UK universities have seen a sharp decline in the EU student enrolment rate. As revealed by Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), the enrolment number of EU nationals has fallen by 53%: from 64,120 in 2020- 21 to just 31,400 in 2021- 22.
This drastic fall is seen after Brexit and the modification in the international fee policy by the UK. Before Brexit, EU nationals submitted home fees of 10,255 EUR in England and Wales. After the UK withdrawal Bloc, the fees were hiked as high as 43,300 EUR. The number of students coming from Italy, France, and Germany has declined on a tremendous note. The report revealed by HESA observed that students from Italy have lowered to 11,320 students in 2021-22. Similarly, the EU students from France and Germany have gone down to 11,870 and 9,915 respectively.
The report by HESA declared that “Between 2017-18 and 2021-22, there has been a noticeable decline in first-year enrolments within the top ten EU countries, except Ireland.” According to this report, there has been a considerable increase in the number of first-year enrolments by students from Ireland in the UK. Ireland has replaced France in the student enrolment number in the UK.
The fall was also seen in Scotland even after Scotland chose to stay in the European Union during the Brexit referendum. Though the enrolment from the European Union decreased in 2021-22, the enrolment from non-EU spiked in the first year in the academic year 2021- 22.
