Unis fear no-deal Brexit limbo

The UK government has promised universities access to a compensation fund to offset funding from the EU.

In the event of a no-deal Brexit, the British government has promised universities access to a £16.6bn ($30.25bn) compensation fund, to be shared with business and charitable groups, which will offset funding universities currently receive from the EU.

British Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid told the Daily Mail newspaper the fund, which includes £4.5bn for the coming year, was “one of many mechanisms and processes” the government was planning to ease the impact of a no-deal Brexit.

If the UK leaves the EU, universities will lose generous EU research funding and stand to lose thousands of EU students who would have to pay international student fees, which are higher than the fees they currently pay, to study in Britain.

Universities UK, which represents the country’s universities, said 80 per cent of the 75 universities that responded to a recent survey about Brexit preparedness said they were “very” or “extremely” concerned about the impact of a no-deal Brexit.

Half of the universities in the survey said uncertainty over Brexit had already affected demand from EU students.

There was also a reported impact on academic staff, with 60 per cent of the universities reporting current or potential staff were choosing overseas institutions instead of British ones.

All the universities that responded to the survey said they had been preparing for a no-deal Brexit, with 52 per cent saying they were fully prepared and 48 per cent saying they were slightly prepared.

According to a report in The Guardian last month, some British universities are planning to stockpile essential supplies, telling the newspaper they were worried about “shortages of essential chemicals and gases for laboratories” and others that they were “looking to stockpile bulk items such as food and toilet paper”.

In a statement released in August, Universities UK listed the expected consequences of a no-deal Brexit for its 136 member universities, saying institutions would be shut-out of research funding, including from the European Research Council which granted UK-based researchers €540m in the latest round of its advanced grants.

It said there would be “considerable uncertainty among prospective EU students about their future fee/loan status, which could lead to reduced interest in studying in the UK” and warned there would be “great uncertainty around mutual recognition of professional qualifications”.

Universities UK also warned that the nearly 80,000 EU students doing UK degrees in their home countries would be left deeply uncertain about their studies following a no-deal Brexit because the EU Services Directory would no longer apply to UK education providers.

Julia Buckingham, president of Universities UK and vice-chancellor of Brunel University London, said while the fact universities felt at least partly prepared for a no-deal Brexit was “reassuring”, its implications still remained largely unknown.

“Despite working tirelessly to offset the potential implications of no deal, such an outcome could leave an indelible footprint on the higher education landscape for years to come,” she said.