8 February 2018Times Higher Education 11NEWS
said that it was not possible to
explain the apparent slowdown in
growth because breakdowns by
region or institution were not yet
available for the 2016-17 data.
The shift in the management of
transnational programmes to over-
seas partners might mean that some
activities no longer show in the
data, or it might be that large pro-
viders have stabilised their numbers
and that growth is now being driven
by smaller providers.
Janet Ilieva, founder and director
of research company Education
Insight, said that the apparent
slackening of growth of trans-
national education (TNE) was not
surprising.
“TNE has emerged to support
local higher education agendas, and
as such it has absorbed unmet local
demand for HE,” she said. “As
countries’ HE systems are maturing
and their participation rates are
nearing 40 per cent, local HE
growth and TNE growth are bound
to decelerate.”
Dr Ilieva added that there was
anecdotal evidence to suggest sig-
nificant consolidation of UK univer-
sities’ overseas provision.
“I have the feeling that many
institutions are slowing down or
withdrawing from so-called ‘light-
touch TNE’ – or franchising and
validation agreements,” she said.
By contrast, she continued, the
growth appears to be concentrating
in joint degrees that require heavier
involvement on behalf of the two
institutions.
Data collected from 2015-16 and
Brexit
Scotland confirms
free tuition for
EU students
in 2019-
The Scottish government has
extended its pledge of free university
tuition for European Union students
to the cohort arriving in 2019-20,
covering the period immediately
after the UK’s exit from the bloc.
The move, announced on 1 Feb-
ruary, increases the pressure on the
UK government to extend the offer
of student loan funding to EU stu-
dents enrolling in English higher
education institutions in 2019-20.
That year is expected to coverthe bulk of the post-Brexit transi-
tion period during which, under the
EU’s offer, all EU nationals arriving
in the UK would have full residency
rights. Theresa May, the UK prime
minister, has vowed to oppose this.
In a statement, Shirley-Anne
Somerville, Scotland’s higher educa-
tion minister, said that extending
the free tuition pledge to 2019-
would “provide confidence for pro-
spective EU students considering
coming to study in Scotland, as well
as the clarity that our institutions
require in order to plan for that aca-
demic year”.
“We are the first government in
the UK to make that commitment
and do so to send a strong message
to current and prospective students- you are welcome here,” Ms
Somerville (pictured below) said.
What will happen to EU students
starting courses after 2019-20 is less
clear, in the wake of a poll con-
ducted forThe Timeswhich found
that a substantial majority of Scots
felt that EU students should be
charged tuition fees after the UK
leaves the EU.
Forty-eight per cent of respond-
ents felt that the estimated annual
saving of £93 million should be
spent elsewhere in Scottish univer-
sities, while 19 per cent felt that it
should go on other public services.
Only 17 per cent felt that free tui-
tion should continue to be offered
to EU students.
Andrea Nolan, vice-chancellor
of Edinburgh Napier University and
convenor of Universities Scotland,
said she was “delighted that the
Scottish government has responded
to the sector’s call for clarity on this
position and they have done so in a
timely fashion”.
“[This] announcement gives
some much-needed clarity and
assurance to universities but most
importantly demonstrates to EU
students that they continue to be
included in the report showed that
more than four-fifths (82 per cent)
of UK universities offered some
form of transnational provision that
year, with Malaysia and Singapore
maintaining their position as the top
partner countries.
Asia as a whole hosted more than
half of UK transnational education
students (52 per cent). This was fol-
lowed by Africa (15 per cent), the
European Union (13 per cent), the
Middle East (11 per cent), North
America (5 per cent), non-EU Euro-
pean countries (3 per cent), Austra-
lasia (1 per cent) and South America
(less than 1 per cent).
[email protected]welcome in Scotland,” she said.
The move comes amid growing
debate about the implications for
higher education of a post-Brexit
transition period, which is expected
to run from the UK’s departure on
29 March 2019 until 31 December
2020.
The Russell Group, which repre-
sents 24 research-intensive univer-
sities located around the UK, said
it supported the “principle of a
post-Brexit transition period to
ensure our universities, their staff
and students have the clarity and
certainty they need to plan for the
future”, which would help to
“avoid a damaging cliff-edge
scenario”.
A spokesman said it wanted “EU
students arriving in the UK during
a transition period [to] remain eli-
gible for home fee rates and able to
access loans and grants for the dura-
tion of their course”.
“EU citizens arriving in the tran-
sition period to work or study at
our universities should [also] be eli-
gible for temporary status and able
to accrue five years’ continuous res-
idency for settled status,” he said,
adding that the “transition period
for EU citizens arriving in the UK
should remain in place at least until
new migration arrangements with
the EU and/or the UK’s future immi-
gration system are implemented”.
[email protected]Admissions
Critics take aim
at Macron’s
reforms of French
baccalaureate
Unions and students have launched
strikes and erected blockades on
French campuses in protest against
reforms of France’s high school
baccalaureate, which they fear will
lead to increased selectivity in the
university system.
The national qualification, the
normal requirement for university
entry, was a target of Emmanuel
Macron during his election cam-
paign, with the president claiming
that it failed to prepare young
people for university and the job
market.
Under changes announced last
week, students would specialise
earlier, choosing two major and two
minor subjects, in a bid to better
prepare them for degree study, but
opponents see the baccalaureate ³GETTYGETTY