Starmer's parting shot is to give EU students a £30k discount of their uni fees.

[caringcarer]

This is a kick in the teeth to our own students. If he has money to discount off uni fees for students he should discount our own students. It's an outrage.

Not really as each place either attracts a domestic level fee or the higher international one. The latter subsidises the former.

We need overseas students to pay overseas fees. How can we afford to subsidise not only our own students but now 65k EU students. It will encourage more EU students so less spaces for overseas students paying overseas prices or squeeze out our own students.

Interesting data

They are lowering their fees to a level that needs subsidy as our own students get subsidised. Why can't you see we can only afford to keep fees lower for our own students by charging overseas students a higher fee. Now we will have to subsidise another 65k plus more encouraged by low fees.

Yes, I get that would be idel but if it's not worth the money for EU students the way things are then isn't it better that they come pay domestic fees, pay UK rent, buy UK food etc. than not coming at all and get none of that? UK isn't as attrictive as it used to be so you have to adjjust your expectations accordingly.

Not if they all need subsidising.

Is that correct though? This suggests EU students dropped from 36k to 12k post-Brexit. Both of which are next to nothing if there are 2.8 million students in the UK.

https://higheredstrategy.com/from-36000-to-12000-tracking-the-decline-in-eu-students-post-brexit-with-paul-wakeling/

But it's not really subsidising, it's making things more equal. As far as I'm aware, foreign student don't cost more than domestic students to educate. They pay up front and they spend money living in a country they otherwise wouldn't live in. There is also a higher chance of them staying post graduation, and if it's something the UK need it's skilled immigration.

There is plenty of capacity in our universities. An increase in EU students will just increase overall student numbers not reduce international fees students.

They won't be subsidising you if you pay lower fees.

The Telegraph is reporting this move will cost UK universities £500 million. Also there is not enough accommodation for current students. Where will all this additional accommodation come from if we have far more students in UK universities. They all need health care too. Where are spaces for health care coming from for a much larger cohort?

Should we expect to pay more for PhDs? Is this in comparison to masters or undergraduate?

OP, you sound extremely ignorant and uneducated.

Even with a significant discount, the UK would still benefit greatly from attracting more international students.

First, they don't take out UK student loans. They either pay out of pocket or use loans from their home countries.

Second, they spend a huge amount of money in the UK: renting accommodation, eating out, shopping, and using local services.
On top of that, their families and friends visit for graduations and holidays, bringing even more money to hotels, restaurants, and the wider economy.

I really struggle to understand how you could think this would hurt the UK in any way, unless your objection is simply that you don't like foreigners, which comes across quite clearly from your comments.

Maybe travel a bit or talk to people from other countries. You might be surprised by how much there is to learn.

Don’t worry - the Gov won’t be subsidising anyone, nor will home fees be going up.

Realise that doesn’t support your click baity agenda but I like facts.

Students are struggling to find accommodation as it is in many places. Where will the extra students be housed? And they use services? Yes, like GPs, which many of us already can’t get appointments for. Where are more services coming from?

If it helps unis, great. I’m not convinced it will, but there are issues like housing and services to think of too. These are already things we don’t have enough of so how will we provide them for more people?

Presumably the same way it was before Brexit, when the unis (and the country as a whole) was better off.

Plus, uk students can now study in the eu and pay local prices. It’s €1k a year at my local uni in Spain.

The reason you can't get a GP appointment is that there aren't enough doctors and nurses, partly because you stopped foreign healthcare professionals to able to come and work in the country anymore.

I know you like to think there are enough UK-trained doctors, but I hate to tell you: there aren't.

GP appointments have been an issue long before brexit.

Regardless, where is the extra housing, appointments etc coming from in the near future? They’re not. It’s just going to mean less of everything for everyone already here. I hope Keir has a plan for it, but I fear as usual he doesn’t. The next PM in will blame the last, and on we go, back on the merry go round.

Tbh, I’m wealthy so I don’t need to worry about most of this. My oldest has 1 more year of a 4 year uni course to finish. My youngest will start next year. We cover their fees and living expenses and don’t need to worry about housing costs and we have private medical care etc, but other people aren’t so fortunate and I can see why they think this plan doesn’t really add up.

Urm we need more graduates staying? Have you had any experience of the graduate job market recently? We somehow need more graduates with exactly the same degree?

We are churning out graduates with the same stellar A levels and high level of degree and there are simply not enough jobs for them as it is!

The idea of wanting skilled migration comes from wanting those who have already been trained and gained experience, rather than invest in it here, not brand new graduates. We have plenty of those.

The whole thing to support an education industry which has an increasingly tenuous link to employment.

Well if they can’t get jobs they’ll go back to their home country won’t they? Like overseas students do now.

Yes exactly. Also with the added bonus of having made connections in the UK that could lead to a successful relocation further down the line. It's mutually beneficial and the situation for graduates will change eventually.

The graduates in the UK can't find graduate jobs. Why do you think flooding the job market with more graduates with the same skill sets adding further competition for our own graduates is a good idea?

No it just adds to what has become an insanely competitive environment. I was alerted when somehow IG sent me a spate of reels of overseas graduates supporting each other in getting UK jobs. Making hundreds of applications (just like Uk equivalents) and not deterred. There is very very little to choose between all these graduates and they often have to jump through an unbelievable amount of AI driven hoops just to get an human interview.

Surely having spent huge amounts educating them from the age of 4, the priority should be getting them into work and supporting themselves. Not encouraging yet more to stay.

UK Government figures state in 2021 there were 151,930 and in 2024-5 there were 75,000.

Or they stay unemployed.