Application denied

Nobody knows what the UK’s immigration system will look like in five years’ time, but universities must hope it involves something akin to the free movement of labour facilitated by membership of the European Economic Area.

This almost goes without saying. Regular readers of the Playbook will be more informed than most about the number of Europeans working within UK academia and the value their presence brings. But it is still an issue that bears investigation, which is why we sought to find out a bit more about how reliant UK universities are on people from the European Union.

The story begins two months ago, when the Migration Advisory Committee—which advises, was established by and is only answerable to the Home Office—gave its opinion on what a post-Brexit UK immigration system should look like. Among its recommendations, many of which received a frosty reception from higher education, was the ostensibly positive step of removing the cap on the number of people who can receive a Tier 2 visa, the main visa route for skilled workers coming to the UK.