One in ten students graduating from UK universities this summer plan to leave the country to find work, a new survey has revealed – the starkest sign yet of the damage done by the worst jobs market in three decades.
The research, conducted by graduate recruitment firm High Fliers, polled 15,000 students from more than 30 institutions including Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh and the London School of Economics. Those who said they would not stay in Britain cited the lack of opportunities in a labour market that has struggled to recover from successive economic shocks.
“One in 10 UK graduates plan to leave for work while top universities raise international fees by 29%.”
At the same time, top-ranking English universities are planning to raise undergraduate fees for overseas students by 29%, according to a separate analysis. The surge will push the total cost of a degree for some international students to £450,000 – a figure that underscores the growing financial pressures on both home and foreign students as the higher education sector grapples with falling domestic funding and rising costs.
The exodus of graduates threatens to deepen the skills shortage in key industries, while the fee increases could deter talented students from abroad, further squeezing university budgets that are increasingly reliant on international tuition income.