Twenty-six members of staff from the Physics Department joined colleagues from across the Faculty of Science in signing a submission to a House of Commons Education Committee Inquiry into the impact of exiting the European Union on Higher Education. As well as discussing the effect on undergraduate and postgraduate students, a particular focus was on the effect on staff who are non-UK EU nationals (this corresponds to over 20% of Warwick academic staff), notably the continued lack of assurance from government of their status and that of their families. The submission also emphasised the great benefit of freedom of movement of European researchers for ensuring the UK is at the forefront of scientific research, as well as damage that would be done if UK scientists lose access to prestiguous European funding, notably European Research Council grants where the department has been very successful recently.
The text in full:
This response is submitted by academics and staff in the Faculty of Science at the University of Warwick.
The likely impact of the UK exiting the EU on EU students studying in England
Losing the ability to study in the UK with ease
Students face many obstacles if they want to study in countries outside the EU such as the US. The free movement rules in the EU remove most of these obstacles for movement inside the EU, ranging from the ability to study and travel without visa requirements (and related costs, to which students are particularly sensitive), to the continuation of social benefits in the UK (such as health insurance) and at home (such as unemployment benefits, pension entitlements, etc.). Even day-to-day activities such as being able to use one’s driving licences, one’s car, at least for a certain period of time, make movement inside the EU and hence the UK much easier. The number of students is estimated at more than 100,000 at present and has been rising steadily during the last 20 years. According to the “Complete university guide”, the inward investment into the UK of EU students amounts to nearly £3bn as well as 19,000 extra jobs.
For advanced students (PhD students, MSc students and also postdoctoral researchers on short visits), informal exchanges between research groups and PhD supervisors during extended research stays are nowadays commonplace. This brings fresh thinking to UK science, while training some of the best researchers from Europe – many of whom might come back to work in the UK.
Increased fees for EU students
EU students are likely to lose their “home student” status. “Home student” fees are much lower than overseas students fees. Here at Warwick, overseas fees are twice as high as home fees. While the higher fees are seen at the moment as competitive for an overseas student’s entry into a European university, it is highly unlikely that the same advantage exists for students from Europe.
Losing financial support
Recent years have seen the emergence of mutual bursary and loan support schemes between emerging European university networks. These are unlikely to continue, leading to a loss of financial support for EU students at UK universities.
What protections should be in place for existing EU students and staff
EU staff and their families
Most universities in the UK rely on a large number of staff, academic and non-academic, that have come from non-UK EU countries. Here at Warwick, 750 staff are non-UK EU nationals (about 12% of the total staff) of whom 500+ are academics, corresponding to 20%+ of the academic staff. This seems in line with many other research-active universities. In the last research excellence framework REF2014, non-UK academics were 3 times more likely to be rated in the highest evaluations (3*,4*) compared to UK colleagues. It is this international outlook and vision that many of our American colleagues have remarked upon as showing the progress that UK universities have made in the last 30 years. The brain drain of the 70s and 80s, which has led to Nobel prizes being given to many US-based UK academics across all disciplines, has reversed due to the flexibility and attractiveness of free movement within the EU and the UK universities’ quick uptake of the resulting opportunities.
The statement by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/statement-the-status-of-eu-nationals-in-the-uk
on 11th July 2016 stating “When we do leave the EU, we fully expect that the legal status of EU nationals living in the UK, and that of UK nationals in EU member states, will be properly protected” has done little to alleviate post-Brexit concerns of students and staff. Indeed, it makes it much less likely that any non-UK student or researcher will put in the effort and accept the risks involved, to leave their country to live and learn in, and bring their enthusiasm and ideas to, the UK.
We are convinced that the minimum requirement should be to allow university staff with non-UK EU passports to retain their current rights here in the UK (such rights include, e.g., full and immediate right to work and, when required, work permits for accompanying family members of EU staff, access to work and social benefits, transferability of pensions, etc.). This must be clarified unmistakably and immediately, without making non-UK EU students as well as staff feel that they rely on negotiations of the UK government with those of other EU countries.
