Foxconn has said it has more than halved the number of student interns working in its factories over the past year, a fortnight after admitting that some had worked overtime and night shifts in violation of company policy at one of its factories in China.

The manufacturer of iPads and PlayStation consoles said that in 2012 an average of 2.7 per cent of its 1.2m employees – or 32,400 students – were interns. The proportion had fallen to an average of less than 1.3 per cent over the 12 months to October, while Foxconn’s overall workforce was stagnant, figures that could not be independently verified by the Financial Times.

Labour activists and some Foxconn customers have called on the world’s largest electronics manufacturer by revenues to monitor more closely the use of student labour on its assembly lines.