Professor Andy
Long, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer of Northumbria University has co-signed a
letter, printed in today’s (21 May 2024) Financial Times, asking the Prime Minister to accept the findings of the
Migration Advisory Committee. Full letter below.
Dear Prime Minister
We write as the Vice-Chancellors of a
range of northern universities to urge you to accept the findings of the
Migration Advisory Committee which has, in its review of the Graduate Visa
Route, recommended that this visa arrangement should be retained in its
entirety.
Our universities are integral to the
economic resilience of cities and towns who are already grappling with the
significant economic disparities between the North and South of England. That
North/South structural economic inequality is mitigated by the world class
research, tailored support for innovation in local businesses, and valuable
routes for local young people, particularly from disadvantaged backgrounds,
that our universities across the North provide.
The government’s own International
Education Strategy’s vision was explicit in its strategic aim to bolster one of
our world-leading export industries - an industry that is larger than the
pharmaceutical sector.
Universities from Sunderland to
Sheffield, Leeds to Lancaster, Liverpool to Teesside, Bradford to Huddersfield,
and York to Newcastle will all be harmed by the removal or reduction of the GR
visa. It is an intrinsic part of the educational offer that has made the UK so
attractive to brilliant students from all around the world.
The latest analysis from Universities UK
(UUK) demonstrates that, since the International Education Strategy launched, “growth in
international student recruitment to the UK has delivered a boost of more than
£60 billion to the UK’s economy”.
On top of their visa fees, international
students who find work and start businesses contribute billions of pounds in
income tax, national insurance and VAT annually. They are also usually net
contributors to the NHS through the NHS surcharge.
The changes that the government have
already introduced - removal of student dependents’ visas and the rising costs
of visas - have already had an enormous adverse impact on the numbers of
students coming to the UK.
The announcement of the MAC review caused
further significant reductions in international students applying for places at
UK universities, with students also reporting that they do not feel welcome to
study in the UK. This sentiment analysis is reflected in a national downturn in
postgraduate international enrolments in January 2024- by more than 40%.
The Graduate Visa Route is regarded by
students in key markets like India as an integral part of their educational
experience. The MAC review made clear that the removal of this route would make
the UK less attractive and thus would cause considerable financial detriment to
universities around the country. International student tuition fee income has
long cross-subsidised underfunded research and has increasingly become critical
to cross-subsidise the teaching of UK undergraduate students because of the frozen
tuition fee. Universities cannot continue to absorb the costs of teaching UK
undergraduates without some form of alternative funding source.
In the North of England, the international student cohort from the
first academic year in this decade (2020/21) alone was worth £7.2billion.
Universities are now reporting reductions in applications of as much as 80% in
some areas and that reduction in income will have a catastrophic impact on the
region’s economy.
That sudden and adverse financial
contraction will lead to an inevitable reduction in the capacity of our
brilliant Northern Universities in terms of both teaching and research. In turn, this will adversely impact all of
our regional economies, stifling skills, innovation and productivity, and
choking off the life chances of thousands of young people.
And it is not just innovation in science and technology
- STEM subjects - that will be adversely impacted. It will impact badly on
social science and the arts and humanities; disciplines that underpin our
imagination and analysis of what humans are capable of- enabling us to pursue
our greatest ambitions while avoiding potential pitfalls.
Major new opportunities like the advancement of
artificial intelligence need anchoring in ethics; our creative industries rely
on a powerful mix of new technologies and artistic creativity; the potential of
genetic biotechnologies needs balancing with an understanding of what ordinary
people think is right and acceptable; and so on..
Access to all of the potential this innovation can bring
needs to be available to all parts of our society. Universities of all types -
ancient, modern and in-between - open up opportunities to benefit from the
innovation we generate. They work hard
to offer choices to young people from our more disadvantaged communities,
choices that would otherwise not exist.
There is an increasing need for high
value skills integral to support the advancement of science, technology and
engineering disciplines. Major economic
harm to our universities would mean that the UK cannot keep pace with our
competitors in providing world class education, putting our economy and
prosperity at risk.
Put simply: The UK and the North- including your own constituency- needs these
skills and needs international students because of the benefits they bring to
the UK economy and to our towns and cities.
Yours sincerely,
Professor Graham Baldwin, Vice-Chancellor,
University of Central Lancashire
Professor Nic Beech, Vice-Chancellor, University of Salford
Professor Karen Bryan OBE, Vice-Chancellor, York St John University
Professor John Cater, Vice-Chancellor, Edge Hill University
Professor Shirley Congdon, Vice-Chancellor,
University of Bradford
Professor Bob Cryan, Vice-Chancellor, University of Huddersfield
Professor Paul Croney, OBE, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive, Teesside
University
Professor Chris Day, Vice-Chancellor, University of Newcastle
Professor Charles Egbu, Vice-Chancellor, Leeds Trinity University
Professor Tim Jones, Vice-Chancellor, University of Liverpool
Professor Charlie Jeffery CBE, Vice-Chancellor, University of York
Professor Koen Lamberts, Vice-Chancellor, University of Sheffield
Professor Andy Long, Vice-Chancellor & Chief Executive Officer, Northumbria
University
Professor Sean McNamara FRSA, Principal/Chief Executive Officer, Liverpool
Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA)
Professor Liz Mossop, Vice-Chancellor, Sheffield Hallam University
Professor Karen O’Brien, Vice-Chancellor, Durham University
Professor Dave Petley, Vice-Chancellor, University of Hull
Professor Malcolm Press, CBE, Vice-Chancellor, Manchester Metropolitan
University
Sara Prowse, Chief Executive, UA92
Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, Vice-Chancellor, University of Manchester
Professor Andy Schofield, Vice-Chancellor, University of Lancaster
Professor Eunice Simmons, Vice Chancellor, University of Chester
Professor Peter Slee, Vice-Chancellor, Leeds Beckett University
Professor Tim Stewart, Vice-Chancellor, BPP University
Professor Joe Wilson, Vice-Chancellor, Leeds Conservatoire
Professor Simone Wonnacott, Vice-Chancellor, Leeds Arts University
Professor Hai-Sui Yu FREng, Vice-Chancellor, University of Leeds
