Majority of EU Students Don’t Know What Will Happen to Tuition Fees After Brexit

Nearly two-thirds of EU students said they aren’t aware of the UK government’s plans for tuition fees after Brexit – despite an official announcement being made in July.

The UK government confirmed two months ago that EU students starting university in 2019/20 would continue to pay the same tuition fees as domestic students. However, 63 percent of EU students have said they are unaware of this.

This lack of knowledge and understanding, as captured by new research from QS Enrolment Solutions (QSES), suggests that people are struggling to follow even the most straight-forward aspects of Brexit.

This failure to effectively communicate government policy to international students risks affecting the number of applications received by UK universities. QSES also found that international students have struggled to understand recent changes to streamlined visas, which were introduced in July to fast-track applications from certain countries. 73.8 percent of international students said they didn’t know whether their home country is one of the nationalities that qualifies for the new service.

While universities will be cheered by the news that 60.3 percent of students who learned they were actually eligible said they were more likely to consider studying in the UK, questions will remain about why these messages aren’t being communicated effectively to students around the world.

Patrick Whitfield, Director UK & Europe at QS Enrolment Solutions said: “International students make an important contribution to our higher education sector and wider economy and society. The low awareness in recent government announcements that affect international students shows that there is much to gain from better informing them of schemes that affect them or make the UK more attractive.”

For more international student recruitment insights, download a free copy of QS’ International Student Survey here.