Leaders react angrily to plans to control English student recruitment in devolved nations
Ministers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have lashed out at the UK government’s proposals to cap the number of students from England that their countries’ universities are allowed to recruit next year.
A temporary return to a student numbers cap in England was agreed in May as part of the UK government’s support package to help ease the pressure on universities in England during the coronavirus pandemic.
But ministers have reacted with dismay to news that the cap could be extended to control the numbers of students from England that universities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland can recruit.
Following a meeting with Michelle Donelan on 1 June, Welsh education minister Kirsty Williams said in a statement that, “I disagree strongly with England’s approach on this matter,” and that she would “continue to consider my options”. “I respect decision-making in and for England, just as I do for the other the governments in the UK. Quite simply, I expect the same respect from the minister.”
Williams’ comments came after she said she was “deeply concerned” by the proposed cap in a letter to Donelan on 29 May, adding the cap was not in the UK’s best interests and showed “a surprising unwillingness to respect complementary policies in each nation”.
Although proposals outlining the recruitment cap on English-domiciled students among the UK’s four nations were expected to be officially published on 1 June, they have not yet been released. Labour’s shadow universities minister Emma Hardy said the “divisive” announcement before publishing specific details “gives the impression of a government making policy on the hoof”.
Northern Ireland’s economy minister Diane Dodds said she was “wholly opposed” to a recruitment cap on English-domiciled students, warning it “runs contrary to what had been agreed amongst the four UK administrations” in May when the numbers cap was discussed.
Dodds added she was “shocked and concerned another jurisdiction is seeking to control student numbers” in Northern Ireland, and confirmed she had written to universities minister Michelle Donelan about the cap.
“I believe that this proposal has the potential to break up the unified higher education market within the United Kingdom in terms of access to study based on student choice and academic achievement—it is a dangerous precedent to set and one I am wholly opposed to,” she said.
Scotland’s further education, higher education and skills minister Richard Lochhead promised to press Donelan “to urgently reconsider this proposal”. “We should be working together to address these common issues, yet here we have the UK Government, without any consultation, planning to erect barriers that would pile further difficulties upon Scottish universities, as well as those in Wales and Northern Ireland,” he said.
A spokeswoman for the Department for Education said: “We want everyone who achieves their entry requirements to be able to go to university, and these measures are a vital part of ensuring this, while avoiding harmful over-recruitment among providers which could go against the interests of both students and universities.
“We will shortly be setting out further details on how the student number controls will be implemented, including how they will work in the devolved administrations.”