University of Edinburgh,

, managed to increase its number of overseas students last year from 16,625 to 17,020.

Scottish students get "free tuition" at Scottish universities which means undergraduates do not have to pay fees for their courses if they can secure one of the limited number of places.Mr Tilling added: "It was quite spooky to see this cruiser emerging. I think it may have affected the [water] flow that end."

In a statement, the crew's coach Alice Leake described how she shouted a warning when she saw the boat drift towards the weir.She tried to rescue the four men but her own boat became submerged and she went down the weir and was knocked unconscious.

Mr Gray said another boat had gone out earlier and did not report any problems.The crew also assessed the water flow and their club's risk assessment was at yellow.