James Miller: The importance of international students to Scotland

The benefits to being international are vast. At its best, it’s an enduring commitment to enhancing the experience of staff, students and the community in encouraging a globally aware and inclusive learning environment. Internationalisation when executed ethically, benefits us all.

In recent years, the narrative around international students in the UK has regrettably been caught up in wider commentary around legal and illegal migration and kicked around as the proverbial political football. The consequences have left our current and future international student community, and our universities pretty bruised.

Yet, we may now have some reasons to be optimistic. The new UK Government has retained the crucial graduate route visa in its current form. The Secretary of State for Education took the opportunity, very early on in her role, to signal a change in the rhetoric. Ms Philipson wanted there to be no doubt: international students are welcome in the UK. As MP for Houghton and Sunderland South, she was clear that the thousands of international students that study at the University of Sunderland contribute so much to her home city as they develop new skills and chase new horizons.

That’s absolutely the perspective shared in Scotland. Earlier this year, the leaders of Scotland’s cities and business interests spoke about how strongly in favour they are of international students and the graduate route, citing the vibrancy they add to our towns, cities and regions and the high-level skills and focus they bring to the workplace.

It’s positive that we now have continuity of the graduate route and a marked shift in tone from the UK Government. It is too soon to conjecture on the impact. At best, we hope it will be enough to reverse the fall in international student demand that we have seen from some markets over the last year and return to a managed growth of students coming to these shores. Over the coming months, institutions will gain a greater understanding of this year’s international intake.

This demonstrates it is possible to re-set narratives to affect positive change. As I take on the Convenership of Universities Scotland’s International Committee, I see further opportunity to do that in Scotland’s long-term interests as we seek to achieve the ambitions set out in the Scottish Government’s International Education Strategy.

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Looking ahead, international students hold the potential to be a socio-demographic asset for Scotland’s future.

Professor James Miller on the importance of international students (Image: UWS)

Scotland has a population challenge. Our population is ageing and the proportion of under 16s and of working age is set to fall steeply from the end of this decade. Scotland’s demographic forecasts are much more challenging than they are for other parts of the UK, but it is unquestionably a problem for both Governments.

Since 2011, Scotland’s limited population growth has been entirely dependent on migration, a significant proportion of which are international students. Those who travel to Scotland for study are highly-motivated, highly-ambitious, often arriving with an undergraduate degree already and keen to take advantage of the high-quality education on offer. We need to look long-term and combine policy agendas across the UK to find solutions that work for Scotland. As a net attractor of talent, Scotland’s universities are part of the solution.

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The UK Government has come to office with clear signals about giving greater power to the regions and nations and affording greater respect, within UK policy-making, for regional distinctiveness. There is scope within this space for a conversation about how carefully managed, high-skill migration, calibrated to national or regional need, might help to address Scotland’s demographic challenges to some extent.

Societal need, rather than universities’ interest, is the primary driver. Universities will always want to welcome students, and staff, to study and work here, as well as to encourage outward mobility for our own staff and students. The exchange of ideas and cross-border flow of people is core to our values and has contributed to our success over centuries. The extent to which Scotland has become reliant on the cross-subsidy model as a financial necessity to keep degrees tax-payer funded for home students is problematic, and it too needs to be addressed as a separate issue over a relatively short time horizon.

We need a longer-term plan, being transparent about Scotland’s challenges and working constructively to turn these into opportunities with universities playing a pivotal role. It’s a long game that requires a conversation that is well-timed to begin immediately, given shifting narratives elsewhere.

Professor James Miller is the Principal and Vice-Chancellor, University of the West of Scotland and the International Committee Convener, Universities Scotland