The Scotsman

Brexit already hitting university applicatio­ns

● Number of EU nationals applying to study in Scotland drops 4 per cent

- By CHRIS GREEN

Britain’s “damaging” decision to leave the European Union is already having an impact on the number of EU nationals applying to Scottish universiti­es, ministers have claimed.

The number of EU applicants to universiti­es north of the Border has fallen by almost 4 per cent compared with last year, according to Ucas figures.

A total of 19,090 EU citizens have applied to start their studies in Scotland this year, down 730 on last year’s figure.

This represents the lowest number of applicatio­ns from EU member states since 2014, when 18,730 people said they wanted to study in Scotland.

The decrease in the number of EU citizens applying to study in England was even more pronounced, falling by more than 5 per cent to 42,080.

The other parts of the UK also saw year-on-year declines

0 The number of applicatio­ns from non-eu nationals to study at Scottish universiti­es has risen by 6 per cent ineuropean­unionappli­cants. Northern Ireland saw a 9.5 per cent fall, while in Wales the dip was 8.2 per cent.

Scotland’s minister for employabil­ity and training, Jamie Hepburn, said ministers were “deeply concerned” by the fall in applicatio­ns, which he blamed on the UK government’s decision to pursue a hard Brexit outside the single market.

He said: “While Scotland fares better than England when it comes to attracting EU domiciles, it is still worrying to see this decrease in applicants – the damaging reality of Brexit.

“We are urging the UK government to ditch their hard Brexit model, which will no doubt have a hugely negative impact on areas such as higher education, not only in Scotland but also in the rest of the UK.”

However, the number of non-eu internatio­nal applicants to Scottish universiti­es increased by more than 6 per cent compared to last year, rising from 16,630 to 17,690.

Mr Hepburn said it was “good news” that universiti­es north of the Border were still attractive to overseas students, pointing out that the rise in non-eu applicants was significan­tly higher than the 2 per cent increase recorded across the UK.

“We want every student who has come from outside Scotland, from the EU or further afield, to study here to know that they are very much welcome,” he added.

Theucasfig­uresalsosh­owed that the number of English applicants to Scottish universiti­es has risen by almost 4 per cent and is now at a record high. Scottish institutio­ns have received 31,100 applicatio­ns from people south of the Border for the 2017 academic year. In 2013, the figure was 28,680.

A Department for Education spokesman said: “EU and internatio­nal students, staff and researcher­s make an important contributi­on to our higher education sector and we want that to continue.”

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