62
Accepted
EU students paying international student rates can provide a new and potentially lucrative income stream...
Recommendation
EU students paying international student rates can provide a new and potentially lucrative income stream for Scottish universities, though this new income stream may face the same risks posed to fees from international students. Although applications from EU students have dropped by about 40% for 2021–22 (that year being the first year that EU students will pay the new rates), this is a lower drop than many in the sector had feared, and Scottish universities will now receive four to five times more income per EU student than was previously the case. That said, it is important that, following Brexit, Scotland is still able to attract the brightest and best from the EU. This is not 139 Q81 140 Q140 [Rachel Sandison, University of Glasgow] 141 Q126 [Rebecca Lunn, University of Strathclyde] 142 Q42 143 “Government must act now or risk losing European students for years to come”, Universities UK, 5 October 2020 144 “Government must act now or risk losing European students for years to come”, Universities UK, 5 October 2020 145 “Government must act now or risk losing European students for years to come”, Universities UK, 5 October 2020 146 Q207 Universities and Scotland 27 only because EU students tend to gravitate towards vital STEM subjects (which can otherwise be difficult to recruit for), but also because EU students are more likely to stay on in Scottish academia/research once they graduate than other international students. These students can play a key role in our economic recovery following the pandemic. The UK Government should launch a new or expanded scholarship scheme to encourage the most talented EU students to study in the UK and Scotland. This would help heal UK-EU divides following Brexit, assist in combating falling EU student numbers in Scotland and provide a new pathway to attract and retain the brightest and best from the EU. In addition, the UK Government should increase funding to Study UK in order to increase their capacity to target EU students wh
Government Response Summary
The government stated its International Education Strategy aims to increase international students, a target already met, and highlighted existing global scholarship programmes (Chevening, Commonwealth, Marshall) available to students, rather than committing to a new or expanded scheme specifically for EU students or increased funding for Study UK to target them.
Government Response
Accepted
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
In February 2021, the UK Government published an update to the International Education Strategy, recommitting to the ambitions of the original strategy. These ambitions are to sustainably increase international students in the UK to 600,000 per year, and increase the value of education exports to £35 billion per year, both by 2030. This update set out a number of new actions aimed at supporting the sector’s path from pandemic recovery, back to sustainable growth. We are making good progress against the ambitions. International enrolments increased by 9% in the 2020 to 2021 academic year, with a total of 605,130 compared with 556,625 for the previous academic year. With this we have now met the Government’s ambition for the first time of hosting at least 600,000 international students per year by 2030. A world-class student experience is essential to the UK’s globally competitive offer. That’s why the strategy sets out several actions to support each stage of the international student experience. This includes working with the sector to ensure a simple, streamlined application process, and work looking at alternative student finance, student experience and employability. Our International Education Strategy makes clear that Europe remains an important regional market for international student recruitment. In the 2020 to 2021 academic year there were 152, 905 higher education enrolments from the European Union studying in UK HE providers. These students make a valuable contribution to university life in the UK. We will continue to welcome European students to the UK and to promote the world-class UK education offer to prospective European students and ensure that they have a positive experience. Representatives from the devolved nations are represented on the Education Sector Advisory Group. This group is co-chaired by the Minister for Skills, Alex Burghart, and the Minister for Exports, Mike Freer, and coordinates efforts to boost UK education exports. The UK International Education Champion also meets regularly with officials from the devolved administrations. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) also provides £86m to fund scholarships for students from developing countries to study for post graduate degrees at British universities throughout the UK, including Scottish universities, through two scholarship programmes: Chevening, which is open to applicants from 160 countries, and has awarded over 1500 scholarships this year; and Commonwealth scholarships, which are awarded to around 700 candidates from Commonwealth countries each year. In addition, the Marshall Scholarship programme, established by an Act of Parliament in 1953, provides scholarships to talented young Americans to study for Masters’ degrees at any British University. There is regular collaboration between the British Council Study UK Team and relevant stakeholders in Scotland to ensure that the campaign provides the correct information on the different structures and support in place for international students in Scotland. In addition, the campaign is delivered with direct input from Scottish Universities to ensure that it represents the breadth of the offer available to international students in Scotland as appropriate.
Source
Committee
Scottish Affairs Committee
Inquiry
Universities and Scotland
Report
First Report - Universities and Scotland
28 May 2021
HC 54
Addressee Bodies
Scotland Office
Timeline
Recommendation age
5.2 yrs
Report published
28 May 2021