Risk that third of EU undergrads at UK universities could be forced to return home before completing their courses under no-deal Brexit

Top universities have warned that no-deal Brexit immigration plans are a “major own goal”, because they will force over a third of EU undergraduates to leave Britain before they can finish their courses.

The elite Russell Group, which represents 24 leading universities, said it “urgently” needs a solution from the Government, or European students will be put off coming to study in the UK.

Last month, the Government announced that in the event of a no-deal Brexit, EU nationals will be able to apply to stay in the country for three years.

But according to new analysis from the Russell Group, exclusively shared with inews, the policy could pose a huge problem for UK universities.

The Russell Group found that of the 34,625 EU students embarking on undergraduate degrees in the UK in 2017-18, 37 per cent (12,820) were on courses lasting more than three years.

Dr Tim Bradshaw, chief executive of the Russell Group, said the impact on Scottish universities would be “particularly damaging” as almost all of their undergraduate degrees last four years or longer.

And across the UK, the three year right to remain will be especially harmful for subjects such as the sciences, engineering, medicine and dentistry, which tend to involve longer courses.

 

 

Via Inews