UK universities vs rest of Europe
UK Universities report highlights influx of international students but falls in number of boys
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Thursday, 24, Sep 2009 12:10
By Sarah Garrod.
A report has found the UK is the major European provider of higher education to international students, but there are claims more government spending is still needed.
According to a report, 'Patterns of higher education institutions in the UK' by Universities UK, higher education institutions saw a 48 per cent rise in incoming international students between 2000 and 2006, and the UK had the highest number of research publications in the top one per cent of citations over the period.
Universities UK said the figures represent a real "success". However, the National Union of Students (NUS) says the UK is "still lagging behind the rest of Europe".
Across the UK, the report found undergraduate enrolment had increased 25 per cent in the last ten years, but the proportion of male students in higher education had declined significantly, with women accounting for 75 per cent of the growth.
Despite this, the report showed minority ethnic groups and students from social classes four, five, six and seven had all increased.
A key finding of the report was that the percentage of women in engineering and technology was "relatively weak" compared to the rest of Europe, but UK universities do employ more women in academic roles than their counterparts in most Western European countries.
Professor Geoffrey Crossick, chair of Universities UK's longer term strategy group, said: "This year's Patterns [report] highlights the success of UK universities in challenging their counterparts in Europe, particularly in research and development and in attracting international students.
"The report also demonstrates how the diversity of the UK higher education sector has increased over the last ten years, giving students from a wide range of backgrounds the opportunity to study at and beyond first degree level."
But the NUS claims the UK is still lagging behind Europe and the government must invest more into UK universities.
The student group also said the figures in today's report have "been superseded by new OECD findings, published earlier this month, which reveal that the UK spends 20 per cent less of its gross domestic product (GDP) on universities than France, ten per cent less than the US, and ten per cent less than the OECD average".
NUS President Wes Streeting said: "We need to continue to expand our higher education system for the long-term social and economic good of the country. It is extremely worrying that we are lagging behind the rest of Europe in terms of public spending on universities.
"We understand the pressures on public finances, but the government would do well to seek savings in other areas of public expenditure rather than rationing educational opportunity. Ahead of next year's general election we call on all political parties to match their rhetoric on widening participation and investing in education with firm spending commitments."
Mr Streeting's words were echoed by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) who said more funding was needed.
Martin Freedman, head of pay, conditions and pensions at ATL, said: "We recognise that in a recession difficult choices about public funding have to be made, but if we fail to invest in education we will not have people with the skills to take advantage of technological and commercial developments and our economy will lag behind."