Select committee: Scottish Affairs Committee
Conclusion 46
First Report - Universities and Scotland
Published 28 May 2021
Addressed to Scotland Office
Scottish Affairs Committee Universities and Scotland All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
Rt Hon Alister Jack MP, Secretary of State for Scotland, also recognised the reliance of Scottish universities on international students: Scotland’s education sector should, in the first instance, exist to support Scottish and [rest of the UK] domiciled students and the long-term contribution that they will make to economic growth. The sector still has much to do on widening access, yet is effectively selling places on the international market in order to sustain itself. International participation will always be welcome, however we need to get the balance right. For example, we need to be sure that when budgets are tight, capacity that could be used to address issues such as widening access in order to support ‘levelling up’ is not offered instead to the highest international bidder.111 Impact of the covid-19 pandemic on international student numbers
From: Scottish Affairs Committee, First Report - Universities and Scotland (HC 54), 28 May 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 27 April 2022 (deadline 28 July 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government's response sets out continued work with the devolved administrations and existing UK-wide policies on international students, immigration, research funding and talent, and states it will submit a response to the earlier Immigration and Scotland report "shortly".
- On the Turing Scheme, it confirmed funding for three years, including "£110 million for the 2022/23 Academic Year". It states the scheme "prioritises pupils, students and learners over staff and inward mobility funding", and says the first year's impact will be evaluated.
- On Erasmus+, it states that President Von Der Leyen "has previously confirmed that association by part of a country is not legally possible".
- On UKRI, it states that Board appointees "are not recruited to represent any constituency, sector or regional grouping", while a legal requirement to have regard to research conditions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is taken into account. It says Research England's place on the Executive Committee reflects its status as a legal component of UKRI.
- On visa costs, it states that "UK visa fees are broadly in line with our competitors" and that it will "continue to keep visa fees under review".