Select committee: Scottish Affairs Committee
Conclusion 56
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)
For 2021–22, as EU students will now need to pay international student fees and immigration costs, Scottish universities were expecting in December 2020 an 80% drop in EU student numbers.132 However, UCAS data from 18 February 2021 shows that applications to Scottish universities by EU students for 2021–22 dropped by 40% (6,900 fewer applications), which is a similar to the rate of fall in England and Wales,133 and is much lower than the 80% fall many anticipated. Commenting on these statistics, Alastair Sim, Director of Universities Scotland, said: The drop in EU student numbers is not as dramatic as many feared although we don’t know how this will impact individual universities and courses.134 Implications for Scottish university finances
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".