Ex-universities minister bashes England’s international fee levy
Johnson, now the executive chairman of FutureLearn, told guests at an All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) event that the UK government should rethink the controversial policy – as well as making no more changes to the Graduate Route, recently condensed from two years to 18 months.
The UK must offer international students a stable policy environment if it is to remain competitive as a premier study destination, he told delegates gathered at the House of Commons to celebrate International Student Week.
But he said that there were “all too many examples” where politicians had failed to provide this in recent years – one of which being a mooted levy on international student fees. “It’s a case in point of the kind of instability and policy uncertainty that we do need to avoid,” he said.
“This tax on international student fees will achieve the exact opposite, I’m afraid, of its intended goals,” said Johnson, adding that the government had “significantly overestimated” universities’ ability to pass the tax onto students through higher fees. He added that international student demand was very price sensitive, pointing to research suggesting enrolments could plummet under the policy.
“I don’t think it’s a good policy,” he told APPG guests. “I think it’s a bad mistake and I would urge the government to reconsider its proposals.”
The levy – first mooted in May’s immigration white paper – would see a 6% tax on the fees international students pay to UK universities. Under government plans, the cash raised would be passed on to disadvantaged domestic students through maintenance grants.
I think it’s a bad mistake and I would urge the government to reconsider its proposals
Jo Johnson, FutureLearn
More details on the levy are expected to be laid out in the Autumn Budget, due November 26, – although the policy has already been roundly criticised by international education stakeholders.
Modelling from the think tank Public First predicted that the levy could cost the sector up to an eye-watering £2.2 billion and 77,000 international students within its first five years. And a report from the Office for Students last week predicted that almost half of English universities could fall into financial deficit this academic year – even without the added strain of the levy.
Meanwhile, Wales has indicated it will opt out of the policy, with education secretary Lynne Neagle stressing that the country was not looking to moderate international student demand.
Johnson also told APPG delegates that the Labour government should at the very least commit to keeping the Graduate Route at 18 months.
“Let’s not throw away one of or greatest national assets, and that’s the ability to attract talented people to these shores to make that huge contribution to our universities. They are vital to our success as a research economy,” he said.
Also speaking at the event, international student at the University of Warwick and UKCISA student ambassador Saida Alimdjanova said that recent policies affecting international education “have not made it particularly easy for us to keep contributing”. Instead, she said, the policies had a “deep, long-lasting impact on our lives”.
Ali Janjua, a student ambassador from the University of Salford, commented that rising anti-immigration sentiments across the UK had left the country divided, making students feel “excluded rather than included”. “For someone far from home, these moment can create uncertainty… making people question whether they truly belong or whether they are welcome,” he said.
But he added: “It’s important to say this; while the national rhetoric can feel harsh, the British public is far more welcoming than people realise.”
The post Ex-universities minister bashes England’s international fee levy appeared first on The PIE News.