Admissions body UCAS has cited ‘uncertainty’ fuelled by Britain’s exit from the European Union as the reason behind a 40 percent drop in EU students applying to UK universities in 2021.
According to official figures, UCAS had 31,670 applicants from the EU in 2021, a significant drop from previous years. Moreover, only 16,025 EU applicants secured places at UK institutions – a noticeable decrease of 50 percent.
Applications Drop
UCAS told the Independent that ‘undergraduate applications and placed students from the EU have been impacted by a range of factors’, highlighting the ‘uncertainty associated with the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, and changes to student support arrangements.’
Furthermore, in 2022, this pattern has continued, with EU applicants dropping even further to around 20,820 – a further 19 percent drop that brings the total percentage decrease since Brexit to nearly 60 percent.
However, applications from outside the EU – such as China and the USA – have shot up by 48 percent. According to the Independent, China ‘remains the largest “market” for international students’ followed by India, but America has seen the greatest increase ‘of any major nation.’
‘Applications have been very resilient’
According to the UCAS report, applications from students outside the EU rose over 12 percent in 2021 to a record high of 111,255. This trend is again reflected by the 2022 UCAS cycle, with numbers of applicants from outside the EU continuing to rise, this year by five percent so far.
UCAS chief executive Clare Marchant told the Independent: ‘Whilst applications have been very resilient throughout the pandemic, the robust demand from China, India and Hong Kong […] shows the enduring appeal of our world-class universities.’
This comes as the government’s Augar Review of funding of higher education in England is due to be published this week after much anticipation, with the possibility of the introduction of standardised minimum entry requirements and student number caps.
The Department for Education has proposed that these measures could prevent students from ‘being pushed into higher education before they are ready’, as well as ensuring that ‘poor-quality, low-cost courses are incentivised to grow uncontrollably.’