Meeting of the Parliament 04 October 2016
I think we can all agree that Scotland has one of the very best higher education sectors in the world. It is a tremendous achievement, of which Scotland should be proud. As we have heard from the minister and others, Times Higher Education recently published the 2017 world university ranking. Five Scottish universities featured in the top 200 and another seven Scottish universities featured in the list that represents the best 5 per cent of universities in the world. The UK is second only to the USA for the number of institutions in the world’s best 800.
Europe has been and always will be an important partner of the higher education sector in Scotland. At undergraduate level, Scotland’s higher education sector contains more than 13,000 students of EU domicile, accounting for 8.9 per cent of undergraduate students. A further 5,390 EU students study at postgraduate level at Scottish universities and pay fees to do so. Under current arrangements, EU graduates can stay and work in Scotland. By doing so, they meet demand for high skills and contribute to the economy by spending about £156 million off campus. Having a diverse student community, made up of different nationalities—from European and other countries—adds flavour to the student experience and benefits students from this country and the learning environment in general.
Scottish universities employ around 4,600 staff who are EU nationals, in a range of academic and professional roles. Although the UK contributes more overall to the EU budget than it receives, it is one of the largest recipients of research funding in the EU.
Brexit presents challenges and a significant change for higher education but, alongside those challenges, there will be new opportunities. It is slightly depressing to sit here, week after week, and hear, from the SNP Government and back benchers, gloom and doom and more gloom and doom, without any positivity. They should try to learn a new lesson.