Suggestions that non-UK EU staff should begin to pursue UK residency or, indeed, citizenship appear, not only in the light of significant financial costs, misplaced. We encourage the Government to seek to achieve, prior to a decision to trigger Article 50, a mutual agreement with the EU concerning the rights to live and work of non-UK EU staff and students in the UK and vice versa – not only to ensure their continued contribution to our university environment, but also to remove a factor of personal concern to these non-UK EU citizens which significantly impacts on quality of life as well as work. We explicitly include mention of UK staff and students whose partners are from other countries. Not addressing these issues now, before bargaining negotiations begin, means to add to the reputational damage the UK has already incurred: if these issues are not urgently addressed, the process initiated by the referendum will continue to erode the possibility to attract and retain motivated and highly skilled members of staff.
EU students and their families
In 2015/16, 1015 new full-time EU students started undergraduate courses at Warwick, comprising 11% of the total student intake. In the three years from 2014 to 2016 we have seen a 42% increase in enrolments from EU domiciled students. This includes a 64% increase in undergraduate enrolments over that period. EU student recruitment is therefore a growth business for Warwick, in line with most research-active universities in the UK.
Most aspects outlined above for “EU staff and families” of course also apply to our EU students and their families. In addition, most pressing on our current and prospective students' minds is the threat of higher fees mid-way through their degrees. Although some universities have indicated that they would keep fees at current “home student” levels, it would be important to see this made mandatory throughout the HE sector for all EU students wishing to start in the two years after Article 50 has been triggered.
The future of the Erasmus+ programme following the withdrawal of the UK from the EU
Modern societies rely on the free movement of ideas, services, inventions, and goods across national boundaries. Often, such movement is accompanied by the people themselves bringing those ideas and inventions with them, or delivering the services and goods directly. This is particularly prevalent for jobs requiring high elements of creativity, training and resourcefulness. Hence it is a longstanding tradition in universities and higher educational institutions worldwide to encourage their students to also seek educational opportunities and, indeed, employment opportunities outside their national boundaries. The ERASMUS programme has supported this since 1987 and is a great success story for the EU. About 5% of EU graduates have experienced an ERASMUS exchange during their studies. Our experience has always been that the students that enter the UK higher education system via ERASMUS are among the brightest that the world has to offer. Similarly, many of the UK’s brightest use the chance to broaden their horizons by studying in Europe via ERASMUS. Here at Warwick, student involvement in the programme shows a very balanced uptake, in 2014/15 342 Warwick students went to other institutions and 359 came to us. In our experience, the ERASMUS scheme is simple, relatively easily administered and would be nigh on impossible to replace. The UK should therefore assure continued participation in the ERASMUS programme, including required financial contributions. However, as outlined above, the programme relies on the freedom of movement rules in an essential way: for short-term student exchanges, it is mandatory that bureaucratic hurdles are kept to a minimum. It is hence essential that the EU freedom of movement rules are maintained as much as possible for EU and UK students to participate fully in the future ERASMUS exchanges.
Risks and opportunities for UK students
Risks
UK students have thus far enjoyed the same ease in the freedom of movement as other EU students. This has allowed over 200,000 UK students to study, learn and do research in Europe. Indeed, many of our own students have used freedom of movement rules to spend their summers in Europe for research stays, to study a few months for a particular research topic and/or to attend extended summer schools and workshops. Students who have studied abroad demonstrate initiative, independence, motivation and, depending on where they stay, may also have gained a working knowledge of another language – all qualities employers are looking for.
In the UK, our UK students currently benefit from opportunities to work with world-leading researchers on cutting-edge projects. This is evidently true for postgraduate students, but also applies to undergraduates through, for example, final year and summer projects. Any loss of standing of UK universities, for example by the departure of non-UK staff due to detrimental Brexit outcomes, represents a direct risk to the quality of student experience and the excellence of their education here in the UK.
