Brexit: Significantly fewer EU students in Great Britain

Brexit has arrived at British universities.

At the start of the academic year this fall, only 800 Germans are starting their studies in the UK, according to figures from the central registry UCAS (Universities & Colleges Admissions Service).

That is only half as many as in the previous year, when 1,600 Germans were counted.

At that time there was still a Brexit transition phase with largely the same rules as before.

The total number of students from the EU fell even more sharply: from 27,750 to 11,700.

While it was very uncomplicated to study and research abroad before Great Britain left the EU, more work is now required due to new visa regulations.

Short-term study visits have also become more complicated.

With Brexit, the United Kingdom also withdrew from the EU's own exchange program Erasmus, through which thousands of young people from the EU spent their semesters abroad on the island for years.

There is great skepticism

The corona pandemic has also contributed to the decline in new students. Significant increases in study costs and more bureaucracy since Brexit are decisive. “When Great Britain was still part of the European Union, there was the principle of equality. Everyone had to pay the same tuition fees, ”said Ulrich Hoppe, head of the German-British Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AHK) in London. "That has now changed."

While EU citizens in England, like British and Irish students, have previously paid a maximum of 9250 pounds (10,800 euros) of tuition fees per year, universities can charge significantly more from beginners from the EU, but also from Switzerland, from the new academic year. In addition: Newcomers to the country cannot apply for state support. In addition, anyone who only moved to the UK in 2021 now needs a visa. Here, too, high costs and great bureaucratic effort are the result.

The UK Department of Education did not comment on the numbers.

The government only said that students from the EU were an important and valued part of the higher education system.

Peter Mason from Universities UK International admitted: "After Brexit there was an adjustment phase, as EU students are treated like other international applicants, in contrast to students residing in the UK." However, he emphasized that EU students are still welcome, teachers from the international community played an important role.

"The study location is no longer so attractive"

But there is great skepticism. Above all, the British exit from the EU student exchange program Erasmus made the universities appear less attractive, said the political scientist Simon Usherwood from the Open University, the largest state university in the country, the German press agency. To replace it, the government has launched a program called the Turing Scheme. This means that 363 projects will be funded in this academic year, which offer more than 40,000 schoolchildren and students the opportunity to work abroad, including in Germany. How many of them actually take the chance is not known. Usherwood said it would take a long time to develop anything like the Erasmus contacts.

So far, the humanities and arts have been particularly affected, Usherwood said. He warned that Brexit would also have consequences for teachers. "The longer the UK does not have stable relations with the EU, the more difficult it becomes to attract the highly qualified people who have contributed to the success of the industry." AHK boss Hoppe shares the fears. "The study location is no longer so attractive," he told the dpa. Hoppe warned that the development could contribute to further alienation between Great Britain and the EU. "Something's going to be lost."