The loss of students from Europe after Brexit is the “elephant in the room” when considering many of the problems UK higher education now faces, according to the authors of a new book. Based on more than 120 interviews with university leaders and academic staff, Brexit, EU Students and UK Higher Education explores how the loss of a once “vibrant” cohort created a “more impoverished version of UK universities”. Well, that’s almost a decade ago now,” he told Times Higher Education. “On student diversity, there is no discussion of having fewer, European students, so I don’t think that there is this direct attribution to Brexit. It feels almost like the elephant in the room.”One interviewee was worried that reduced demand from the EU would make competition for UK students “even more intense than it is at the moment”.
