Universities reject minister's suggestion they asked for student controls to extend beyond England
Universities in England have distanced themselves from comments by the universities minister, who has claimed that English universities had asked the UK government to restrict the number of England-domiciled students that institutions in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales can recruit for the 2020-21 academic year.
Speaking at a seminar hosted by the Higher Education Policy Institute on 17 June, Michelle Donelan (pictured, at the event) said institutions in England had requested that the government place restrictions on student recruitment from universities in the devolved nations to prevent them from engaging in “aggressive recruitment strategies”.
However, Universities UK, the Russell Group, the University Alliance and MillionPlus have all told Research Professional News that they were not aware of any such request being made.
In May, the government was heavily criticised by education ministers in the devolved nations after it announced plans to place a cap on the number of England-domiciled students that UK universities outside England could recruit. Among them was Welsh education minister Kirsty Williams who, following a meeting with Donelan earlier this month, said she disagreed “strongly” with England’s approach, and that she expected the Westminster government to “respect decision-making” in devolved regions.
Speaking at the Hepi event, Donelan said she worked “very closely” with the devolved administrations, and had discussed the numbers cap decision with them after English institutions had called for restrictions to be applied to non-English institutions.
“I think the reality was we had to introduce something that would help stabilise the system and this was something that was also called for by English institutions to make sure that we didn’t create a system where institutions in Wales or Scotland could then in effect have aggressive recruitment strategies and make the policy null and void in essence,” she said.
“It is more about stabilising the system and, just to be clear, all we have done in terms of Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland is [in relation to the finances of] English-domiciled students…we are not affecting anything else, it is completely within the realms of devolution”.
Shadow universities minister Emma Hardy said she was “surprised to hear Michelle say that the extension to student number caps came from English universities, because I don’t recall them mentioning this in any of the discussions and meetings I have had with them during the last few months”.
“However, it is a question that we should find the answer to,” she added.
Universities UK, whose initial request to government for financial aid led to the student number control, confirmed to Research Professional News that their proposals did not have the intention of imposing measures on universities in the devolved nations.
A spokesperson from the vice-chancellors’ group expressed "disappointment" concerning the extension of number controls to universities outside of England, "despite concerns raised by Scottish and Welsh institutions, including over the lack of meaningful engagement with devolved governments and further consultation about the impact on institutions in the devolved nations. It is important that any government support for universities in response to the challenges presented by the Covid-19 crisis supports the needs of institutions and students across the whole UK".
UUK’s original proposals called for the funding councils of the devolved administrations to take forward approaches to student recruitment outside of England.
Russell Group chief executive Tim Bradshaw told us that his mission group supported a sector-led agreement on student recruitment and were, "disappointed this was taken forward as a broader student number control policy.”
A spokesperson for the University Alliance group of employer-engaged institutions said: "We do not support the imposition of measures on universities in the devolved nations without agreement and alignment of policies with the Devolved Administrations. We are concerned that the UK Government’s proposals have been developed without further consultation, or consideration for the impact on universities in the devolved nations.”
Sources within the MillionPlus group of modern universities confirmed that they had not heard of anyone lobbying for the student controls in England to be extended to the devolved authorities.
Research Professional News has approached the Department for Education for comment.