And it’s just plain stupid to do so at short notice, when all the leading indicators are that intl student numbers are already falling, and there are no signs that govt has a medium term plan to recalibrate HE financing or to reduce student demand for places.

But it’s wholly *illegitimate* for MPs to support their local unis, to recognise the contributions they make, and then pull the rug of international students out from under those institutions’ feet.

We could change that. It’s legitimate for government to change HE funding models over time, and to change the way our labour markets work such as social care.

As the MAC slightly more politely put it: go on then if you want. Till then, stop fiddling with one bit of the system.

This isn’t just about Teesside. It’s about every other uni in towns and small cities across the country that is delivering local and civic impact - and frankly doing so using the fees helpfully contributed by international students.

So if you shrink the international students who come to Teesside Uni, it’s not just those international numbers that fall. It’s also:

- local students
- public services
- local industry
- graduate labour market

that is affected.

You can’t separate them.

And equally unsurprisingly, it’s pretty bloody popular with people who live in and around it.

Unsurprisingly, the university is a huge economic contributor to the region.

And overall, the university is a pretty big contributor towards skilled labour in a region that otherwise doesn’t have much of it

Much of what the uni does is focussed on local economic growth - which in this region increasingly means net zero and green manufacturing - as well as public services. Many of those grads serve local public services.

The university - like many in this situation - is pretty local in its UK recruitment. 73% of its UK students come from the region. And - crucially - they are cross subsidised by the international students that Teesside also recruits!

Firstly, the university is in a tough area. Unemployment is high, skills are low, and poverty is pretty endemic.

(All of the below is taken from extensive work we did alongside Teesside University in 2022. Link is here publicfirst.co.uk/wp-content/upl…)

“Close down those useless courses!”

“Who needs so many arts / humanities / creative graduates?”

Oh…

This is right. While it is a very powerful brand, I doubt 1 in a 100 people could accurately list all its members. They’d generally miss some out and include some that aren’t in.

This re UK univs. I went to a low quality school, scraped a couple A levels, was accepted Portsmouth Poly, got a first, then PhD scholarship. Prof by age 37. Supervised 37 PhD students. In top 2% world scientists judged by life time citations. Stop this snobbery. Enable folk.

I pointed out last week (re the absurd CPS report) that large cuts to migration of this sort would not just reduce GDP but also hit OBR forecasts for tax revenues/ borrowing.

The public does not share government hostility to international students via Financial Times
on.ft.com/4bIYg6m

David Bogle vivienne stern Phil Baty True. It is indeed extremely hard to tell who is the best and brightest. Many, especially institutions, very helpfully tell us themselves 🙂. Einstein was rejected at ETH Zürich, and had failed job applications at a number of sites of higher learning.

The glorious diversity of excellence across UK higher education is clearly illustrated in this map - showing the top-ranked UK universities for each of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, according to the @TimesHigherEd Impact Rankings.

linkedin.com/posts/philbaty…

The “brightest and best” students of the world have an exceptionally diverse array of excellent UK universities to choose from. Excellence comes in many forms. vivienne stern