25 October 2016

Secretariat 9 November 2016

"Brexit and next steps for the university sector"

  • Professor Paul O’Prey, Vice-Chancellor, University of Roehampton
  • Professor Philippe Moreillon, Université de Lausanne

Paul O’Prey began his comments by setting out his thoughts on the reasons people voted in the referendum. He noted that he was not convinced by the single explanations of why people voted one way or another, arguing that on both sides it’s likely that people made their decision because of a variety of reasons, and perhaps put together these are not that coherent. From a relevant sector perspective, over 80% of people studying full time voted to remain, and taking from this those studying in universities this rose to 87%.

Professor O’Prey commented that the success of the UK sector has been based on its ability to attract the best students and the best staff, he felt that the possible lack of access to talent is the biggest threat that Brexit holds for the sector in the long-term. Nonetheless there have been encouraging words from the government and he was hopeful that Erasmus would continue following the UK’s exit from the EU. However, he went on to argue that Erasmus could not be the only form that movement of students that continues. He suggested that the simplest and most effective thing to do, which would ensure Britain’s universities remained outward looking and continue to add value to Britain’s soft power, would be to remove international students from the net migration target. Professor O’Prey cited a recent ComRes and Universities UK poll which found that 76% of people surveyed were in favour of taking in international students. He described how international students have enriched universities and the learning of all university students, as well as their huge contribution to our economy as one of the major exports of the UK. Uniquely he argued, this is an export where the benefits are distributed across the UK not solely focused in one region. He concluded his comments by noting that the country was about to embark on a major international exercise and in doing so the sector must encourage those taking part in the negotiations to focus on our strengths and acknowledge the major contribution that universities can and do make.

Philippe Moreillon opened by describing Switzerland’s history with the European Union, mentioning particular issues such as its acceptance as an associate country in higher education, followed by the recent vote against ‘massive immigration’ and countries exclusion from Erasmus. Professor Moreillon also noted the differences between Switzerland and the UK, including how the Swiss government spends 3% of GDP on research and there are no tuition fees for higher education.

He went onto describe the risks from his point of view for the UK which he felt the sector and the government should work to mitigate. These included a loss of funding and competitiveness for basic science, and a risk to the loss of research and development innovation. He argued that with universities not able financially to take on innovation, this will pass to private companies. In this vein he also warned that the UK should try and ensure the same patents standards as the EU, cautioning that without this large companies may choose to relocate. Professor Moreillon’s final piece of advice was that the UK should negotiate strongly to remain part of the Horizon 2020 programme.