fewer constraints to attract students and workers – Corriere.it

Other than Global Britain, Brexit is turning out to be a boomerang for the United Kingdom. There is a lack of manpower in many sectors and the number of EU students enrolling in British universities has more than halved after the Leave. The shortage of workforce has been putting various sectors in difficulty for months now. To try to stem this problem, the British government is studying a plan to allow foreign students to work longer hours to fill vacancies.

Fewer limits for futures contracts

Ministers are considering ways to encourage UK and overseas students to take up more offers of part-time jobs to address job shortages in sectors such as hospitality, catering, retail, the times. The hypothesis on which the government is leaning is raising the maximum limit of paid working hours for foreign students to 30 hours a week, compared to the current 20, or even eliminating it altogether. In the intentions of those who designed it, this plan could help bring a few more European students back to the United Kingdom, given that the increase in university tuition costs has made most of the students and researchers from the Old Continent flee.

The flight of EU students

A decrease is above all students from Italy, Germany and France. The numbers confirm a halving of new enrollments of young Europeans, equal to 53% overall in the 2021/22 academic year compared to the previous year. The continental enrollments went from 66,680 to 31,400, with a more marked drop for three-year degrees (from 40,000 to no more than around 15,000). The very high fees for non-British citizens discourage enrolment, especially from Europeans who previously could count on discounted rates compared to other foreign students.

University in trouble

But the losers are above all the British universities, which complain that the loss of European students weakens the finances of the colleges. EU students, in fact, in the past guaranteed income for long periods, given that they attended three-year or four-year courses. While many of the new international students come for postgraduate courses of a year or two. Universities UK explained to the Guardian that the increase in students from non-EU countries has not fully compensated for the exodus of European students and risks undermining the financial stability of some courses.