How changes to freedom of movement rules may affect students and academics in British higher education institutions
A vibrant higher education sector that attracts the best minds is crucial for underpinning the knowledge economy in this country. In order to attract and retain the best and brightest, the UK must be and appear to be outward looking, open for business and wanting to attract talent from all over the world. Scientists that come to the UK to live and work here are looking for a long-term commitment not just from their employer, but also from UK society as a whole. With the UK part of the EU, this long-term commitment was implicit. With the UK leaving the EU, it is now in the UK's interest to reconfirm its long-term commitment to its many EU scientists and their families.
The UK is geographically near to other EU countries. This short distance and a strong university sector has made the UK attractive, inter alia, for recruiting academic staff (as well as promising PhD students and keen post-doctoral researchers) from other EU countries – this also applies to UK researchers gaining experience in other EU countries before returning to establish independent careers back in the UK. To burden these prospective members of staff with added administrative hassle (we emphasise again how much personal cost and administrative effort is already incurred when leaving one’s country for studies and research abroad) will significantly reduce the number of brilliant minds who otherwise would choose UK rather than other EU (or worldwide) universities.
How to ensure UK universities remain competitive after the withdrawal of the UK from the EU
If UK researchers lose access to EU funding schemes through H2020 and/or its successor, there will be a major financial and reputational loss to UK Universities. The only possible outcome of this is a deterioration in the quality and quantity of research. The funding could, in principle, be restored through substantially increased funding to the Research Councils (UKRI) and other funding bodies, but a very significant uplift compared to the current budget will be necessary. However, even in this case UK universities are likely to lose competitiveness if there is no guarantee of freedom of scientific movement, as explained elsewhere in this response.
We also fear the consequences of the UK no longer being able actually to shape EU research policy given that the UK has been a major driving force in ensuring that European Research Council fellowships are the gold standard of research excellence (Marie-Curie fellowships have brought excellent post-doctoral researchers to our institutions, some of whom are now are employed as lecturers in UK universities). The UK not being able to shape and influence EU research policy (this concerns the natural sciences as much as the social sciences and the humanities) and pressing for research excellence, will severely impact on research quality in the UK. Specifically, the dynamics involved in these processes has made UK research better, and has made Europe as a whole competitive against the North American and Australasian contenders. Having to negotiate and develop research priorities and themes, define goals and areas for further pursuit in discussion with top researchers from different cultural and historical backgrounds with varying perspectives has both widened and sharpened our own perspectives, insights and views. Leaving the EU will leave the UK and its academic researchers passive bystanders. To combat these detrimental effects, we believe that continued access to EU funding competitions would be critical for UK research.
What the Government's priorities should be during negotiations for the UK to exit the EU with regard to students and staff at higher education institutions
Please see the above commentary on the protections that should be in place for existing non-UK EU students and staff. The (a) freedom of movement of UK and EU students, staff and researchers as well as (b) our joint access to EU funding are essential.
What steps the Government should take to mitigate any possible risks and take advantage of any opportunities
The UK’s leading place in international research relies on high quality researchers being attracted to work here and, importantly, wanting to stay here. We fear that the EU referendum result has already damaged the view of the UK as a place that is open to the outside world. Moreover, we are well aware that there is a real risk that the already perceived increased insularity in Brexit UK will lead to a reduction in talented new overseas researchers applying from abroad and an exodus of talented researchers from the UK. Indeed, currently open academic job adverts are already being affected, and a reduction in high-quality people from the EU is noticeable. Furthermore, the quality of life of a steadily growing number of members of staff is affected as well: our EU friends are feeling disenfranchised from UK life, resulting in feelings of fear, anger and depression, which in turn impact on research engagements and activities. It cannot be emphasised enough that, at the very least, the process of allowing members of staff, and their families, with a non-UK EU passport to continue to enjoy their current rights here in the UK must be unambiguously clarified now; independently from later negotiations after Article 50 has been triggered. Demanding financially high expenditures or time investment for residency or citizenship applications appears most unreasonable.
Signed by more than 70 staff at the Faculty of Science, University of Warwick