Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will force English universities to limit the number of students taking ‘low-value’ degrees, which critics believe is a move to penalise courses with a high proportion of working-class or minority-ethnic students.
Courses that do not have a high proportion of graduates that get professional jobs to continue into a master’s degree or start a business will have to limit the number of incoming students, the prime minister will announce on Monday, The Guardian reported.
Critics have lashed out at the move, saying this will mostly affect universities and courses with more working-class students with fewer financial resources who are more likely to drop out.
Meanwhile, the UK’s membership back into the EU’s Horizon Europe awaits a verdict.
While Sunak held talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the sidelines of last week’s NATO summit in Vilnius after UK and EU officials confirmed that a compromise was close, no official announcement was made.
On Thursday, European University Association and Universities UK renewed their call on political leaders to agree on UK participation in EU research programmes.
While they believe the talks have been “encouraging,” a deal needs to be struck as “UK and EU researchers need clarity as soon as possible.”
On Friday, The Guardian published an analysis showing how much of the UK university’s income comes from overseas students. According to the figures, 14% of the total number of incoming students come from the EU.
(Sofia Stuart Leeeson | EURACTIV.com)
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