Latest UCAS figures have revealed that universities in Wales saw the biggest drop in the UK in the numbers of undergraduate applicants between 2017 and 2018, both in terms of EU and non-EU applicants.
According to the latest data, a total of 30,350 EU students (up 2% on 2017), alongside a record 38,330 (up 4%) from outside the EU have been accepted through UCAS.
However, while higher education institutions in England (up 7%), Scotland (up 9%) and Northern Ireland (up 1%) all saw an increase in the number of applicants from countries outside of the EU, Welsh HEIs saw a 7% drop in non-EU applicants.
“…Wales up until now has been successful in recruiting international students”
And despite a 2% increase in EU applicants to universities in England, a 3% increase to Northern Ireland, and a 1% drop to Scotland, Wales recorded a decrease of 10% in applicants from these countries.
Overall, the number of applicants to Welsh universities dropped by 7% from the previous year – from 72,200 (2017) to 67,420 (2018).
It was also a bigger percentage decrease than seen in England (-2%), Northern Ireland (-3%), and the UK as a whole (-2%).
Earlier in 2018, Welsh Government Education secretary Kirsty Williams announced that EU students starting at Welsh universities in autumn 2019 would continue to pay the same tuition fees as domestic students and their access to support would be unchanged.
Williams said scrapping tuition fee grants in favour of maintenance grants moved “towards a sustainable way of funding”.
When asked about the drop in EU student applicants, Williams said there “wouldn’t be a true picture” of recruitment figures until spring 2019.
But she acknowledged the decision to replace tuition fee grants of £5,100 for Welsh and EU students with living-cost grants may have had an impact on EU recruitment figures.
“It was inevitable, given the change in government policy with regards to student support, which had previously allowed European students to benefit from a tuition fee grant, given the fact that option is no longer available to them, that has had an impact on EU recruitment,” Williams said.
“The fact that the tuition fee grant arrangements may have had an impact on EU students at this stage doesn’t preclude the fact that Wales up until now has been successful in recruiting international students.”
