<p>The marketisation of UK higher education has generated substantial scholarly debate, yet students’ perspectives remain underexplored. This article addresses this gap by drawing on findings from semi-structured interviews with 51 Chinese postgraduate students from 24 British universities and 14 subject areas. The results show that these students are susceptible to their portrayal as ‘cash cows’ in political and media narratives, and many reluctantly accept a transactional relationship with the UK government and their institutions, driven by their desire for the opportunity to study at prestigious universities. While few view marketisation as beneficial, the majority argue it detracts from their academic and personal development. They express frustration with the ‘assembly line’ teaching approach, and their awareness of being commodified leads to feelings of self-doubt and underachievement. Chinese students acknowledge to an extent, some of their consumerist behaviours accelerate marketisation. However, they are critical of being positioned as revenue sources not only because of damage to their self-formation through encouragement of a consumerist mindset, but also because of it negatively impacting the reputation of British higher education. They contend that marketisation might be inevitable but a good balance between academic integrity and income generation should still be achieved. The study contributes to broader debates on the effects of neoliberal policies in higher education, particularly concerning the often-overlooked international student cohort and more marketised postgraduate education, and advocates for reconsidering market-driven practices perceived to compromise student wellbeing and academic outcomes in UK universities.</p>