Brexit, EU Students and UK Higher Education : Broken Bridges

Abstract

This open access book examines the effects of Brexit on UK higher education, based on the largest academic research project conducted in the UK across 12 universities in all four nations. The Brexit decision in 2016 has brought about a profound transformation in UK higher education, with the decline in EU engagement reshaping the sector in many areas, including recruitment of academic staff, research collaboration, university facilities and the declining diversity of students in British institutions. This study, grounded in 127 interviews with university leaders and academic staff, focuses especially on the sharp reduction in EU student entry into UK universities and how this is being experienced in the UK. With an analysis of the impact of Brexit in three areas, revenue, diversity and competition, the book also offers a broader understanding of the internationalisation of higher education in the UK. The authors review developments in policy and practice in the internationalisation of UK higher education and research, including scholarly studies and perspectives. The argument is supported by rich data including up to date statistics on enrolment and well-crafted qualitative case studies. Significantly, Brexit, EU Students and UK Higher Education offers implicit and explicit wider lessons which can be expanded to other HE systems and global HE. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by UKRI.